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{{Short description|English tennis player and fencer}}
{{EngvarB|date=November 2013}}
{{EngvarB|date=November 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox tennis biography
{{Infobox tennis biography
|name = Toupie Lowther
|name = Toupie Lowther
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|birth_date = 15 April 1874
|birth_date = 15 April 1874
|birth_place = [[London]], England
|birth_place = [[London]], England
|death_date = {{death date|df=yes|1944|12|30|1874|4|15}}
|death_date = {{death date|df=yes|1944|12|30|1874|4|15}} (age 69)
|death_place = [[Pulborough]], England
|death_place = [[Pulborough]], England
|height =
|height =
|college =
|college =
|turnedpro =
|turnedpro = 1891 (amateur tour)
|retired =
|retired = 1907
|plays =
|plays =
|careerprizemoney =
|careerprizemoney =
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|website =
|website =
|singlesrecord =
|singlesrecord =
|singlestitles =
|singlestitles =12
|highestsinglesranking =
|highestsinglesranking =
|currentsinglesranking =
|currentsinglesranking =
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}}
}}


'''May "Toupie" Lowther''' (also '''Toupée''';<ref name="myers1903">Arthur Wallis Myers (1903): ''Lawn Tennis at Home and Abroad.'' Scribner's sons, New York, p. 181, 182. ([https://archive.org/details/lawntennisathom00myergoog online])</ref> 15 April 1874 – 30 December 1944) was an English tennis player and fencer active during the late 19th century and early 20th century. During the First World War, she led an all-female English unit of ambulance drivers assisting the French Army and was awarded the [[Croix de guerre 1914–1918 (France)|Croix de Guerre]].<ref name="times1919">{{cite news |title= Englishwomen With The French Army – Miss Toupie Lowther's Unit |work=[[The Times]] |publisher=The Times Digital Archive |page= 13 |date=5 August 1919 }}</ref>
'''May "Toupie" Lowther''' (also '''Toupée'''; 15 April 1874 – 30 December 1944) was an English tennis player and fencer, active during the late 19th century and early 20th century. During the First World War, she led an all-female English unit of ambulance drivers assisting the French Army and was awarded the [[Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France)|Croix de Guerre]].


==Early life and family==
==Early life and family==
Lowther was born in London, the daughter of Francis William Lowther, born in Italy, and Louise Beatrice de Fonblanque, born in Montreal. She was the sister of [[Claude Lowther]], MP for Lonsdale.
Lowther was born in London, the daughter of Francis William Lowther, born in Italy, and Louise Beatrice de Fonblanque, born in Montreal. She was the sister of [[Claude Lowther]], MP for Lonsdale.
Francis William was the illegitimate son of the [[William Lowther, 2nd Earl of Lonsdale]] and Emilia Cresotti, an Italian opera singer.<ref>{{cite book | first=Keith | last=Grieves | chapter=Lowther, Claude William Henry (1870–1929) | title=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=2004 | chapterurl=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/39465 | accessdate=14 January 2007}}</ref> Her maternal grandfather was the historian [[Edward Barrington de Fonblanque]]. Two years before Toupie's birth, the Earl of Lonsdale died and left her father a healthy inheritance of £125,000 ({{Inflation|UK|125000|1872|r=-3|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}). She was educated in France at the boarding school Les Ruches in [[Avon, Seine-et-Marne]] and received a bachelor's of science from the [[Paris-Sorbonne University|Sorbonne]].<ref name="times1919"/>
Francis William was the illegitimate son of the [[William Lowther, 2nd Earl of Lonsdale]] and Emilia Cresotti, an Italian opera singer.<ref>{{cite ODNB | first=Keith | last=Grieves | chapter=Lowther, Claude William Henry (1870–1929) | title=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography | year=2004 | doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/39465 | chapter-url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/39465 | access-date=14 January 2007}}</ref> Her maternal grandfather was the historian [[Edward Barrington de Fonblanque]]. Two years before Toupie's birth, the Earl of Lonsdale died and left her father a healthy inheritance of £125,000 ({{Inflation|UK|125000|1872|r=-3|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}). She was educated in France at the boarding school Les Ruches in [[Avon, Seine-et-Marne]] and received a bachelor's of science from the [[Paris-Sorbonne University|Sorbonne]].<ref name="times1919"/>


