William Edward
Glyn
Male
England
1857-08-27
Wycliffe, Yorkshire, England
1939-03-23
Newport, Rhode Island, United States of America
William E. Glyn notably reached the final of the men’s singles event at what is now considered the first edition of the U.S. Lawn Tennis Championships. The tournament in question was held in August 1881 at the Newport Casino on Rhode Island and was open only to players who were members of the United States National Lawn Tennis Association (from 1882, the tournament would be open to all players).
Glyn won four best-of-three-set matches to reach the men’s singles final, where he was beaten in straight sets by Richard Sears in a best-of-five-sets match. Glyn had gone to live in the United States from England when a young man. He spent the rest of his life living in the USA but also regularly visited his homeland.
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The source of the following newspaper report is unclear:
Mr William Edward Glyn
K.D.G. writes:
Early achievements in championship lawn tennis are recalled by the death on March 23 [1939] at 42 East 67 Street, New York, of Mr William Edward Glyn at the age of 89. A member of the Dorset family of Glyn of Gaunts, he went to the United States as a young man and devoted himself seriously to lawn tennis in the early days of the organized game.
The records of the American championship show him as runner-up to Richard D. Sears in 1881, the year at which the American championship records began. It was as a compliment to his distinction in the game so many years ago that he was selected for the honour of presenting the prizes at the commemorative game between Ellsworth Vines and Fred Perry at Newport, Rhode Island, in 1937.
In later life Mr Glyn developed other interests, his fondness for angling accounting for an annual holiday in Canada in pursuit of this sport; he also formed on of the best small collections of the older Chinese porcelain in America and a fine collection of etchings with a special Whistler section.
Mr Glyn was a son of the late Reverend Charles Thomas Glyn and was a cousin of the present Sir Richard Fitzgerald Glyn, Baronet, of Gaunts House, Wimborne, Dorset, and also of the late Lord Stamfordham [Arthur John Bigge], for many years private secretary to King George V. He was educated at Marlborough.
Mr Glyn was so intensely English in his tastes that he never sought American citizenship and was, in fact, known among his friends in New York and at Newport as “the Englishman”. Over a long period he made frequent visits to this country. He married Mary Rotch, daughter of the late Captain Charles Hunter, U.S.N., of Newport Rhode Island, and widow of Walter Langdon Kane. His wife predeceased him in 1936.
1881 - 1888
0
36
23
Round 1
William Edward Glyn 1 *
S. Sherwood
6-2
0-6
6-2
Quarterfinals
William Edward Glyn 1 *
H. Kuhn
6-3
6-4
Semifinals
William Edward Glyn 1 *
Philip Shelton Sears
4-6
6-4
6-3
Final
Quincy Adams Shaw Jr. 1 *
William Edward Glyn
5-7
6-0
8-6
6-2
Round 1
Samuel A. Campbell Jr. 1 *
William Edward Glyn
w.o.
Round 1
William Edward Glyn 1 *
Herbert Mason Sears
6-4
6-2
Quarterfinals
William Edward Glyn 1 *
W. Trimble
6-3
6-5
Semifinals
William Edward Glyn 1 *
F. Keyser
6-5
6-3
Final
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
William Edward Glyn
1-6
8-6
6-2
6-8
6-1
Round 1
William Edward Glyn 1 *
John Albert Ryerson
6-4
6-3
Round 2
William Edward Glyn 1 *
Valentine Gill Hall III
6-1
6-4
Quarterfinals
William Edward Glyn 1 *
Grant Notman
6-1
6-3
Semifinals
William Edward Glyn 1 *
Edward Peale MacMullen
6-2
6-3
Final
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
William Edward Glyn
6-2
6-0
6-4
Round 2
William Edward Glyn 1 *
Richard Field Conover
6-4
6-2
Quarterfinals
William Edward Glyn 1 *
Henry Gordon Mackenzie
6-0
6-2
Semifinals
Joseph Sill Clark 1 *
William Edward Glyn
6-1
10-8
Round 1
Howard Augustus Taylor 1 *
William Edward Glyn
6-4
6-2
Round 1
William Edward Glyn 1 *
P.C. Myers
6-1
6-3
Quarterfinals
William Edward Glyn 1 *
Harry Farnum
6-4
6-4
Semifinals
William Edward Glyn 1 *
bye
Final
Clarence Monroe Straight Clark 1 *
William Edward Glyn
6-0
6-4
8-6
Poule
William Edward Glyn 1 *
P.C. Myers
6-2
6-4
Poule
Alexander Van Rensselaer 1 *
William Edward Glyn
6-5
4-6
Poule
Richard Field Conover 1 *
William Edward Glyn
5-6
6-1
Poule
W.P. Williams 1 *
William Edward Glyn
4-6
6-2
Round 1
William Edward Glyn 1 *
FitzJames Hynes
6-2
6-0
Round 2
Richard Dudley Sears 1 *
William Edward Glyn
6-1
6-4
Unknown
William Edward Glyn 1 *
F. Eldridge
6-1
5-6
7-5
Round 1
William Edward Glyn 1 *
D.M. McDougal
w.o.
Round 2
Alexander Van Rensselaer 1 *
William Edward Glyn
6-3
5-6
6-4
Round 1
William Edward Glyn 1 *
Arthur Landon Rives
1-6
6-1
6-1
Round 2
William Edward Glyn 1 *
Richard Field Conover
6-5
6-2
Quarterfinals
William Edward Glyn 1 *
William Gammell Jr.
6-4
4-6
6-4
Semifinals
William Edward Glyn 1 *
Samuel Shaw
6-2
6-2
Final
Richard Dudley Sears 1 *
William Edward Glyn
6-0
6-3
6-2