Otway Edward
Woodhouse
Male
England
1855-10-21
Bloomsbury, Middlesex, England
1887-09-21
Brighton, Sussex, England
Otway Woodhouse was born in London in 1855, the sixth of the eight children – seven sons and one daughter – of Coventry Mark Woodhouse (1808-89), a merchant and native of London, and Anna Jane Woodhouse (née Archer; c. 1818-1901), who was from County Wicklow in Ireland. Coventry Woodhouse and Anna Archer had married each other on 5 November 1846 in the village of Rathdrum in County Wicklow, just south of County Dublin.
Anna Archer was the daughter of Reverend William Archer (c. 1782-1870), also a native of County Wicklow, and his first wife, Olivia Guinness (1794-1829). William and Olivia Archer had two children together, a second daughter, Margaret Augusta Archer, being born in 1820. Olivia Archer died in May 1829 in Newcastle, County Wicklow, at the age of 35. She was the daughter of Reverend Hosea Guinness (1765-1841), a native of Dublin, and Jane Guinness (née Hart).
Reverend Hosea Guinness was the son of Arthur Guinness (1725-1803), who was from the town of Celbridge in County Kildare, and Olivia Guinness (née Whitmore; 1742-1814), who was from Dublin. In 1759, Arthur Guinness founded what would become the world-famous Guinness Brewery at Saint James’s Gate in Dublin.
--
An obituary of Otway Woodhouse, published in Grace’s Guide to British Industrial History (1888), provides details of his education and early professional life, as follows:
Otway Woodhouse was educated at Marlborough College, Wiltshire, from 1867 to 1872, and afterwards at King’s College, London. He then passed three years as a pupil with Messrs Hunter and English, engineers, of Bow, during which time he chiefly applied himself to the practical part of engineering in their fitting shop. In August, 1877, he entered the service of the Great Eastern Railway Company under Mr W. Adams, M.Inst. C.E., the locomotive superintendent, and on that gentleman changing to the London and South Western Company, Mr Woodhouse went with him, and continued in the service of that Company until the beginning of 1881.
In July, 1880, Mr Woodhouse, in company with Mr J.C. Peache, of the London and North Western Railway Company’s locomotive department at Crewe, went to America and spent six months making a tour of inspection of the engineering and general scientific works of the United States and Canada, returning to England at Christmas 1880.
In 1881 Mr. Woodhouse entered into partnership with Mr Frederick L. Rawson, under the title of Woodhouse and Rawson, engineers and electric light contractors. This firm is now well known all over the world, a result largely due to the extremely energetic and able manner in which the business was pushed at its commencement.
--
The Frederick L. Rawson mentioned in the obituary from Grace’s Guide quoted from above, was Frederick Lawrence Rawson (1859-1923), also a gifted lawn tennis player, who notably won the men’s singles title at the first edition of the London Athletic Club tournament, held at Stamford Bridge, London, in the summer of 1881.
During his stay in the United States in the second half of 1880, Otway Woodhouse took part in and won the men’s singles event at a lawn tennis tournament held at the Staten Island Cricket Club in New York from 1-4 September. A number of early sources refer to this tournament as the first edition of the United States Championships, but this designation is questioned by many experts. However, it is true that the winner of the men’s singles title was awarded a trophy inscribed as follows: “The Champion Lawn Tennis Player of America”.
The New York Times reported on this tournament each day and the related articles, parts of which are reproduced below, give a good idea of the conditions in which this tournament was held and how unusual the scoring system was. Indeed, the reports reproduced below at times read as if they were of a cricket match and not a lawn tennis match:
From The New York Times, 28 August 1880
Notes on a lawn tennis tournament to be held at Staten Island Cricket Club – Arrangements for a series of single and double-handed games
The lawn tennis tournament, under the auspices of the Staten Island Cricket Club, will begin at 3.30 o’clock on Wednesday next on the club grounds at Camp Washington, Staten Island. It will open with the single-handed games, the double-handed games will begin on the following Monday. Both series of games will continue on the following days until the tournament is decided. Games will be played under the latest revised regulations.
--
From The New York Times, 2 September 1880
First day of the meeting at Camp Washington, Staten Island
The greensward of the Staten Island Cricket Club, on old Camp Washington, was covered with diagrams yesterday for the games of lawn tennis. Long nets, looking like seines, stretched between posts at different points in the field. The boundary fences had received fresh coats of whitewash, and camp stools for spectators were placed in rows on either side of the several lawn tennis courts.