==Tennis career==
==Tennis career==


Lowther was a gifted athlete. ''[[The Times]]'' described her as "a brilliant fencer and sportswoman, who could hold her own in anything that required skill and brains."<ref name="times1919"/> She was well known as an amateur player in championship women's tennis, and during the tennis season was a regular participant in the British tournaments at Edgbaston, Beckenham, Manchester and Wimbledon as well as on the traditional European circuit. In particular she played frequently at the German Ladies Championships (held at the prestigious Bad Homburg Tennis Club) from 1896–1901 and then in Hamburg (the Eisbahn-Verein auf der Uhlenhorst).
Lowther was a gifted athlete. ''[[The Times]]'' described her as "a brilliant fencer and sportswoman, who could hold her own in anything that required skill and brains."<ref name="times1919"/> She was well known as an amateur player in championship women's tennis, and during the tennis season was a regular participant in the British tournaments at Edgbaston, Beckenham, Manchester and Wimbledon as well as on the traditional European circuit. In particular she played frequently at the German Ladies Championships (held at the prestigious Bad Homburg Tennis Club) from 1896–1901 and then in Hamburg (the Eisbahn-Verein auf der Uhlenhorst).<ref name="myers1903">Arthur Wallis Myers (1903): ''Lawn Tennis at Home and Abroad.'' Scribner's sons, New York, p. 181, 182. ([https://archive.org/details/lawntennisathom00myergoog online])</ref>


In 1898, at Bad Homburg she lost to compatriot [[Elsie Lane]] 5–7, 5–7 after a "brilliant, albeit erratic, Toupée (sic) Lowther who had abandoned her usual play in favour of an uninspired game from base line in two straight sets."<ref>{{cite book|last=Gillmeister|first=Heiner|title=Tennis : A Cultural History|year=1998|publisher=Leicester University Press|location=London|isbn=978-0718501952|page=272|edition=Repr.}}</ref> In 1899 she lost a close match in an early round to Charlotte "Chatty" Cooper, (later Mrs Sterry). After leading 5–1 in the second set Toupie lost six games in a row.<ref>Gillmeister, p.278</ref> However Toupie was finally victorious at Bad Homburg in 1901 defeating Gladys Duddell in the final 6–0, 6–0, a victory described as the result of "patience and perseverance".<ref>Gillmeister, p.282</ref>
In 1898, at Bad Homburg she lost to compatriot [[Elsie Lane]] 5–7, 5–7 after a "brilliant, albeit erratic, Toupée (sic) Lowther who had abandoned her usual play in favour of an uninspired game from base line in two straight sets."<ref>{{cite book|last=Gillmeister|first=Heiner|title=Tennis : A Cultural History|url=https://archive.org/details/tennisculturalhi0000gill|url-access=registration|year=1998|publisher=Leicester University Press|location=London|isbn=978-0718501952|page=[https://archive.org/details/tennisculturalhi0000gill/page/272 272]|edition=Repr.}}</ref> In 1899 she lost a close match in an early round to Charlotte "Chatty" Cooper, (later Mrs Sterry). After leading 5–1 in the second set Toupie lost six games in a row.<ref>Gillmeister, p.278</ref> However Toupie was finally victorious at Bad Homburg in 1901 defeating Gladys Duddell in the final 6–0, 6–0, a victory described as the result of "patience and perseverance".<ref>Gillmeister, p.282</ref>


