Agnes Mary MORTON

Although she was born Agnes Mary Morton, she was called Agatha from an early age and that is how she was known throughout her tennis career. The daughter of a solicitor from Berwick on Tweed Agatha Morton learned her tennis at Halstead, Essex, from an early age and was coached by her father and the former Scottish and Welsh champion Helen Jackson. Agatha first hit the headlines in 1902 when she won the All-England women’s doubles title with Charlotte Sterry. In 1914, when the doubles now had full championship status at Wimbledon, she teamed up with the American Elizabeth Ryan to capture the title, beating the British duo of Edith Hannam & Ethel Larcombe 6-1, 6-3. Like the women’s doubles, the All-England mixed doubles was not granted full championship status at Wimbledon until 1913 but Agatha and Herbert Roper Barrett won the title in 1909 when it was held as part of the Northern Tournament at Manchester.

Agatha made her Wimbledon début when she was 29 in 1901 and played there 13 times. She reached the final of the all-comers singles championship on four occasions, losing to Muriel Robb 2-6, 4-6 in 1902, and to Charlotte Sterry in two sets in 1904. She lost to Sterry again in two sets in 1908 and in 1909 took Dora Boothby to three sets before losing 4-6, 6-4, 6-8 in one of the longest ladies finals seen at Wimbledon at that time. In those latter two years she would have been proclaimed champion had she won the all-comers finals, as the reigning champions failed to defend their titles. At Wimbledon in 1908 during the Olympic competition, she lost in the quarter-final of the singles to Dorothea Lambert Chambers 2-6. 3-6.

Agatha won many provincial tournaments around England including the North London championship nine times in succession between 1906-14 and in that same period she also won the Suffolk championship nine times. She also won the Essex championship six times between 1904-11. In addition she won tournaments on clay in Germany and France. The War put and end to Agatha’s competitive career, and in 1925 she married Sir Hugh Houghton Stewart, the 4th Baron Stewart of Athenree, and she acquired the title Lady Stewart.