Inauguration

Kilbirnie Tennis Club was founded in August 1933. The club was initially called the Crawford Hill Municipal Tennis Club and included the top three courts only of the present day club. The courts, site for pavillion, and access path (on Crawford Hill just above the present day club) were built by unemployed workers funded through the work relief schemes of the Great Depression.

An opening ceremony for the club was held Saturday 14 October 1933 (pictured above). In attendance at the opening ceremony were:

• Bernard Ashwin (Sir), 1896-1975, standing holding baby in the front row in the picture above. Ashwin was founding President. He was also a highly influential public servant, later becoming Head of The Treasury between 1939 and 1955. He organised the club's founding management committee and together with some of them arranged Wellington City Council approvals, funding, and construction of the club. Ashwin remained president of the club until at least 1942 [last year as President to be verified].
• Guest Bob Semple, 1873-1955, with toothbrush moustashe at centre of the picture above. Semple was the local Member of Parliament (Wellington East, later Miramar, electorate) 1928-1954 and member of Wellington City Council (1925-1935). "Semple was a prolific user of 'unparliamentary language' during his time as an MP and was fond of insulting colleagues by calling or comparing them to Australian animals such as Kookaburras, kangaroos, and dingoes [Wikipedia]."
• Guest Nesbitt Armstrong (Sir), 1875-1953, with horseshoe mustache immediately behind Semple. Armstrong was elected to the NZ Labour Party Central Executive in 1932 and inherited a baronetry in 1922 after the death of the 3rd Baronet Armstrong.
• Founding Management Committee members, with lapel ribbons in the picture above including:
  E.J.McQuade - Club Captain (in the striped jacket just behind Armstrong at the centre),
  C.A.Shaw - Secretary (standing in front row immediately to right of Ashwin),
  F.Kinniburgh (in dark jacket standing immediately to right of Shaw),
  R.G.Collins (crouching in front, first from left),
  E.Lindsay (crouching in front, second from left),
  J.G.McDonald - Treasurer (crouching in front, third from left), and
  R.Collins (crouching in front, fourth from left, with cap).
  Absent from or not identifiable in the picture are G.H.Turner and C.R.Barringer (Committee Chair).
• Nearly 100 inaugural club members and their friends, some of whom are pictured above.

In 1935, a pavilion was erected for the Crawford Hill Lawn Municipal Tennis Club.

In 1937, Crawford Hill Lawn Municipal Tennis Club affiliated with the Wellington Lawn Tennis Association (later Wellington Tennis Association). The club has been affiliated ever since.

By the early 1960s, the club name was changed to Crawford Hill Tennis Club.

Te Ope Tennis Club / Wellington Diamond United Tennis Club

Another tennis club was also founded on the present day Kilbirnie Tennis Club site. This club began in 1930 and was called Te Ope (The Army) Tennis Club. It occupied the lower courts. It had three courts at right angles to the present day two courts.

Pictured above are Te Ope Tennis Club members c1937. The new Te Ope Tennis Club pavilion can be seen at the left and the Crawford Hill Tennis Club pavilion can be seen in the background.

The Te Ope Tennis Club pavllion was erected in 1937.

Te Ope Tennis Club later became the Wellington Diamond United Tennis Club [date and exact name to be verified].

Kilbirnie Tennis Club

In 1980, Crawford Hill Tennis Club absorbed the Wellington Diamond United Tennis club. The combined club, now encompassing both the upper and lower courts, was renamed Kilbirnie Tennis Club. Also in 1980, the original Te Ope Tennis Club pavillion was extended, refurbished, and enhanced with a deck to become the present day attractive clubrooms. The original pavillion for the Crawford Hill Tennis Club was dismantled and removed during the 1980s. The foundations for Crawford Hill Tennis Club pavillion can still be seen just beyond the fence next to Court 5. The access path for the upper courts was also closed and left to return to a natural state. This path, however,, on Crawford Hill just above the present day club, can still be walked.

In 2011, the top three courts were re-surfaced with TigerTurf synthetic grass. This surface remains in place today.

In 2012, the lower three courts were converted into two courts aligned at right-angles to the previous courts. A Synpave acryllic surface was added. This surface remains in place today.