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The Birth of Lawn Tennis

This sequence of photos is intended to show the work done in clearing the area in Warstone Lane Cemetery near Harry Gem's grave. First two on left taken in September last year, the third in October after the Council team had been in to tidy up. The right hand two taken last weekend show the results of the sterling work undertaken by the Friends in clearing out all the weeds and extraneous shrubbery. They've also unearthed the continuation of the perimeter path which will give better access to this part of the cemetery. Spot some of the bottle collection!!
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Robert I was only joking about the bottles as I helped a little on one of the clear up days. The work done by the volunteers is fantastic and opened up lost areas of the cemetery. Thank you for posting the photo's they show all the hard work that has been done!
 
We're awaiting news of progress on the application for a Bishop's Faculty. In the meantime we're raising funds towards the cost of the eventual erection of a memorial on Gem's grave. Also we are seeking donations towards the cost of much needed conservation of the Gem Scrapbook held in the Birmingham Central Library archives. Perhaps readers/members of this forum could help with donations? Any amount/ideas for fundraising welcomed. Look out too for an open day July at Edgbaston Archery & Lawn Tennis Society, the oldest lawn tennis club in the world. Not only will there be the opportunity to try your hand at tennis but you can bring along tennis memorabilia for assessment and valuation too. More details at www.theharrygemproject.co.uk
 
Having read through the information at www.theharrygemproject.co.uk I thought that I would have a go at seeing if we could provide more information on the other Gems that are mentioned as residing in Warstone Lane
The cemetery archives record the burials of several other people by the name of Gem. There is Helen Maria Gem buried also in section P (see brown dot on plan) whom we haven’t been able to connect to Harry as yet.
Buried in the catacombs (see blue area on plan) is Fanny Gem whom we believe to be Harry’s sister Frances who died in 1898. It is understood that her body was moved here from Christ Church, central Birmingham……

In section H there is the grave of one Ernest Walter Gem died 1868. Again we are researching to establish whether there is a family connection.
Click to expand...

Helen Maria Gem
I have traced Helen Maria Gem - she is Thomas Henry Gem's aunt (sister of Thomas' father). In 1851, she is aged 53 and unmarried. She is living with William Henry Gem (her brother) and his family (Sarah (wife), Charles H, Frances A, Agnes A, George S and Thomas H)

In 1861, Helen Maria Gem is an unmarried visitor, staying with the Willcox family at 120 Bath Row.
In 1871, she is living with her sister (Frances Painter (widow) at Selly Place, Pershore Rd
The death of Helen Maria Gem, aged 77 was registered in Q1 1873 (GRO ref is Kings N 6c 290). Working backwards from this date, she was born in 1796. The census returns indicate that she was born in Aston.

Frances Gem
I can't spot a death for Frances (or Fanny) Gem in 1898. The only one that I can see is Frances Gem, Q4 1865 (GRO Ref Aston 6d 216). The death certificate is needed to see how this female fits in.

Ernest Walter Gem
Born Q3 1868 (GRO ref Birmingham 6d 195)
Died Q3 1868 (GRO ref Birmingham 6d 170), age 0
To ascertain his parentage, we would need to order the birth certificate.

If no-one has these certificates, I am willing to order them from Birmingham Reg Office in the furtherance of the Gem project.

John Willcox
One other thing that I noticed is that the project page suggests that John Willcox is buried apart from Harry, with his details recorded on the memorial to Harry. The report of the funeral (which I have) says “The coffin was then borne to the grave, which is situated in the lower part of the cemetery, and is the same grave as that in which Mrs Gem’s father was buried”. I think that the only way to check this is using the records at Handsworth, unless Brian or Wendy have the relevant information in their records.
 
I've looked at the WL summary disk we have- we can only search by Surname, not grave number, so checked Willcox as well as Gem

In P 1564 is
John Willcox 1856
Thomas henry Gem 1881
Ann Willcox 1888
Ellen M Gem 1899 (Helen Maria?)

It says there are 4 in the grave and there was a memorial Inscription, which is no longer present.
It appears the Bishops Office are still contemplating if we can do a little light digging to see if anything remains in the topsoil.

Brian
 
Yes Brian, a Bishop's Faculty has been applied for on behalf of the Harry Gem Project. Waiting eagerly with a trowel at the ready! I was told by the Handsworth office that only TH Gem, Ann Willcox and Ellen M Gem are in 1564 and that John Willcox is in 1364 although he is commemorated on the headstone to 1564.
 
