Kay Stammers
Encyclopedia
Katharine "Kay" Esther Stammers (3 April 1914 – 23 December 2005) was a tennis
player from the United Kingdom
.
, United Kingdom where her parents taught her to play tennis on the grass court at their family home. Left-handed and with a good forehand, Stammers played an attacking style of tennis and was trained by Dan Maskell
.
Stammers played in an era when the women's game was dominated by Helen Wills Moody
, Helen Jacobs
, and Alice Marble
. But Stammers defeated Jacobs in a 1939 Wimbledon
semifinal and in singles matches at the 1935 and 1936 Wightman Cup
. At the 1935 Kent championships in Beckenham, England, Stammers became the first British player to beat Moody in 11 years.
According to Wallis Myers and John Olliff of The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail
, Stammers was ranked in the world top ten in 1935, 1936, 1938, 1939, and 1946, reaching a career high of World No. 2 in those rankings in 1939.
Stammers won the women's doubles title at Wimbledon
in 1935 and 1936 with partner Freda James Hammersley. She also won the women's doubles title at the 1935 French Championships with partner Peggy Scriven. Her best performances in women's doubles at the U.S. Championships were in 1936, 1937, and 1938 when she reached the semifinals and in 1939 when she reached the final. In the 1936 semifinal, she and partner Marble were defeated by Jacobs and Sarah Palfrey Cooke
6–2, 21–19. In the 1939 final, she and partner Hammersley lost to Marble and Cooke 6–1, 6–2.
magazine described her (somewhat patronisingly) as "pretty Kay Stammers, whom English critics like to describe as the 'typical' British girl tennist, and who likes lacrosse, cricket, lump sugar and planters' punches." Stammers' tennis clothes were much detailed in the newspapers. She designed her own shorts in uncrushable linen cut full to four inches above the knee and wore them with an open-necked shirt. While playing on the west coast of the United States
, Stammers visited Hollywood studios and had a screen test. She dated John F. Kennedy
and was photographed with him at the Kennedy family's Hyannis Port compound. She said that JFK was "spoilt by women. I think he could snap his fingers and they’d come running. And of course he was terribly attractive and rich and unmarried — a terrific catch really ... I thought he was divine."
. During World War II
, Stammers played exhibition matches on behalf of the Red Cross and served as an ambulance driver. When the war ended, she captained Britain's Wightman Cup team for a couple of years. In 1949, she and her husband moved to South Africa, where Menzies set up Hill Samuel's
South African operation. They remained there for nearly 20 years, until he was transferred to New York City
to head the office there. She had two sons and a daughter with him.
After her divorce from Menzies in 1974, she married lawyer Thomas Walker Bullitt, whom she had met on the American tennis circuit. Bullitt had been educated in England, came from one of Kentucky's oldest families, and had been an aide to Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery during World War II. The couple lived at Oxmoor Farm
, near Louisville, Kentucky
, which had been in the Bullitt family for ten generations. Stammers laid out and maintained an English garden and indulged her passion for racehorses. She helped run the annual steeplechases on the estate course in aid of a children's charity and, under the Oxmoor Charities Corporation, helped to plan schooling for event riders and summer concerts.
Stammers continued to be interested in tennis throughout her life and attended Wimbledon annually until late in her life when she was no longer able to travel. She died at her home in Louisville and was buried in the family cemetery on 28 December 2005.
NH = tournament not held.
R = tournament restricted to French nationals and held under German occupation.
A = did not participate in the tournament.
SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.
1In 1946 and 1947, the French Championships were held after Wimbledon.
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
player from the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
Career
Stammers was born in St AlbansSt Albans
St Albans is a city in southern Hertfordshire, England, around north of central London, which forms the main urban area of the City and District of St Albans. It is a historic market town, and is now a sought-after dormitory town within the London commuter belt...
, United Kingdom where her parents taught her to play tennis on the grass court at their family home. Left-handed and with a good forehand, Stammers played an attacking style of tennis and was trained by Dan Maskell
Dan Maskell
Daniel "Dan" Maskell was an English tennis player, who later became even better known as a radio and television commentator on the game, and was known as the BBC's "voice of tennis"....
.
Stammers played in an era when the women's game was dominated by Helen Wills Moody
Helen Wills Moody
Helen Newington Wills Roark , also known as Helen Wills Moody, was an American tennis player. She has been described as "the first American born woman to achieve international celebrity as an athlete."-Biography:...
, Helen Jacobs
Helen Jacobs
Helen Hull Jacobs was a World No. 1 American female tennis player who won ten Grand Slam titles. She was born in Globe, Arizona, United States.- Tennis career :...
, and Alice Marble
Alice Marble
Alice Marble was a World No. 1 American tennis player who won 18 Grand Slam championships : 5 in Singles, 6 in Women's Doubles, and 7 in Mixed Doubles.-Early life:Born in the small town of Beckwourth, Plumas County, California, Marble moved with her family at the age of...
. But Stammers defeated Jacobs in a 1939 Wimbledon
The Championships, Wimbledon
The Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon , is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, considered by many to be the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the other three Majors...
semifinal and in singles matches at the 1935 and 1936 Wightman Cup
Wightman Cup
The Wightman Cup was a team tennis competition for women contested from 1923 through 1989 between teams from the United States and Great Britain. U.S. player Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman wanted to generate international interest in women's tennis the way Davis Cup did for men's...