Lowther won the singles event at the [[British Covered Court Championships]] in 1900, 1902 and 1903.<ref>{{cite book|last=Robertson|first=Max|title=The Encyclopedia of Tennis|year=1974|publisher=Allen & Unwin|location=London|isbn=9780047960420|page=209}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article23837785 |title=LAWN TENNIS. |newspaper=[[The West Australian]] |location=Perth |date=16 June 1900 |page=3 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> In 1901 she won the singles title at the [[WTA Hamburg|German Championships]], held that year in [[Bad Homburg]], and received her prize, a gold [[brooch]], from [[Edward VII|King Edward]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article21267532 |title=NEWSY NOTES. |newspaper=[[The Queenslander]] |date=19 October 1901 |page=759 Supplement: Unknown |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Between 1900 and 1907 she made five appearances at the [[Wimbledon Championships]], playing in the singles event. Her best result was reaching the semifinals in 1903, losing in straight sets to eventual champion [[Dorothea Douglass Lambert Chambers]], as well as in 1906, this time losing in three sets to [[Charlotte Cooper Sterry]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Wimbledon players archive – T. Lowther|url=http://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/scores/draws/archive/players/a0c66e46-df00-48b1-bf9b-06b3d9a8d856/index.html|publisher=AELTC}}</ref>
Lowther won the singles event at the [[British Covered Court Championships]] in 1900, 1902 and 1903.<ref>{{cite book|last=Robertson|first=Max|title=The Encyclopedia of Tennis|year=1974|publisher=Allen & Unwin|location=London|isbn=9780047960420|page=209}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article23837785 |title=LAWN TENNIS. |newspaper=[[The West Australian]] |location=Perth |date=16 June 1900 |page=3 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> In 1901 she won the singles title at the [[WTA Hamburg|German Championships]], held that year in [[Bad Homburg]], and received her prize, a gold [[brooch]], from [[Edward VII|King Edward]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article21267532 |title=NEWSY NOTES. |newspaper=[[The Queenslander]] |date=19 October 1901 |page=759 Supplement: Unknown |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Between 1900 and 1907 she made five appearances at the [[Wimbledon Championships]], playing in the singles event. Her best result was reaching the semifinals in 1903, losing in straight sets to eventual champion [[Dorothea Douglass Lambert Chambers]], as well as in 1906, this time losing in three sets to [[Charlotte Cooper Sterry]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Wimbledon players archive – T. Lowther|url=http://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/scores/draws/archive/players/a0c66e46-df00-48b1-bf9b-06b3d9a8d856/index.html|publisher=AELTC}}</ref>
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==World War I==
==World War I==
During World War I, frustrated with the lack of opportunities the British Army offered women during the war, she organised an all-female team of ambulance drivers, the Hackett-Lowther Ambulance Unit in France.<ref name="times1919"/> The unit consisted of 20 cars and 25 to 30 women drivers and operated close to the front lines of battles in [[Compiègne]], France and was attached to the [[2nd Army Corps (France)|2nd Army Corps]] of the [[Third Army (France)|French Third Army]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Halberstam|first=Judith|title=Female Masculinity|year=1998|publisher=Duke Univ. Press|location=Durham, North Carolina|isbn=978-0822322436|pages=84–85|edition=7. printing.}}</ref> She was awarded the [[Croix de guerre]] in July 1918.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Carter|first1=David|title=Carlisle in the Great War|date=2014|publisher=Pen and Sword|isbn=9781783376131|page=215|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_fxsBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA215&lpg=PA215|accessdate=31 July 2017|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Wachman|first=Gay|title=Lesbian Empire : Radical Crosswriting in the Twenties|year=2001|publisher=Rutgers University Press|location=New Brunswick, N.J.|isbn=978-0813529424|page=212}}</ref> Additionally she was the London president of the ''Relief for Belgian prisoners in Germany'' committee.<ref>{{cite book|title=Arms and the Woman : War, Gender, and Literary Representation|year=1989|publisher=Univ. of North Carolina Pr.|location=Chapel Hill u.a.|isbn=978-0807842560|page=154|editor=Helen M. Cooper}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Belgian Prisoners in Germany Relief Committee|url=http://archive.thetablet.co.uk/article/18th-november-1916/12/belgian-prisoners-in-germany-relief-committeein-co|publisher=The Tablet|page=668|date=18 November 1916}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Belgian Prisoners in Need|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/09/09/97026321.pdf|newspaper=The New York Times|date=9 September 1918|format=PDF}}</ref> She returned to London in August 1919 after two-and-a-half years in France.<ref name="times1919"/>
During World War I, frustrated with the lack of opportunities the British Army offered women during the war, she organised an all-female team of ambulance drivers, the Hackett-Lowther Ambulance Unit in France.<ref name="times1919"/> The unit consisted of 20 cars and 25 to 30 women drivers and operated close to the front lines of battles in [[Compiègne]], France and was attached to the [[2nd Army Corps (France)|2nd Army Corps]] of the [[Third Army (France)|French Third Army]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Halberstam|first=Judith|title=Female Masculinity|url=https://archive.org/details/femalemasculinit00judi|url-access=registration|year=1998|publisher=Duke Univ. Press|location=Durham, North Carolina|isbn=978-0822322436|pages=[https://archive.org/details/femalemasculinit00judi/page/84 84–85]|edition=7. printing.}}</ref> She was awarded the [[Croix de Guerre]] in July 1918.<ref name="times1919">{{cite news |title= Englishwomen With The French Army – Miss Toupie Lowther's Unit |work=[[The Times]] |page= 13 |date=5 August 1919 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Carter|first1=David|title=Carlisle in the Great War|date=2014|publisher=Pen and Sword|isbn=9781783376131|page=215|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_fxsBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA215|access-date=31 July 2017|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Wachman|first=Gay|title=Lesbian Empire : Radical Crosswriting in the Twenties|year=2001|publisher=Rutgers University Press|location=New Brunswick, N.J.|isbn=978-0813529424|page=212}}</ref> Additionally she was the London president of the ''Relief for Belgian prisoners in Germany'' committee.<ref>{{cite book|title=Arms and the Woman : War, Gender, and Literary Representation|url=https://archive.org/details/armswoman00emil|url-access=registration|year=1989|publisher=Univ. of North Carolina Pr.|location=Chapel Hill u.a.|isbn=978-0807842560|page=[https://archive.org/details/armswoman00emil/page/154 154]|editor=Helen M. Cooper}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Belgian Prisoners in Germany Relief Committee|url=http://archive.thetablet.co.uk/article/18th-november-1916/12/belgian-prisoners-in-germany-relief-committeein-co|publisher=The Tablet|page=668|date=18 November 1916}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Belgian Prisoners in Need|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/09/09/97026321.pdf|newspaper=The New York Times|date=9 September 1918}}</ref> She returned to London in August 1919 after two-and-a-half years in France.<ref name="times1919"/>


