John Jameson
Cairnes
Male
Ireland
1860-09-18
Dublin, Ireland
1951-09-06
Kensington, London, England
John J. Cairnes was the brother of fellow lawn tennis players Hugh M. Cairnes and William A. Cairnes. They were three of the children of Major William Henry Cairnes (c. 1827-1889) and Isabella Cairnes (née Jameson; 1827-95), who had married each other on 9 February 1858 in Dublin. Major William Cairnes was a soldier in the British Army and served in the Crimean War; he later retired due to ill health and moved to France with his wife.
John J. Cairnes was educated at Marlborough College in England. He was notably a semi-finalist in the men’s singles event at the inaugural Irish Lawn Tennis Championships in 1879, losing in two sets to the eventual champion, Vere Goold. J.J. Cairnes is also remembered for defeating Richard Sears, the top American player of the period, in an open tournament called the Ladies’ Cup and featuring both male and female players, held in Newport, Rhode Island, in September 1881. (Sears had earlier won what was a Closed National Championships tournament.)
An excellent horseman, J.J. Cairnes made his fortune as a cattle rancher in the Middle West of the United States, where he lived circa 1881-1908. He married Annabel Winslow, from a prominent Boston family, in 1895; they had two children. The family later moved to Kent in England.
1879 - 1886
1
9
6
1881 - St. George's Cricket Club (Amateur)
Round 1
Willoughby James Hamilton 1 *
John Jameson Cairnes
6-0
6-2
Round 1
M.P. Gybbes 1 *
John Jameson Cairnes
w.o.
Round 1
John Jameson Cairnes 1 *
A.F. Navarro
6-2
6-4
Round 2
John Jameson Cairnes 1 *
bye
Quarterfinals
John Jameson Cairnes 1 *
W.P. Anderson
6-4
6-3
Semifinals
John Jameson Cairnes 1 *
F. Ennis
6-1
6-1
Final
John Jameson Cairnes 1 *
James Rankine
7-5
6-2
6-3
Round 1
John Jameson Cairnes 1 *
Henry James Daly
6-3
6-2
Semifinals
Vere Thomas Saint Leger Goold 1 *
John Jameson Cairnes
6-3
6-4