Wilberforce Vaughan Eaves M.B.E. (1867 - 1920)

Born 10 Dec 1867 in Saint Kilda, Victoria, Australia

Ancestors

Died 10 Feb 1920 at age 52 in London, England, United Kingdom

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Biography

Wilberforce Eaves M.B.E. is Notable.

Wilberforce represented Great Britain in Tennis in the London Olympics of 1908

Wilberforce Vaughan Eaves was born in about December 1867 in St Kilda in the Colony of Victoria. The son of William Eaves and his wife Eunice (nee Vaughan).

It appears the parents returned to England with their two sons as the family are listed in the 1871 and 1881 England and Wales Census.

In 1871 at: Great Amwell, Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom.

In 1881 at: Folkestone Town, Kent, England.

They seem to have travelled to England on the Agamemnon arriving in England in January 1870.

Mrs. Eunice Eaves and her two sons William John Stanley Eaves (known as S. Eaves) and Wilberforce Vaughan Eaves (listed as W. V. Eaves) returned to the Australian Colonies in late December 1890 on the Massilia. They are listed as bound for Sydney, but do not appear in the Passenger list at the final destination dated 1st of January, 1891. William Eaves senior appears to have passed away in England before this date.

W. V. Eaves was one of the preeminent Tennis players in the Australia Colonies in the 1890s. And also reached the Men's Singles All-Comers' final at the Wimbledon Championships in 1895, before losing to Englishman Wilfred Baddeley. Then In 1897 he became the first non-American to reach the final in the U.S. National Singles Championships. He unfortunately lost the final in five sets to American Robert Wrenn.

Qualified as a doctor of medicine, Dr. W. V. Eaves served as a civilian surgeon in the Boer War. He spent just over a year in the field hospitals of the Transvaal before being discharged following two severe bouts of fever. For his services in this campaign, he was awarded the Queen’s and King’s medals with two clasps on 1 October, 1902.

He returned to England permanently and represented Great Britain in Tennis at the 1908 Olympics, winning a Bronze Medal.

Then In the first week of World War I, on 10 August 1914 he took a temporary commission in the Royal Army Medical Corps as a Lieutenant. And was promoted to Captain after a year's service. For service to the war effort he was awarded the M.B.E. on 7 June, 1918.

Captain Wilberforce Vaughan Eaves M.B.E. passed away in 1920 and was laid to rest at the Greenwich Cemetery, Greenwich, Kent.

Sources

• Victoria Births, Deaths & Marriages: BIRTH: EAVES, Wilberforce Vaughan - event: Birth - mother: Eunice VAUGHAN - father: William - place of birth: ST KILDA - registration year: 1868 - registration no. 5791/1868. first accessed online on the 9th of August, 2022 from the Victorian Family History Search searchable database at: https://www.bdm.vic.gov.au/research-and-family-history/search-your-family-history

• Family Notices from The Telegraph, St Kilda, Prahran and South Yarra Guardian (Vic. : 1864 - 1888) of Saturday 14 December 1867, Page 2. first accessed on TROVE on the 14th of August, 2022 at: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/108123623?searchTerm=%22William%20Eaves%22

• Wilberforce Eaves from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. first accessed online on the 8th of August, 2022 at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilberforce_Eaves

• "Australia, Victoria, Outward Passenger Lists, 1852-1924," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2PD-SD36 : 17 March 2018), William Eaves, born 1865, emigrated 1870; citing series VPRS 948, Public Record Office Victoria, North Melbourne; FHL microfilm 284,502.

• "England and Wales Census, 1871", database with images, Family Search (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VF6D-2BH : 25 June 2022), William J S Eaves in entry for William Eaves, 1871.

• "England and Wales Census, 1881," database with images, Family Search (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q27W-P7XM : 11 December 2017), Wm J S Eaves in household of William Eaves, Folkestone Town, Kent, England; from "1881 England, Scotland and Wales Census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing p. 40, Piece/Folio 1010/115, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey; FHL microfilm 101,774,454.

