In Memory of Captain ANTHONY FREDERICK WILDING Armoured Car Div., Royal Marines who died age 31 on 09 May 1915 Former Wimbledon Tennis Champion, 1907 (Doubles), 1908 (Doubles), 1910 (Singles & Doubles), 1911 (Singles), 1912 (Singles) & 1913 (Singles). Educated New Zealand; Trinity College, Cambridge, B.A. Called to the English Bar, Inner Temple, 1906; qualified Barrister and Solicitor of Supreme Court of New Zealand, 1909. A member of The All England Lawn Tennis Club, Queen's. Remembered with honour RUE-DES-BERCEAUX MILITARY CEMETERY, RICHEBOURG-L'AVOUE Anthony Wilding Born - 31 October 1883 at Opawa, Christchurch Died - 9 May 1915 at Neuve Chapelle, France Anthony Frederick Wilding's parents were Frederick Wilding, a barrister, and Julia Anthony. Both British, in 1879 they had emigrated to New Zealand, where Frederick opened a law practice in Christchurch. They had five children, including a daughter, Cora , and lived in a large house called 'Fownhope', which had grounds large enough to hold tennis courts, a swimming pool, a cricket wicket and a croquet green. Frederick Wilding represented New Zealand in cricket, and was also very good at football, riding and rowing. Anthony grew up playing (and excelling) in sports such as swimming and cricket. When he left New Zealand to attend university at Cambridge, England, in 1902, he hoped to make his name as a cricketer. Once there, however, he began to play more tennis. During the summer holidays of 1903, Wilding decided to play tennis on the tournament circuit with players who had enough of a private income to allow them to spend their time playing tennis. Wilding decided to concentrate on tennis, working on his backhand and serve, rather than the law books he was supposed to be studying. He still managed to pass his law exams, graduating BA in 1905, and returned to New Zealand to join his father's law practice. But after winning the New Zealand national tennis title in 1906, he returned to England again, and was admitted to the Bar at the Inner Temple . In 1909 Wilding returned to New Zealand long enough to qualify as a barrister and solicitor in New Zealand, and also spend time riding motorcycles in trials and hill-climbing competitions. But by 1911 he was back in England. Anthony Wilding won a total of eight Wimbledon titles (four singles, and four doubles). He also won a number of tennis championships around the world, including tournaments in Christchurch, Melbourne, Paris and Johannesburg, as well as his bronze medal result at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. The highlight of his tennis career was the successful defence of his Wimbledon title in 1913 against the highly favoured American Maurice McLoughlin, in front of 7000 spectators. Unusually for the times, Wilding did not smoke or drink alcohol, and followed a strict training programme to keep up his level of fitness. He was not regarded as a naturally brilliant player (compared to Norman Brookes for example) but succeeded because he worked hard on improving his game, and was more consistent in his play and fitter than other players. He was a well-known figure on the British and European tennis circuits, playing his “manly brand of tennis”, and with his blond good looks, has been described as “tennis' first matinee idol”. Wilding was also passionate about motorcycles and cars, spending long periods touring different countries on motorcycle, and when war broke out, chose to join an armoured car division. He wrote home that: “This is a motor war. Horses are more or less useless.” After the First World War the Canterbury Lawn Tennis Association bought land in Woodham Road for tennis courts and named their new centre for Canterbury tennis, 'Wilding Park'. At the outbreak of World War I, Tony Wilding joined the Royal Marines, serving as a Captain with the Armoured Car Division in the battlefields of France.He designed a two-wheeled trailer with a gun set up on it, which could be towed behind an armoured car. He was killed in action on May 9, 1915 during the Battle of Aubers Ridge at Neuve-Chapelle, France. He had been dating and was about to marry Hollywood silent screen star Maxine Elliott. Captain Tony Wilding was buried in the Rue-des-Berceaux Military Cemetery in Richebourg-L'Avoue, Pas-de-Calais, France http://www.annawilding.com/tennis/ Pictures of Maxine Elliot http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchresult.cfm?parent_id=514045&word=