It was the opening day of the first lawn tennis tournament, which is open to all-comers. The players began to arrive as early as 2 o’clock, although the games did not begin until 4. Most of the spectators were ladies, many of whom wore field costumes of gorgeous colours. Drags, phaetons, dogcarts and a four-in-hand drew up at the fence near the entrance to the enclosure, and there were several parties of ladies and gentlemen on horseback. [...]
The games played were all single games, with 23 players entered. They will last three days. Among those who took part were Harry Y. Gamble, of Toronto, B.J. Grey, of Bermuda; Isidore F. Hellmuth, of London, Ontario, and Otway E. Woodhouse, who entered from Philadelphia, but who is really one of the best players in England. Their playing was watched with particular interest. The prize in the single games is a handsome silver cup valued at $100.00, presented for competition by the Staten Island Club. On one side of the trophy is the inscription: “The Champion Lawn Tennis Player of America”.
The most interesting of the games played yesterday were between W.M. Donald, of Staten Island, and Isidore F. Hellmuth, of London, Ontario, and James Rankine and Otway Woodhouse. The returning of these players, during which the balls were kept constantly in motion in mid-air, created much enthusiasm. Four courts were simultaneously occupied by as many sets of contestants. The games were played in three parts, those players who scored the best two in three games being the winners.
--
From The New York Times, 3 September 1880
Fine playing at lawn tennis – Ten matches contested – Decision of the Championship today
[...] The spectators formed groups around the Canadian player, Isidore F. Hellmuth, and Otway Woodhouse, whose residence is in Philadelphia, but who was formerly a resident of England, and one of its best players. Hellmuth did not play as well as on the previous day, while Woodhouse played better. The latter is a tall man, who uses his long arms to advantage. In this manner he caught a ball on the return with the left as well as with the right hand, and frequently used both hands with effect when the ball was too near his face.
Hellmuth is a very rapid player. He is short in stature, lithe in figure and catches a ball on the return with his left as well as with his right hand. Gamble generally uses his right hand in batting, but he is very nimble, and heads off most of the balls served him.
The most interesting game of the day was between Woodhouse and W.H. Davidge. It was the last match played, and as no other was in progress at the time, the crowd around the players was very great. When the game was begun Woodhouse found that he had no novice to meet in his advances, and Davidge made 5 points before the Briton had scored 1. From this time to the end of the game Woodhouse was a steady winner.
Some of the batting was very excellent. In the eighth inning Woodhouse served a ball which was returned by Davidge. Woodhouse caught it on the fly, and again returned it. Davidge sent the ball back, and it passed six times between the two players, when Woodhouse finally sent it under the net. The result was that neither side scored a point. According to the rules of the games, a ball must be sent over the net and beyond the boundary of the court in order to score.
--
From The New York Times, 4 September 1880
Mr Woodhouse, of London, wins in the single game today
The single games in the lawn tennis tournament at Camp Washington, Staten Island, were concluded yesterday, and the handsome silver cup presented for competition by the Staten Island Cricket Club was awarded to Otway E. Woodhouse, of the West Middlesex Lawn Tennis Club, London, England. The closing games were the finest ever witnessed in this country. The weather was of the best, although there was a general anticipation that it might rain when the opening match began. The number of spectators was much larger than on the previous days of the tournament, every boat from the city increasing the number.
The list of competitors had been reduced to four players. The game began promptly at 4pm. Isidore F. Hellmuth played against Edward Gray in one court, while the adjoining court was occupied by Otway Woodhouse and C.M. Harvey. The spectators flocked around the court in which Hellmuth was playing, leaving Woodhouse and Harvey a clear field. Harvey scored 8 in the first and 5 in the second game, making a total of 13, while Woodhouse was the winner in both instances, scoring a total of 30 aces.
Hellmuth defeated Gray in both games, the latter scoring a total of 17 aces to his antagonist’s 30. This brought the two foreign players together in the final struggle. According to the rules governing the tournament, four games were played. Mr R.B. Whittemore acted as umpire for Woodhouse, while Harry Gamble looked after Hellmuth’s interests.
