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Venus Williams and the Tennis family: we made some surprising Wimbledon discoveries with our census records

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By Daisy Goddard | March 18, 2024

Wimbledon sports history

Calling all sports history fanatics - our family history records have revealed some fascinating sporting stories from years ago.

Have you ever wondered if there are any other people named 'Venus Williams', or perhaps who the original Fred Perry was?

Although tennis isn't the national sport of any particular country, it's one of the sports with the largest audiences in the United Kingdom. Every year, the Wimbledon Championships is watched by over five million fans, making it one of the country's largest sporting events.

If you're a tennis buff, you may be interested in these quirky finds that our team of experts have discovered.

You can discover even more sports history stories via the Findmypast blog. From extinct sporting events like fox-tossing to must-read books on the history of football, there is so much to discover.

Findmypast's census records explained

Census records are one of the most important resources for British family history. Because they provide a detailed insight into the country's population at a particular time, they can reveal key information about who your ancestors were and where they lived.

Historical British censuses are held by The National Archives. With Findmypast, you can access censuses online - with records spanning from 1841 to 1921.

Our censuses can help you to trace the history of towns and counties across Britain. From Lancashire in the north to southern counties like Kent and Cornwall, there are so many fascinating local stories to be told. But local genealogy isn't all that can be discovered.

Wimbledon winners and more: delving into sports history

Because names, occupations and addresses are all contained in census records, we can take a look at the surprising names and unconventional occupations of years gone by.

We searched our census records from 1841 to 1921 to find some interesting tennis-themed entries.

Venus Williams, farm labourer?

A far cry from the title-winning professional athlete that we know today, we found a male Venus Williams in the 1901 census. He was employed as a labourer in Hampshire.

As his census return reveals, Venus' parents were hawkers and lived in a caravan along with his seven other siblings.

The story of Mary Wimbledon

In the 1891 census, a Miss Mary Wimbledon aged 3 can be found in the house of her 22-year-old sister Ann Ball at 160 Latimer Road, London. Also present in the house were Ann Ball's husband Richard and their son James, who was seven weeks old.

Ann Ball also appears a decade earlier, in the 1881 Census. At this point, she still carried her maiden name, Wimbledon. In 1881 she was recorded living with her parents William and Elizabeth Wimbledon, as well as her four siblings.

The family were living at 14 Thresher Cottages, Kensington, where William worked as a brickmaker and Elizabeth as a washer.

The family likely had a long line of Londoner ancestors who went by 'Wimbledon'. They have what is known as a 'place surname', that is, a last name that takes its name from a specific area, town or city. Learn more about the seven types of English surnames.

Fred Perry

A Fred Perry can be found in the 1861 census, living with his parents and sister who were tailors in Sawbridgeworth.

Also in the 1851 census, another person by the name of Fred Perry can be found in Lenton, Nottinghamshire. Aged 14, he worked as a lace winder. Funnily enough, much like the Fred Perry of Wimbledon fame, the name seems to lend itself to those working with fabric.

In addition to these namesakes, we were able to find the actual Fred Perry in the 1921 Census. Long before beginning the professional tennis career that would take him across the globe and earn him a reputation as one of the most skilled players in Tennis history, Fred came from humble beginnings.

Born in Stockport in 1909, Frederick John Perry is found living with his parents Samuel and Hannah and his sister Edith in 1921.

A left-wing political figure, Fred's father lists his occupation as the secretary of the Co-operative Party. Eight years later, Samuel would become the Labour and Co-operative Party MP for Kettering.

His son Frederick would go on to compete in local tennis matches by the age of 18. After winning championships up and down the country in the 1920s, Fred played in Europe and moved to the United States for his career in the mid-1930s. His professional career began in 1936 - by this point, he'd spent three years as the world's number-one amateur player.

Between his championship success and iconic clothing line, Fred Perry became one of the most popular sports figures of the 20th century.

A family of budding Grand Slam champions?...

In the 1841 Census, we found a rather large Tennis family living on Smith Street in Warwick. The head of the household was William Tennis (aged 40), who lived with his wife Margaret Tennis (also aged 40).

Together the couple had three daughters and six sons - a household of 11 Tennises.

Although tennis isn't considered a team sport (like football and rugby are), we have to wonder whether members of the sprawling Tennis family could make some mean competition in a doubles match.

These finds outline just a few of the fascinating people who can be found in our census collection. From 1841 right up to 1921, Findmypast's census records are an amazing resource for researching your own family story, as well as for providing a snapshot of British social history.

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