Lowther was a close friend of [[Radclyffe Hall]], author of ''[[The Well of Loneliness]]''<ref>https://livesofthefirstworldwar.org/lifestory/5145722</ref> and Hall drew on some of Lowther's experiences in depicting the life and character of its [[protagonist]] Stephen.
Lowther was a close friend of [[Radclyffe Hall]], author of ''[[The Well of Loneliness]]''<ref>{{Lives of WWI | id= 5145722 | name= May Toupie Lowther }}</ref> and Hall drew on some of Lowther's experiences in depicting the life and character of its [[protagonist]] Stephen.


==Popular culture==
==Popular culture==
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Toupie Lowther is depicted as a member of a secret society of bodyguards protecting the leaders of the radical [[suffragettes]] in the graphic novel trilogy ''[[Suffrajitsu: Mrs. Pankhurst's Amazons]]'' (2015).
Toupie Lowther is depicted as a member of a secret society of bodyguards protecting the leaders of the radical [[suffragettes]] in the graphic novel trilogy ''[[Suffrajitsu: Mrs. Pankhurst's Amazons]]'' (2015).


She was also portrayed in ''Murder in Montparnass'', a [[Phryne Fisher]] novel by [[Kerry Greenwood]] (2002).
==Singles finals==


===Wins (8)===
==Career finals==
===Singles (20) titles (12) runners up (8)===
{| class="wikitable" style="display:inline-table;"
|- style="background:#ffc;"
!Category + (Titles)
|- style="background:#f3e6d7"
| Major (0)
|- style="background:#d0f0c0"
| National (3)
|- style="background:#add8e6"
| International (8)
|- style="background:#dfe2e9"
| Provincial/Regional/State (0)
|- style="background:#fae7b5"
| County 0)
|-
| Regular (1)
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="display:inline-table;"
!Titles by Surface
|-
|Clay – Outdoor (8)
|-
|Grass – Outdoor (1)
|-
|Hard – Outdoor (0)
|-
|Carpet – Indoor (0)
|-
|-
|Wood – Indoor (3)
|-
|}
{| class="sortable wikitable"
{| class="sortable wikitable"
|-
|-
!style="width:15px"|No
!style="width:40px"|Result
!style="width:40px"|Year
!style="width:40px"|Year
!style="width:230px"|Championship
!style="width:250px"|Tournament
!style="width:200px"|Opponent
!style="width:60px"|Surface
!style="width:240px"|Opponent
!style="width:120px" class="unsortable"|Score
!style="width:120px" class="unsortable"|Score
|-
|-
| 1900 || [[British Covered Court Championships]] || {{flagicon|GBR}} [[Edith Austin]] || 2–6, 7–5, 6–4
|1.||style="background:#98FB98;" |Win ||1891|| [[Aldeburgh Lawn Tennis Tournament]] ||Grass||{{flagicon|GBR}} Miss Carter || 6–4, 0–6, 6–4
|-=
|-
|2. ||style="background:#98FB98;" |Win||1895 ||style="background:#add8e6"| [[The Homburg Cup]] ||Clay ||{{flagicon|Germany|empire}} S. Pollen|| 6–2, 6–1
⚫
| 1901 || [[WTA Hamburg|German Championships]] || {{flagicon|GBR}} [[Gladys Duddell]]|| 6–0, 6–0
|-
|-
| 1902 || [[British Covered Court Championships]] || {{flagicon|GBR}} [[Gladys Duddell]] || 6–3, 6–1
|1.||style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss||1896 ||style="background:#add8e6"| [[The Homburg Cup]] ||Clay ||{{flagicon|GBR}} [[Elsie Lane]]|| 0–6, 2–6
|-
|-
|2.||style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss||1898||style="background:#add8e6"| [[The Homburg Cup]] ||Clay ||{{flagicon|GBR}} [[Elsie Lane]]|| 5–7, 5–7
⚫
| 1903 || Monte Carlo Championships || {{flagicon|GBR}} M. Brooksmith || 6–3, 6–1
|-
|-
| 1903 || [[British Covered Court Championships]] || {{flagicon|FRA}} [[Adine Masson]] || 6–1, 6–0