Ellen M and Helen M are different people. I spotted Ellen M on one of the census returns I was looking at last night. I'm not at home again until tomorrow , but I'll check then.

Brian, if you remember I had a transcription from for my Heptinstall grave, so they should probably be able to provide the same for the Gem grave.
The fact that Bob's info from Handsworth differs from your info from their records and also the newspaper report, probably means that we should try to get in there to check, as it's quite possible that Bob and the project have the correct info.

Brian, is there a grave number for Helen M Gem?
 
Chris Elks (right) and I re-enacted Harry Gem and Augurio Perera's first game of lawn tennis, on Wednesday 25th May, in the garden of Perera's old home in Ampton Rad, Edgbaston, where the two pals first experimented with the game in 1859.
 
Thanks Bob. I'll see if I can come up with the details for the others on Helen Maria's gravestone
 
I'm thinking about the anomaly of John Willcox supposedly buried in one grave (P1364) but commemorated on another (P1564). Could it be a simple transcription error in the records - reading 3 as a 5?

leslam said:
Ellen M and Helen M are different people. I spotted Ellen M on one of the census returns I was looking at last night. I'm not at home again until tomorrow , but I'll check then.

Brian, if you remember I had a transcription from for my Heptinstall grave, so they should probably be able to provide the same for the Gem grave.
The fact that Bob's info from Handsworth differs from your info from their records and also the newspaper report, probably means that we should try to get in there to check, as it's quite possible that Bob and the project have the correct info.

Brian, is there a grave number for Helen M Gem?
Click to expand...
 
Or a mis-reading when cross-referencing the registers to give you the information?
I keep coming back to the fact the the newspaper report makes a point that he was buried in the same grave as "Mrs Gem's father"......
 
Yes, that's what I originally thought. Must have read it in the press article.

leslam said:
Or a mis-reading when cross-referencing the registers to give you the information?
I keep coming back to the fact the the newspaper report makes a point that he was buried in the same grave as "Mrs Gem's father"......
Click to expand...
 
The BMSGH transcribed from photographs of the Register pages, some of which are difficult to read at the best of times, so 3's & 5' are easy to confuse.

Don't think I can across to handsworth this week to look at the originals.
Brian
 
Baptism dates for William Henry Gem, Mary Gem and Helen Maria Gem (children of Thomas Gem and Maria):
All were baptised at Aston Juxta (source IGI reel C011685)
William Henry Gem - 18 Jan 1793 (age 1)
Mary Gem - 29 Dec 1795
Helen Maria Gem - 29 Dec 1795
​
If I go to the library this week, I'll check to see if there are any more details on the microfilm.
 
I have found the following additional children for Thomas and Maria, baptised in Harborne. IGI does not say which church, even though they are extracted records, so I will have to do a bit more work to find the church and the actual records.
Chas Edwin Gem b 6 Jun 1799, bapt 23 Jan 1801
Frances Gem b 3 Nov 1800, bapt 23 Jan 1801 (this must be the girl who appears as Frances Painter, Helen Maria's sister in the 1871 census)
​
This means that there is a bit of a gap between the children in #169 and these children,so there may therefore be others still to be found.
 
What an amazing find the photo of Harry Gem is it is wonderful. The web site is very good with lots of information. I can't help thinking what many people would be doing this week without Wimbledon. I am not a big fan but did manage to watch the Andy Murray match which was very good. It was lovely to see Kate and William there with lots of celebrities including Sir Cliff Richard. I think we owe Harry Gem a great dept for giving us the sport and enjoyment of lawn tennis.
 
I walked past here the other day, and the house had scaffolding on it (plaque still there, but behind scaffolding).

The date might be the first match they had.

The nearby WTA Aegon Classic just finished over the weekend at the Edgbaston Priory Club. Shame they had a lot of rain during the week it was on.
 
The plaque was put put some time around 1972 when it was thought that Gem and Perera started experimenting in 1865. Since 1972 it has been established that their experiments date back to 1859 (correspondence in The Field magazine of 1874 being the source material). So the date of 1865 is actually now irrelevant.
 
I notice that "Britains secret homes" on ITV tonight features as one of its items (probably for about 5 min) a Birmingham house that featured in the birth of lawn tennis
 
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