Edith Margaret HANNAM

As the outdoor lawn tennis events at the 1912 Olympics coincided with Wimbledon, Great Britain was not represented in this part of the program but they did send a strong team to the Olympic indoor events in May. The most successful member of this team was Edith Hannam who won the two gold medals. In the singles final, she beat Sofie Castenschiold of Denmark in straight sets and then joined Charles Dixon to take the mixed doubles title. Edith Boucher came from a prominent Gloucestershire family and her four brothers were all notable sportsmen in the area. In May 1909 she married Francis Hannam, after which she gave up tennis for a while when the newly married coupled settled in Canada where her husband pursued his business interests as a timber merchant. The Hannam’s did not stay long in Canada and on their return Edith became an outstanding figure at the Welsh Championships, winning a total of ten titles between 1912 and 1923. She enjoyed mixed fortunes at Wimbledon, her best years being 1911, when she reached the All Comers singles final, and 1914 when, with Ethel Larcombe as her partner, she was a finalist in the women’s doubles. Her husband was killed in action in 1916 when serving as a captain in the Gloucestershire Regiment.