|3.||style="background:#98FB98;" |Win ||1900 ||style="background:#d0f0c0"| [[British Covered Court Championships]] ||Wood (i) ||{{flagicon|GBR}} [[Edith Austin]] || 2–6, 7–5, 6–4
|-
|3.||style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss||1901 ||style="background:#fae7b5"| [[Middlesex Championships]] ||Grass ||{{flagicon|GBR}} [[Charlotte Cooper Sterry]]|| 3–6, 2–6
|-
|-
| 1904 || Homburg Cup || {{flagicon|GBR}} [[Elsie Lane]] || 6–2, 7–5
|4.||style="background:#98FB98;" |Win||1901 ||style="background:#add8e6"| [[The Homburg Cup]] <small>(2)</small>||Clay ||{{flagicon|GBR}} Blanche Duddell|| 6–0, 6–0
|-
|-
⚫
|5.||style="background:#98FB98;" |Win||1901 ||style="background:#add8e6"| [[WTA Hamburg|German Championships]] ||Clay ||{{flagicon|GBR}} [[Gladys Duddell]]|| 6–0, 6–0
⚫
| 1906 || Cannes Championships || Mme. Popp {{efn|name=pseudonym|Name is listed between quotes in 18 April 1906 issue of ''Lawn Tennis and Badminton'' which indicates that it is a pseudonym.}}|| 6–4, 6–4
|-
|-
|6.||style="background:#98FB98;" |Win||1902 ||style="background:#d0f0c0"| British Covered Court Championships <small>(2)</small>||Wood (i)||{{flagicon|GBR}} [[Gladys Duddell]] || 6–3, 6–1
⚫
| 1906 || Championships of the South of France || {{flagicon|GBR}} [[Gwendoline Eastlake-Smith]] || 6–4, 5–7, 6–3
|-
|4.||style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss||1902 ||style="background:#add8e6"| [[The Homburg Cup]] ||Clay ||{{flagicon|GBR}} [[Charlotte Cooper Sterry]]|| 2–6, 6–2, 3–6
|-
⚫
|7.||style="background:#98FB98;" |Win ||1903 ||style="background:#add8e6"| [[Monte Carlo Championships]] ||Clay ||{{flagicon|GBR}} [[Mildred Brooksmith]] || 6–3, 6–1
|-
|8.||style="background:#98FB98;" |Win||1903||style="background:#add8e6"| [[The Homburg Cup]] <small>(3)</small>||Clay ||{{flagicon|Germany|empire}} [[Clara von der Schulenburg]]||1–6, 6–4, 6–0
|-
|9.||style="background:#98FB98;" |Win ||1903 ||style="background:#d0f0c0"| British Covered Court Championships <small>(3)</small>||Wood (i)||{{flagicon|FRA}} [[Adine Masson]] || 6–1, 6–0
|-
|10.||style="background:#98FB98;" |Win ||1904 ||style="background:#add8e6"|[[The Homburg Cup]] <small>(4</small>||Clay ||{{flagicon|GBR}} [[Elsie Lane]] || 6–2, 7–5
|-
|5.||style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss||1905||style="background:#add8e6"| [[The Homburg Cup]] ||Clay ||{{flagicon|GBR}} [[Dorothea Douglass Lambert Chambers|Dorothea Douglass]]|| 3–6, 5–7
|-
|6.||style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss ||1906 ||style="background:#add8e6"| [[Baden Baden International]] ||Clay ||{{flagicon|GBR}} [[Dorothea Douglass Lambert Chambers|Dorothea Douglass]]|| 4–6, 4–6
|-
⚫
|11.||style="background:#98FB98;" |Win ||1906 ||style="background:#add8e6"| [[Cannes Championships]] ||Clay ||{{flagicon|Germany|empire}} Antonie Kusenberg Popp {{efn|name=pseudonym|Played as Mme Popp name is listed between quotes in 18 April 1906 issue of ''Lawn Tennis and Badminton'' which indicates that it is a pseudonym.}}|| 6–4, 6–4
|-
⚫
|12.||style="background:#98FB98;" |Win ||1906 ||style="background:#add8e6"| [[South of France Championships]] ||Clay ||{{flagicon|GBR}} [[Gwendoline Eastlake-Smith]] || 6–4, 5–7, 6–3
|-
|7.||style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss ||1907 ||style="background:#add8e6"| [[Cannes Championships]] ||Clay ||{{flagicon|GBR}} [[Ruth Winch]]|| 0–6, 1–6
|-
|8.||style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss ||1907||style="background:#d0f0c0"| [[Welsh Championships]] ||Grass||{{flagicon|USA}} May Sutton || 0–6, 5–7
|-
|}
|}


