Cairns boys hits the news
 

So what did happen back on the opening day on court three in 1964 and is the story true?: Why did lineswoman (sorry that's not very pc) Why did Lineperson Mrs. Dorothy Cavis Brown (note a women) not give the call? She had been sitting on a warm summers day on court three during a first round match between Abe Segal and Clark Graebner?  What was Robert (Robbie) Thornton a Ball boy from Goldings doing? had gone over to see if she wanted a wake-up call so she could watch the rest of the match in her ring side seat, all will be revealed below but will leave you with one un-answered question.

The Independent reported in 2001: The infamous case of Mrs Dorothy Cavis-Brown, who was a line judge on the opening day of the 1964 Championships, springs to mind. She fell asleep in her chair on Court Three during the first-round match between Abe Segal of South Africa and Clark Graebner of the United States. So solidly was she napping that Segal eventually had to go over and tap her on the shoulder to rouse her from her slumber. The cause of her drowsiness was not too much work (it was the first day, after all), nor too much sun, nor boredom. In the morning  she had attended the traditional opening-day umpires' cocktail party. The event has never taken place since.

The Guardian reported: Mrs Dorothy Cavis Brown who nodded off during a match between Clark Graebner and Abe Segal. Later she dismissed speculation that it was the result of a liquid lunch by explaining that she had only had a single small gin and some olive oil to line her stomach.

The Independent Court News view: During a 1964 match between Clark Graebner and Abe Segal, lineswoman Dorothy Cavis-Brown fell asleep at courtside. Abe Segal walked over and woke her. Wimbledon officials gave her a few days off to get some sleep.

Alan Mills recalled: A infamous episode that was before my time In 1964, a lineswoman named Dorothy Cavis-Brown fell fast asleep on court 3 out by Wimbledon's ivy-covered water tower, and a news photographer snapped a panoramic shot of the embarrassing scene that ran all over the globe (( edit )) and is still being shown on some web sites with the true facts,,,,,

"Those were the days when play started at 2 o'clock, and the officials had a cocktail party at 12 o'clock, so obviously there was quite a lot of drink consumed," Mills explained "It was a beautiful day, a lot of sunshine. This poor lady just dozed off in the middle of the match, and was made to look very, very silly by the players. She was never seen again."

The true facts of the incident are:  Robert (Robbie) Thornton did try to awaken Mrs. Dorothy Cavis-Brown but did not want to push/tap her too hard, but Abe Segal from South Africa was not so gentle in waking the line judge with a sharp tap on her shoulder she awoke to the whole court looking at her, she was lost for words. So history records Abe Segal  who woke Dorothy Cavis-Brown and not our Robert (Robbie) Thornton from Cairns House who did try.  Abe Segal  won the match  6-2 4-6 6-3 6-4 Which leaves the question why Prince Phillip who was at Wimbledon in person that day and was watching cricket on TV?  Was it the smell of burgers or a Goldings boy who had upset him?

Game set and match

NB Until 2008 the name of the ball boy was listed as Freddie Workman. David Fall wrote: The picture of the ball boy waking up a line judge was captioned as  Freddie  Workman . . . I'm 99% sure it was rather a young Scotsman called Robert (Robbie) Thornton, also a Cairns house inmate. The reason I'm fairly sure it was Robbie was because I was a ball boy in 63-64 and seem to think the incident happened on court two or perhaps three.