Cuthbert Collingwood "Ted" Tinling, sometimes known as Teddy Tinling, was an English tennis player, fashion designer, spy and author. He was a firm fixture on the professional tennis tour for over sixty years. He was born in Eastbourne, the son of James Alexander Tinling, a chartered accountant. In 1923, suffering from bronchial asthma, his parents sent him to the French Riviera on doctor's orders. It was there he began playing tennis, particularly at the Nice Tennis Club where the then biggest star of the game, Suzanne Lenglen, would practice. Despite Tinling's youth, Lenglen's father asked him if he would umpire one of her upcoming matches and he would go on to be her personal umpire for two years in between a short career as a player himself. This friendship with Lenglen led him to his first Wimbledon Championships in 1927, where he became player liaison until 1949. During World War II, he was a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Intelligence Corps in Algiers and Germany. Tinling designed dresses for almost all of the great female players throughout the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. 

June 23rd, 1910 in Eastbourne as Cuthbert Collingwood Tinling  /  Died:   May 23rd, 1990