==Notes==
==Notes==
{{notelist}}
{{Notelist}}


==References==
==References==
{{reflist|2}}
{{Reflist|2}}


==External links==
==External links==
{{Commons category|Toupie Lowther}}
{{Commons category|Toupie Lowther}}
*[http://toupielowther.com/ ToupieLowther.com: Tribute site]
*[http://toupielowther.com/ ToupieLowther.com: Tribute site]

{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Lowther, Toupie}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lowther, Toupie}}
[[Category:British female tennis players]]
[[Category:1874 births]]
[[Category:1874 births]]
[[Category:1944 deaths]]
[[Category:1944 deaths]]
[[Category:LGBT tennis players]]
[[Category:LGBTQ tennis players]]
[[Category:Lowther family|Toupie]]
[[Category:British women in World War I]]
[[Category:British women in World War I]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France)]]
[[Category:British recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France)]]
⚫
[[Category:Sportspeople from London]]
⚫
[[Category:English people of Huguenot descent]]
[[Category:English female tennis players]]
[[Category:English female tennis players]]
[[Category:Tennis people from Greater London]]
[[Category:British female tennis players]]
⚫
[[Category:Tennis players from London]]
⚫
[[Category:English lesbian sportswomen]]

Latest revision as of 01:03, 2 November 2024

Toupie Lowther
Full nameMay Lowther
Country (sports) United Kingdom
Born15 April 1874
London, England
Died(1944-12-30)30 December 1944 (age 69)
Pulborough, England
Turned pro1891 (amateur tour)
Retired1907
Singles
Career titles12
Grand Slam singles results
WimbledonSF (1903, 1906)

May "Toupie" Lowther (also Toupée; 15 April 1874 – 30 December 1944) was an English tennis player and fencer, active during the late 19th century and early 20th century. During the First World War, she led an all-female English unit of ambulance drivers assisting the French Army and was awarded the Croix de Guerre.

Early life and family

[edit]

Lowther was born in London, the daughter of Francis William Lowther, born in Italy, and Louise Beatrice de Fonblanque, born in Montreal. She was the sister of Claude Lowther, MP for Lonsdale. Francis William was the illegitimate son of the William Lowther, 2nd Earl of Lonsdale and Emilia Cresotti, an Italian opera singer.[1] Her maternal grandfather was the historian Edward Barrington de Fonblanque. Two years before Toupie's birth, the Earl of Lonsdale died and left her father a healthy inheritance of £125,000 (equivalent to £14,097,000 in 2023). She was educated in France at the boarding school Les Ruches in Avon, Seine-et-Marne and received a bachelor's of science from the Sorbonne.[2]

Tennis career

[edit]

Lowther was a gifted athlete. The Times described her as "a brilliant fencer and sportswoman, who could hold her own in anything that required skill and brains."[2] She was well known as an amateur player in championship women's tennis, and during the tennis season was a regular participant in the British tournaments at Edgbaston, Beckenham, Manchester and Wimbledon as well as on the traditional European circuit. In particular she played frequently at the German Ladies Championships (held at the prestigious Bad Homburg Tennis Club) from 1896–1901 and then in Hamburg (the Eisbahn-Verein auf der Uhlenhorst).[3]

In 1898, at Bad Homburg she lost to compatriot Elsie Lane 5–7, 5–7 after a "brilliant, albeit erratic, Toupée (sic) Lowther who had abandoned her usual play in favour of an uninspired game from base line in two straight sets."[4] In 1899 she lost a close match in an early round to Charlotte "Chatty" Cooper, (later Mrs Sterry). After leading 5–1 in the second set Toupie lost six games in a row.[5] However Toupie was finally victorious at Bad Homburg in 1901 defeating Gladys Duddell in the final 6–0, 6–0, a victory described as the result of "patience and perseverance".[6]

