We were fascinated by this news story about Harold Mahony, who won the men’s singles at Wimbledon in 1896.
Born in Edinburgh in 1869 (we think the 1867 in the news story is a typo), Mahony was twice a semi-finalist at Wimbledon in 1891 and 1892, before finally winning the championship in 1896.
As he was born to Irish parents (from Dublin), Mahony was clearly a mix of Scottishness and Irishness – so Ireland might claim him as an Irish tennis champ!
Tragically, Mahony died in an accident in County Kerry in 1905, at the age of 38.
We found a report of the 1896 Wimbledon final in The Archive here.
