Why Was Thomas Henry Gem Important

Thomas Henry Gem, better known as Harry Gem, was born in May 1819. Educated at Kings College London he began practicing as a solicitor in Birmingham in 1841.Thomas Henry Gem, better known as Harry Gem, was born in May 1819. Educated at Kings College London he began practicing as a solicitor in Birmingham in 1841.

A member of the Bath Rackets Club, it is believed this is where he met Juan Bautista Augurio Perera, a Spanish born merchant. Combining their experiences of Rackets and the Basque game Perlota, Gem devised a new rackets game which they played on Perera’s croquet lawn at his home in Edgbaston in 1865.

In 1872, Gem and Perera moved to Leamington Spa where, together with two doctors, they established the world’s first lawn tennis club.

Today these four historic championships – Wimbledon, French, US and Australian are the most important and are known as Majors, or Grand Slams, a term borrowed from the card game Bridge.

The rules of tennis, looked after by the International Tennis Federation, have hardly changed since 1924 and this has greatly assisted the development of tennis as world-wide sport.

Originally only amateur players could participate in championships but in 1926 a professional tour comprising mostly French and American players was set up and these matches were played to paying audiences. However, it was not until 1968 when championships became ‘open’ that is, professional players could participate. This meant that all tennis players could earn a living from the game and this, together with TV rights and the establishment of a new international tennis circuit has made the game hugely popular to a global audience.

A member of the Bath Rackets Club, it is believed this is where he met Juan Bautista Augurio Perera, a Spanish born merchant. Combining their experiences of Rackets and the Basque game Perlota, Gem devised a new rackets game which they played on Perera’s croquet lawn at his home in Edgbaston in

Games were played on the lawns of the nearby Manor House Hotel.

However, much of the credit for making tennis the world famous sport it is today belongs to Major Walter Clopton Wingfield who, in 1873, designed and patented a similar game called sphairistikè, the word is Greek for ‘ball-playing’. Wingfield was a genius at marketing. He produced boxed sets of all the equipment needed to play the game including net, poles, rackets, balls and a set of rules. Using his connections in the aristocracy and legal profession, he sent out a number of sets around the world.

In 1874 an American returned from Bermuda with a sphairistikè set and, keen on watching British Army officers playing, she laid out the first tennis court at the Staten Island Cricket Club. The first American championship was held there in 1880 and the singles title was won by an Englishman O E