Lowther won the singles event at the British Covered Court Championships in 1900, 1902 and 1903.[7][8] In 1901 she won the singles title at the German Championships, held that year in Bad Homburg, and received her prize, a gold brooch, from King Edward.[9] Between 1900 and 1907 she made five appearances at the Wimbledon Championships, playing in the singles event. Her best result was reaching the semifinals in 1903, losing in straight sets to eventual champion Dorothea Douglass Lambert Chambers, as well as in 1906, this time losing in three sets to Charlotte Cooper Sterry.[10]

She was described with affection by the tennis writers of the time. The brothers Reginald and Laurence Doherty invited her to write a chapter entitled Ladies' Play for their book Lawn Tennis published in 1903 and George Hillyard, the All England Tennis Club Secretary for many years and husband to Blanche Hillyard in his book Forty Years of First Class Tennis (1924) was glowing in his appreciation: "Here is the extraordinary case of a player whose potentialities were greater than any other English lady who ever walked onto a court, but who, unfortunately was saddled with a temperament which was so hopelessly unsuitable to lawn tennis that it reduced her play.... not one, but at least 2 classes below what her form should have been... It is no flight of imagination to say that had Miss Lowther been blessed with the temperament of a Mrs Sterry or a Mrs Lambert Chambers, she might have been as fine a player as Mlle Lenglen herself."[11][a]

Lowther was also an outstanding fencer, a keen motorist, weightlifter and practitioner of jujitsu.[3] In a fencing article in the July 1899 issue of Harmsworth Magazine she is described as "Perhaps the most clever among the younger generation of lady fencers...., who may justly be termed the champion swordswoman of the kingdom."[13] An article in The Herald in 1901 mentions her as the lady fencing champion of England.[14] A lesbian, she was known as 'Brother' by Romaine Brooks, and she crossed the alps on a motorbike with her god-daughter Fabienne Lafargue De-Avilla riding pillion.[15]

World War I

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During World War I, frustrated with the lack of opportunities the British Army offered women during the war, she organised an all-female team of ambulance drivers, the Hackett-Lowther Ambulance Unit in France.[2] The unit consisted of 20 cars and 25 to 30 women drivers and operated close to the front lines of battles in Compiègne, France and was attached to the 2nd Army Corps of the French Third Army.[16] She was awarded the Croix de Guerre in July 1918.[2][17][18] Additionally she was the London president of the Relief for Belgian prisoners in Germany committee.[19][20][21] She returned to London in August 1919 after two-and-a-half years in France.[2]

Lowther was a close friend of Radclyffe Hall, author of The Well of Loneliness[22] and Hall drew on some of Lowther's experiences in depicting the life and character of its protagonist Stephen.

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Toupie Lowther is depicted as a member of a secret society of bodyguards protecting the leaders of the radical suffragettes in the graphic novel trilogy Suffrajitsu: Mrs. Pankhurst's Amazons (2015).

She was also portrayed in Murder in Montparnass, a Phryne Fisher novel by Kerry Greenwood (2002).

Career finals

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Singles (20) titles (12) runners up (8)

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Category + (Titles)
Major (0)
National (3)
International (8)
Provincial/Regional/State (0)
County 0)
Regular (1)
Titles by Surface
Clay – Outdoor (8)
Grass – Outdoor (1)
Hard – Outdoor (0)
Carpet – Indoor (0)
Wood – Indoor (3)
No Result Year Tournament Surface Opponent Score
1. Win 1891 Aldeburgh Lawn Tennis Tournament Grass United Kingdom Miss Carter 6–4, 0–6, 6–4
2. Win 1895 The Homburg Cup Clay Germany S. Pollen 6–2, 6–1
1. Loss 1896 The Homburg Cup Clay United Kingdom Elsie Lane 0–6, 2–6
2. Loss 1898 The Homburg Cup Clay United Kingdom Elsie Lane 5–7, 5–7
3. Win 1900 British Covered Court Championships Wood (i) United Kingdom Edith Austin 2–6, 7–5, 6–4
3. Loss 1901 Middlesex Championships Grass United Kingdom Charlotte Cooper Sterry 3–6, 2–6
4. Win 1901 The Homburg Cup (2) Clay United Kingdom Blanche Duddell 6–0, 6–0
5. Win 1901 German Championships Clay United Kingdom Gladys Duddell 6–0, 6–0
6. Win 1902 British Covered Court Championships (2) Wood (i) United Kingdom Gladys Duddell 6–3, 6–1
4. Loss 1902 The Homburg Cup Clay United Kingdom Charlotte Cooper Sterry 2–6, 6–2, 3–6
7. Win 1903 Monte Carlo Championships Clay United Kingdom Mildred Brooksmith 6–3, 6–1
8. Win 1903 The Homburg Cup (3) Clay Germany Clara von der Schulenburg 1–6, 6–4, 6–0
9. Win 1903 British Covered Court Championships (3) Wood (i) France Adine Masson 6–1, 6–0
10. Win 1904 The Homburg Cup (4 Clay United Kingdom Elsie Lane 6–2, 7–5
5. Loss 1905 The Homburg Cup Clay United Kingdom Dorothea Douglass 3–6, 5–7
6. Loss 1906 Baden Baden International Clay United Kingdom Dorothea Douglass 4–6, 4–6
11. Win 1906 Cannes Championships Clay Germany Antonie Kusenberg Popp [b] 6–4, 6–4
12. Win 1906 South of France Championships Clay United Kingdom Gwendoline Eastlake-Smith 6–4, 5–7, 6–3
7. Loss 1907 Cannes Championships Clay United Kingdom Ruth Winch 0–6, 1–6
8. Loss 1907 Welsh Championships Grass United States May Sutton 0–6, 5–7