Hellmuth served the first ball. During the contest, which was a short one, some beautiful rallying was seen between the players. While the fourteenth inning was in progress, the ball served by Hellmuth passed above Woodhouse’s head and beyond his reach. He turned quickly and caught the ball with a backhanded movement, and, sending it over the net, deprived Hellmuth of an ace.
In the third inning of the second game there was another fine exhibition when a ball served by Woodhouse passed back and forth between the players eight times. Woodhouse remained in nearly the same position during the struggle, meeting the ball with his outstretched long arms, while Hellmuth, who is a much smaller man, was kept actively dodging from one corner of his court to the other. Finally, Hellmuth slipped and fell, while the ball bounded through the court, and Woodhouse scored an ace.
The third game was a long one. The players changed side, and both looked hot and tired. Hemluth opened the game by making an ace in the first inning. Woodhouse scored 4 blanks, and Hellmuth followed with 5 misses. Woodhouse scored a similar number of misses, while Hellmuth was making three aces. From that time Woodhouse forged ahead, and finally won the game.
The last game was very exciting. Hellmuth was 9 points behind the Englishman and made an effort to assume the calmness displayed by Woodhouse. He so far succeeded that he closed the match by winning the game. Woodhouse, however, increased his aggregate score by ten points, and this gave him the match with four points to spare.
--
Although he won the singles event at the championship tournament held at the Staten Island Cricket Club in September 1880, Otway Woodhouse didn’t take part in many lawn tennis tournaments throughout his lawn tennis career. However, he did enter the Wimbledon tournament every year from 1879 to 1883, and in 1880, the same year as his success in America, went all the way to the final of the All-Comers’ event at Wimbledon before losing to his compatriot Herbert Lawford in straight sets.
Otway Woodhouse’s success at Wimbledon in 1880 was all the more remarkable because, on the way to the All-Comers’ Final, he defeated both of the Renshaw twins, William and Ernest, who, more than any other early players, would help change the public’s perception of lawn tennis as a mere pastime into a competitive sport. William Renshaw would win the men’s singles title at Wimbledon for the next six years, from 1881 to 1886, and together the twin brothers would be almost invincible in the men’s doubles event.
Otway Woodhouse’s last known participation in a tournament was at Wimbledon in 1883, when he lost in the first round of the singles event. This was the only tournament he entered that year. It is likely that work commitments prevented him from taking part in tournaments more often. However, it is also clear that he was not in the best of health around that time and that his state of health gradually deteriorated in the years thereafter.
The remainder of the obituary of Otway Woodhouse already quoted from above provides details of his final years, and is quoted from again below:
From Grace’s Guide to British Industrial History (1888)
The death of Mr Woodhouse is primarily due to overwork; it is supposed that the extremely long hours he devoted to the development of the business of the firm must have had a serious effect upon his health, he being too often found in his office far into the night. At the commencement of 1885, Mr Woodhouse, on account of his health left England for Cannes, from whence he returned to England rather worse, owing to a fever he had caught whilst there.
Although he gradually gained strength he never returned to business, and his death, on the 21st of September, at Brighton, although sudden, was not altogether unexpected. His funeral, five days later at Kensal Green Cemetery, was largely attended by personal friends and employees of the firm, showing the great estimation in which he was held by all who came into communication with him.
--
From the National Probate Calendar of England and Wales, 5 January 1888: Administration of the personal estate of Otway Edward Woodhouse, late of 11 Queen Victoria Street in the City of London, Electric Light Contractor, a Bachelor, who died 21 September 1887 at Brighton in the County of Sussex was granted at the Principal Registry to Ralph Archbould of Milton Villa, 22 Station Road, Harlesden, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, a creditor. Personal estate: £1,000.
1879 - 1883
1
42
29
1880 - Championships of America (Amateur)
Round 1
Leveson Granville Campbell 1 *
Otway Edward Woodhouse
4-6
5-6
6-1
6-5
6-4
Round 1
Mr. Morris 1 *
Otway Edward Woodhouse
w.o.
