This biography is republished from The Dictionary of Irish Biography and was written by Joseph McNabb. Shared by permission in line with Creative Commons ‘Attribution’ (CC BY) licencing.
Born: 1895, Ireland
Died: 6 March 1991
Country most active: Ireland
Also known as: Rosetta Phoebe Newell
White, Rosetta Phoebe Blair- (1895–1991), tennis player, was born in Omagh, Co. Tyrone, daughter of R. J. Newell , DL and JP, of Hillside, Omagh. She developed her tennis skills by playing every day against a wall in Monkstown, Co. Dublin, to where she had moved as a young woman. She married (31 December 1918) Arthur Blair-White (MBE, 1918) of Mulrough House, Lifford, Co. Donegal, son of Richard Blair-White, of Monkstown, Co. Dublin, who became president of the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland in 1920. They had three daughters.
She first came to notice as a player in 1919 when she won the hotly contested Monkstown lawn tennis club’s ladies’ championships. She repeated her success in this event with wins in 1920 and 1921. Another notable success was her victory in the prestigious ladies’ singles championships at the Boat Club tournament in Belfast in 1923. By that time, along with Hilda Wallis and Norma Stoker, Blair-White was among the finest lady tennis players in Ireland. This status ensured that she earned a place on the Irish tennis team that competed at the 1924 Olympics in Paris, the last time tennis would be held at the games until 1988. She was defeated in her first matches in the ladies’ singles and (alongside Hilda Wallis) ladies’ doubles events. Her defeat in the first round of the mixed doubles competition, partnered by William G. Ireland, underlined the vast gulf in standard between domestic Irish tennis and its international equivalent. The Irish duo lost in straight sets, picking up only four games against their British opponents, one of whom was L. A. Godfree.
On her return from the Olympics, Blair-White continued with her impressive string of domestic victories. In 1924 she again won at the Boat Club tournament in Belfast, and repeated this success the following year. Arguably her finest year within the domestic sphere was when she captured the all-comers ladies’ singles title at the Fitzwilliam Club in Dublin in 1928. Her victory in the same year in the all-comers ladies’ doubles event, partnered by Rosie Fleming, also of Omagh, capped a remarkably successful tournament. Blair-White repeated her success in the all-comers singles event in 1931, a notable achievement as she was by now in the autumn of her career. Before that, in 1929, she had played at Wimbledon, but here again the wide division in standard between domestic and international competition had proved too much for Blair-White to bridge, and she was eliminated early from the competition. Throughout her career she represented Ireland in numerous international ties against England and Australia. She maintained her interest in tennis by playing the game with her grandchildren until well into her seventies. She spent her last years in Surrey, England, where she died 6 March 1991. She is buried beside her husband in Lifford, Co. Donegal.