John James
Comber
Male
England
1859-08-19
Liverpool, Lancashire, England
1930-08-21
Guildford, Surrey, England
John Comber was the second-youngest of the fourteen children born to Edward Comber, a merchant, and Eleanor Comber (née Oldham). John Comber was a student at Oxford University from the late 1870s to the early 1880s.
During his time as a student, John Comber took part in the Oxford University Men’s Doubles Championship on three occasions. This event was held from 1879 to 1883, and is now considered the precursor to the men’s doubles event at Wimbledon, which was inaugurated in 1884. John Comber reached the semi-finals of the Oxford University Men’s Doubles Championship in 1880 and 1881, both times with Robert Braddell, of Worcester College (Comber was a student at Oriel College).
John Comber rarely took part in lawn tennis tournaments after graduating from Oxford University in 1882. He pursued the unusual profession of cotton bleacher for several years, becoming a Master at this activity before taking early retirement. (Cotton bleaching involved bleaching cotton thread or woven cotton cloth to make it white.)
John Comber married Ida Caroline Blanche Wisden in 1892 in East Preston, Sussex. They had two daughters and one son together.
1879 - 1887
0
12
7
Round 1
Mark Anthony Hartnell 1 *
John James Comber
6-1
6-3
6-1
Round 1
J.W. Fowler 1 *
John James Comber
6-2
6-2
4-6
6-2
Round 1
John James Comber 1 *
Henry Francis Herford
6-3
6-0
6-3
Round 2
John James Comber 1 *
Russell James Kerr
6-3
5-6
5-6
6-3
6-3
Quarterfinals
John James Comber 1 *
A.L. Payne
6-5
6-3
6-3
Semifinals
John James Comber 1 *
Minden Fenwick
6-3
3-6
6-2
6-5
Final
John James Comber 1 *
Walter Edwin Fairlie
1-6
6-4
4-6
6-3
6-3
Challenge Round
Richard Taswell Richardson 1 *
John James Comber
6-1
6-1
6-0
Round 1
John James Comber 1 *
Stuart Macrae
6-0
6-4
6-4
Round 2
John James Comber 1 *
Walter Fletcher
3-6
6-4
6-3
6-3
Quarterfinals
Walter Edwin Fairlie 1 *
John James Comber
6-3
6-4
6-5
Round 2
Henry Lyle Mulholland 1 *
John James Comber
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