Round 1
Otway Edward Woodhouse 1 *
Francis Joseph Ridgway
6-3
6-1
6-4
Round 2
Otway Edward Woodhouse 1 *
Francis Archibald Fairlie
6-5
6-5
6-3
Quarterfinals
Richard Taswell Richardson 1 *
Otway Edward Woodhouse
6-1
6-0
6-2
Round 1
Otway Edward Woodhouse 1 *
Barclay Fowell Buxton
6-3
6-1
6-4
Round 2
Edgar Lubbock 1 *
Otway Edward Woodhouse
6-5
6-3
5-6
6-0
Round 1
Otway Edward Woodhouse 1 *
Donald Charles Stewart
6-5
6-2
Round 2
Otway Edward Woodhouse 1 *
W.G. Hunt
6-0
6-2
Round 3
Otway Edward Woodhouse 1 *
C.E. Farmer
6-2
6-3
6-3
Quarterfinals
Otway Edward Woodhouse 1 *
Ernest Wool Lewis
6-2
6-3
6-0
Semifinals
Otway Edward Woodhouse 1 *
Edgar Lubbock
6-2
2-6
6-2
7-5
Final
Herbert Fortescue Lawford 1 *
Otway Edward Woodhouse
6-1
4-6
6-2
6-3
Round 1
Otway Edward Woodhouse 1 *
Hubert Hope Wilkes
6-4
6-5
6-0
Round 2
Otway Edward Woodhouse 1 *
Rev. Mortimer Drury Buckingham
6-1
6-0
6-0
Round 3
Otway Edward Woodhouse 1 *
Wilfred Milne
6-1
6-0
6-1
Quarterfinals
William Charles Renshaw 1 *
Otway Edward Woodhouse
4-6
6-4
6-0
6-3
Round 1
Otway Edward Woodhouse 1 *
Hercules Robert Langrishe
6-4
6-4
6-1
Round 2
Otway Edward Woodhouse 1 *
Robert Shaw Templer
6-2
6-3
6-0
Quarterfinals
Peter Aungier 1 *
Otway Edward Woodhouse
6-8
4-6
6-3
6-3
6-4
Round 1
Alfred John Mulholland 1 *
Otway Edward Woodhouse
6-4
6-1
6-3
Round 1
Reginald Arthur Gamble 1 *
Otway Edward Woodhouse
6-2
6-1
Round 1
Otway Edward Woodhouse 1 *
J.H. Brand
5-6
6-1
6-0
6-3
Round 2
Otway Edward Woodhouse 1 *
Francis William Monement
6-3
6-3
6-5
Round 3
Otway Edward Woodhouse 1 *
William Charles Renshaw
5-6
6-3
6-3
6-4
Quarterfinals
Otway Edward Woodhouse 1 *
James Ernest (Ernest) Renshaw
6-3
6-3
3-6
6-0
Semifinals
Otway Edward Woodhouse 1 *
George Arnulph Montgomerie
6-4
2-6
6-3
5-6
6-1
Final
Herbert Fortescue Lawford 1 *
Otway Edward Woodhouse
6-5
6-4
6-0
Round 1
Otway Edward Woodhouse 1 *
Edwards Charles Ellice
6-0
6-1
6-3
Round 2
Otway Edward Woodhouse 1 *
C.N. Lawrence
6-0
6-5
6-4
Round 3
Otway Edward Woodhouse 1 *
Richard Taswell Richardson
6-5
1-6
5-6
6-4
6-3
Semifinals
Edgar Lubbock 1 *
Otway Edward Woodhouse
6-2
6-2
4-6
6-3
Round 1
Otway Edward Woodhouse 1 *
James Rankine
28-26
Round 2
Otway Edward Woodhouse 1 *
F. Eldridge
30-20
Quarterfinals
Otway Edward Woodhouse 1 *
W.H. Davidge
30-11
Semifinals
Otway Edward Woodhouse 1 *
C.M. Harvey
30-13
Final
Otway Edward Woodhouse 1 *
Isidore Frederick Hellmuth
54-50
Round 1
Sir George Gough Arbuthnot 1 *
Otway Edward Woodhouse
6-2
4-6
6-1
6-2
Round 2
Otway Edward Woodhouse 1 *
Victor Alexander Brooke
?
Round 3
Otway Edward Woodhouse 1 *
T. Smith
w.o.
Quarterfinals
Otway Edward Woodhouse 1 *
Herbert Fortescue Lawford
2
sets
to
1
Semifinals
Lestocq Robert Erskine 1 *
Otway Edward Woodhouse
2
sets
to
1