Mabel Branwell PARTON

The daughter of Sir Peter Squire, a renowned pharmaceutical chemist, Mabel Squire made her Wimbledon début at the age of 23 in 1904. She played at Wimbledon continuously until 1928, with the exception of the War years. From 1906 she played under the name Mabel Parton after marrying fellow tennis player George Parton in May that year. Parton reached the singles semi-finals on two occasions, in 1911 and 1920, losing to Dora Boothby and Elizabeth Ryan respectively. She also reached the semi-finals of the ladies and mixed doubles at Wimbledon in 1913. In the ladies event she partnered Ethel Larcombe but lost to Winifred McNair and Dora Boothby in straight sets. Parton also lost in straight sets in the mixed doubles when her partner was her future husband Theodore Mavrogordato, who she married shortly after the 1924 Wimbledon championships.

At the 1912 Olympics Parton also played with Theodore in the indoor mixed doubles but came home without a medal. However, she captured bronze in the indoor singles event after beating Sweden’s Sigrid Fick in the bronze medal match, after losing her semi-final to fellow British girl Edith Hannam, the eventual gold medal winner.