• Public Record Office Victoria: Unassisted passenger lists (1852-1923) Record Series Number (VPRS): 947 first accessed online on the 17th of August, 2022

• ARRIVAL OF THE R.M.S. MASSILIA. from The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) of Tuesday 23 December 1890, Page 5. first accessed on TROVE on the 17th of August, 2022 at: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/8461637?searchTerm=MASSILIA%20ships%20voyage%20Sydney%20Port%20jackson%20barque%20master%20melbourne%20eaves

• SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE. from The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) of Monday 29 December 1890, Page 4. first accessed on TROVE on the 17th of August, 2022 at: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/8462651?searchTerm=MASSILIA%20ships%20voyage%20Sydney%20Port%20jackson%20barque%20master%20melbourne%20eaves

• Tennis at the 1908 Summer Olympics from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. first accessed online on the 8th of August, 2022 at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennis_at_the_1908_Summer_Olympics

• CAPTAIN WILBERFORCE VAUGHAN EAVES from the COMMONWEALTH WAR GRAVES COMMISSION website.

• Captain Wilberforce Vaughan Eaves, M.B.E. from the British Medical Journal 1920 Feb 21;1(3086):276. PMCID: PMC2337269. as hosted On THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE website at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2337269/

• Captain Wilberforce Vaughan Eaves Commemorative Rolls from the Australian War Memorial website. first accessed online on the 8th of August, 2022

• LAWN TENNIS STAR PASSES from the Referee (Sydney, NSW : 1886 - 1939) of Wednesday 18 February 1920, Page 16. first accessed on TROVE on the 9th of August, 2022 at: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/121154392?

• OBITUARY. from The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954) of Tuesday 17 February 1920, Page 8. first accessed on TROVE on the 9th of August, 2022 at: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/15884516?

• LAWN TENNIS. from The Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946) of Saturday 21 February 1920, Page 24. first accessed on TROVE on the 9th of August, 2022 at: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/140236872?

• PERSONAL. from the Referee (Sydney, NSW : 1886 - 1939) of Wednesday 18 February 1920, Page 1. first accessed on TROVE on the 9th of August, 2022 at: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/121154289?

• Eaves, Simon, J., Coaching, Physical Training, and the Changing Landscape of Lawn Tennis: Australasia’s Ascendency to Dominance in the pre-Great War Era, In Day, D. (ed.), Sport and Leisure on the Eve of World War One (Manchester: MMU Sport and Leisure History, 2016), p.p. 72-97. at: https://www.playingpasts.co.uk/articles/archival-research/coaching-physical-training-and-the-changing-landscape-of-lawn-tennis-australasias-ascendency-to-dominance-in-the-pre-great-war-era/ (retrieved from: Playing Past an online Open Access Journal on 9th of August, 2022.)

Further Reading

• MR. W. V. EAVES. MR. DUDLEY WEBB. CHAMPION TENNIS PLAYERS (From a photo, by Murell and Co.) this wonderful line drawing first appeared in the article: Lawn Tennis Champions. from The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912) of Saturday 30 May 1891, Page 1211. first accessed on TROVE on the 7th of August, 2022 at: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/163651615?

• LONDON WEEK BY WEEK. from the Evening News (Sydney, NSW : 1869 - 1931) of Wednesday 7 February 1900, Page 7. first accessed on TROVE on the 9th of August, 2022 at: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/117033977?

• LAWN TENNIS. from The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954) of Saturday 30 May 1908, Page 14. first accessed on TROVE on the 9th of August, 2022 at: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/28842808?searchTerm=%22W.%20V.%20Eaves%22

• LAWN TENNIS. from the Referee (Sydney, NSW : 1886 - 1939) of Wednesday 17 June 1908, Page 10. first accessed on TROVE on the 9th of August, 2022 at: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/120337115?searchTerm=%22W.%20V.%20Eaves%22

• THE TENNIS BASE

• INTERNATIONAL TENNIS FEDERATION

• ATP website

• TENNIS HISTORY . COM

• PERSONAL. from The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) of Thursday 10 June 1920, Page 6. first accessed on TROVE on the 9th of August, 2022 at: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/1709969?

• SECRET OF AUSTRALIA'S SUCCESS IN TENNIS from the Referee (Sydney, NSW : 1886 - 1939) of Wednesday 26 November 1919, Page 13. first accessed on TROVE on the 9th of August, 2022 at: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/120312381

• BEQUEST TO ACTRESS from the Evening News (Sydney, NSW : 1869 - 1931) of Wednesday 2 February 1921, Page 11. first accessed on TROVE on the 9th of August, 2022 at: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/117300327

• THE WIZARD OF TENNIS from the Sporting Globe (Melbourne, Vic. : 1922 - 1954) of Saturday 5 October 1935, Page 6. first accessed on TROVE on the 9th of August, 2022 at: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/189130618