Notes

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  1. ^ During the 1906 Wimbledon Championships the Lawn Tennis and Badminton journal described her as follows: "Miss Lowther has one of the best services possessed by and lady, while her style is good and very severe: but she just lacks enough steadiness".[12]
  2. ^ Played as Mme Popp name is listed between quotes in 18 April 1906 issue of Lawn Tennis and Badminton which indicates that it is a pseudonym.

References

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  1. ^ Grieves, Keith (2004). "Lowther, Claude William Henry (1870–1929)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/39465. Retrieved 14 January 2007. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ^ a b c d e "Englishwomen With The French Army – Miss Toupie Lowther's Unit". The Times. 5 August 1919. p. 13.
  3. ^ a b Arthur Wallis Myers (1903): Lawn Tennis at Home and Abroad. Scribner's sons, New York, p. 181, 182. (online)
  4. ^ Gillmeister, Heiner (1998). Tennis : A Cultural History (Repr. ed.). London: Leicester University Press. p. 272. ISBN 978-0718501952.
  5. ^ Gillmeister, p.278
  6. ^ Gillmeister, p.282
  7. ^ Robertson, Max (1974). The Encyclopedia of Tennis. London: Allen & Unwin. p. 209. ISBN 9780047960420.
  8. ^ "LAWN TENNIS". The West Australian. Perth: National Library of Australia. 16 June 1900. p. 3.
  9. ^ "NEWSY NOTES". The Queenslander. National Library of Australia. 19 October 1901. p. 759 Supplement: Unknown.
  10. ^ "Wimbledon players archive – T. Lowther". AELTC.
  11. ^ G.W. Hillyard "Forty Years of First Class Lawn Tennis" pub. Williams & Norgate Ltd, London 1924
  12. ^ "Ins and Outs". Lawn Tennis and Badminton. XI (288): 210. 4 July 1906.
  13. ^ "Lady Fencers – transcript of an article in The Harmsworth Magazine, issue July 1899". HROARR.
  14. ^ "Fencing for Ladies". New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11644. 4 May 1901. p. 5.
  15. ^ Souhami, Diana (2004). Wild Girls : Paris, Sappho and art : the lives and loves of Natalie Barney and Romaine Brooks. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. p. 146. ISBN 029764386X.
  16. ^ Halberstam, Judith (1998). Female Masculinity (7. printing. ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Duke Univ. Press. pp. 84–85. ISBN 978-0822322436.
  17. ^ Carter, David (2014). Carlisle in the Great War. Pen and Sword. p. 215. ISBN 9781783376131. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  18. ^ Wachman, Gay (2001). Lesbian Empire : Radical Crosswriting in the Twenties. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press. p. 212. ISBN 978-0813529424.
  19. ^ Helen M. Cooper, ed. (1989). Arms and the Woman : War, Gender, and Literary Representation. Chapel Hill u.a.: Univ. of North Carolina Pr. p. 154. ISBN 978-0807842560.
  20. ^ "Belgian Prisoners in Germany Relief Committee". The Tablet. 18 November 1916. p. 668.
  21. ^ "Belgian Prisoners in Need" (PDF). The New York Times. 9 September 1918.
  22. ^ May Toupie Lowther on Lives of the First World War
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