Club History

At the end of the last century some members of Esher Cricket Club decided that they would like to play the new game of lawn tennis. They persuaded the Cricket Club to lay out three courts in the corner of the ground in New Road and in May 1898 Esher Lawn Tennis Club was born.

After a short time there arose a dispute with the Cricket Club about the duties of the groundsman. The Tennis Club looked for another ground and were able to lease appropriate land in Milbourne Lane from Claremont Estates, which was owned by the Duchess of Albany. Three grass courts and a croquet lawn were laid out and a pavilion was built. The exact date of the move is not clear, but it is known that by 1907 the members had raised enough money to pay off the loan.

The Cricket Club played on land owned by the Martineau family, who lived in a house nearby called Littleworth. The first president was Lionel Martineau, a noted sportsman. Regrettably he died at the age of 37 and his father Philip was persuaded to succeed him as president. Eventually he was succeeded by another son Charles and his successor was Meadows Martineau who remained president until his death in 1966.

The Martineau family were presidents of the club for 68 years. Meadows Martineaus widow Eileen is an honoury member and visits the club on Tournament days, so the connection continues to this day.

For many years there was no play on Sundays - but teas were provided on Thursdays and Saturdays for 2s 6d for the season. Committee meetings were apparently held at this time on the 9.30 am train from Esher to Waterloo and the 5.30 pm return Waterloo to Esher! When the Club parted from the Cricket Club there was some acrimony and the minutes state that all connection with the Cricket Club shall be everlasting severed.

However, all was later forgiven and in 1956 Cricket Club members were admitted to the Tennis Club on a reduced subscription and this continued for several years.

The club flourished before the First World War and membership had to be severely restricted. In 1921 a further three grass courts were added, but shortly after this there arose a crisis.

Claremont Estates were due to be sold off. The Tennis Club offered £350 for their land, but eventually it went to auction and the Club finally secured it for £850. The next problem was how to raise the money. A benefactor arrived, Dr Stocker Harris, a noted local GP. He lent the money to the club at a low interest rate, with an option to redeem at seven, fourteen or twenty-one years. Eventually the loan was redeemed in 1930, so the club owns the freehold with the security this implies.

However, all was not well. By 1933 there were only 47 members, far too few to finance the club. A motion to wind the club up was only narrowly defeated. When I first joined the club in 1934 (as a junior I hasten to say) there were six courts of variable quality and an adequate and rather primitive club house. However, the membership did increase and the club was able to continue all through the war. Afterwards, there was another gradual decline, having only grass courts it died every autumn and it had to rise phoenix-like every spring.

This became more progressively difficult. However, help was at hand. Surrey County Council decided to build a primary school on allotment land behind the club, but needed access which had to be through the clubs land. The president then was Sir Leslie Robinson, a retired senior civil servant and a very tough negotiator. The courts had to be moved about ten yards to accommodate the access road to the school.

Sir Leslie struck a hard bargain and was able to get enough money to lay down three hard courts and carry out other improvements. The courts were built on the orchard belonging to Mr and Mrs Morris of 3 Milbourne Lane next door. Mr and Mrs Morris were long term members and Dorothy Morris had been the club secretary. They gave the land to the club for a nominal sum, an act of considerable generosity.

Thus the club was saved, as it no longer died each year. Since then the club had gone from strength to strength. In 1985 another hard court was added and one of the grass courts was converted to carpet. This was not a success and now we have the present format of five hard and five grass courts.

The playing standard has steadily improved and a large junior membership has been built up. In 1973 an annual Junior Open Tournament started. This has been very successful and has considerably enhanced the reputation of the club. Now with ten excellent courts, an automatic watering system, good clubhouse facilities and a full membership Esher Tennis Club can look forward confidently to its next hundred years.

"The very early club minutes have been lost, and I am partly indebted to an article by Nigel Bruce, which was published in 1973 in the local newspaper"

 

Michael Dixon