. At the 1935 Kent championships in Beckenham, England, Stammers became the first British player to beat Moody in 11 years.
According to Wallis Myers and John Olliff of The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
, Stammers was ranked in the world top ten in 1935, 1936, 1938, 1939, and 1946, reaching a career high of World No. 2 in those rankings in 1939.
Stammers won the women's doubles title at Wimbledon
The Championships, Wimbledon
The Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon , is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, considered by many to be the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the other three Majors...
in 1935 and 1936 with partner Freda James Hammersley. She also won the women's doubles title at the 1935 French Championships with partner Peggy Scriven. Her best performances in women's doubles at the U.S. Championships were in 1936, 1937, and 1938 when she reached the semifinals and in 1939 when she reached the final. In the 1936 semifinal, she and partner Marble were defeated by Jacobs and Sarah Palfrey Cooke
Sarah Palfrey Cooke
Sarah Hammond Palfrey Fabyan Cooke Danzig was a female tennis player from the United States....
6–2, 21–19. In the 1939 final, she and partner Hammersley lost to Marble and Cooke 6–1, 6–2.
Appearance
Stammers' physical appearance ensured that she attracted more than the usual interest from the press and public. In 1936, for example, an article in TimeTime (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine described her (somewhat patronisingly) as "pretty Kay Stammers, whom English critics like to describe as the 'typical' British girl tennist, and who likes lacrosse, cricket, lump sugar and planters' punches." Stammers' tennis clothes were much detailed in the newspapers. She designed her own shorts in uncrushable linen cut full to four inches above the knee and wore them with an open-necked shirt. While playing on the west coast of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Stammers visited Hollywood studios and had a screen test. She dated John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
and was photographed with him at the Kennedy family's Hyannis Port compound. She said that JFK was "spoilt by women. I think he could snap his fingers and they’d come running. And of course he was terribly attractive and rich and unmarried — a terrific catch really ... I thought he was divine."
Personal life
In 1939, Stammers married Michael Menzies, then in the Welsh GuardsWelsh Guards
The Welsh Guards is an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Guards Division.-Creation :The Welsh Guards came into existence on 26 February 1915 by Royal Warrant of His Majesty King George V in order to include Wales in the national component to the Foot Guards, "..though the order...
. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Stammers played exhibition matches on behalf of the Red Cross and served as an ambulance driver. When the war ended, she captained Britain's Wightman Cup team for a couple of years. In 1949, she and her husband moved to South Africa, where Menzies set up Hill Samuel's
Hill Samuel
Hill Samuel is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lloyds TSB's Offshore Private Banking unit. It was formerly a leading British merchant bank and financial services firm before the takeover by TSB Group Plc. in 1987, which itself merged with Lloyds Bank to become Lloyds TSB in 1995.-History:In 1832,...
South African operation. They remained there for nearly 20 years, until he was transferred to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to head the office there. She had two sons and a daughter with him.
After her divorce from Menzies in 1974, she married lawyer Thomas Walker Bullitt, whom she had met on the American tennis circuit. Bullitt had been educated in England, came from one of Kentucky's oldest families, and had been an aide to Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery during World War II. The couple lived at Oxmoor Farm
Oxmoor Farm
-External links:*Oxmoor Farm is the location of the Food literacy project. They are a non-profit education agency partnering with a working farm to teach the Louisville community about the processes and products of organic and local agriculture...
, near Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
, which had been in the Bullitt family for ten generations. Stammers laid out and maintained an English garden and indulged her passion for racehorses. She helped run the annual steeplechases on the estate course in aid of a children's charity and, under the Oxmoor Charities Corporation, helped to plan schooling for event riders and summer concerts.
Stammers continued to be interested in tennis throughout her life and attended Wimbledon annually until late in her life when she was no longer able to travel. She died at her home in Louisville and was buried in the family cemetery on 28 December 2005.
Grand Slam singles tournament timeline
| Tournament | 1931 | 1932 | 1933 | 1934 | 1935 | 1936 | 1937 | 1938 | 1939 | 1940 | 1941 - 1944 | 1945 | 19461 | 19471 | Career SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia Australian Open The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court... |
A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | NH | NH | A | A | 0 / 0 |
| France | A | A | 3R | QF | 1R | A | A | A | A | NH | R | A | A | A | 0 / 3 |
| Wimbledon The Championships, Wimbledon The Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon , is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, considered by many to be the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the other three Majors... |
2R | 4R | 4R | 3R | QF | QF | 4R | QF | F | NH | NH | NH | QF | QF | 0 / 11 |
| United States | A | A | A | QF | SF | SF | QF | QF | SF | A | A | A | 3R | A | 0 / 7 |
| SR | 0 / 1 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 21 |
NH = tournament not held.
R = tournament restricted to French nationals and held under German occupation.
A = did not participate in the tournament.
SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.
1In 1946 and 1947, the French Championships were held after Wimbledon.
See also
- Performance timelines for all female tennis players who reached at least one Grand Slam finalTennis performance timeline comparison (women)This article presents in a tabular form the career tennis Grand Slam, World Hard Court Championships and Olympic singles results of every woman who has reached the singles final of at least one Grand Slam, World Hard Court Championships or Olympic tournament during her career...