Ernie Collins
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St Martins Valley in 1921 was devoted almost entirely to market gardening, says club historian and life member, Ernie Collins. It had been subdivided in 1882 into 163 lots and put on the market at about £100 for 2 acres. Within a decade, a dozen or more farmers had settled.
It was probably the success of Anthony Wilding, who resided in a large homestead just off St Martins Road and who became Wimbledon Singles Champion from 1910 to 1914, that gave rise to the popularity of tennis in early Christchurch. It may also have given the incentive for a group of well-known local residents to form a tennis club in the valley.
Market gardener George Partridge and his son Frederick made available an area of land big enough to site four tennis courts, although only three were built initially. Ten people were present at the first meeting in 1922 of subscribers to what started out as The St Martins Tennis, Bowling and Croquet Club.
The courts were sited in open land, and a row of polar trees were planted for shelter. Roscoe Street was not formed until after World War II when the valley was being developed as a residential area. The fourth court (now court one, shown in the photo above, opposite the clubhouse) and the first pavilion were built in the late 1930s.
Here are a few photos taken at the club. The first two were of the club and the winning inter-club team in 1936. Then there are a few taken in the early 1980s, before the current clubhouse was built.
(In case you're wondering, 1983 Closing Day
involved gender-swap fancy dress.)
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Obituary for Marion Day (1936 - 2006)
Published in the Christchurch Press, Saturday July 29, 2006
Click here to view the news clipping (a 160KB image)
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