An Irishwoman’s Diary on a Wimbledon finalist and a grisly killing

They said that he was a joy to behold on the tennis court. They said that he shook the mothballs out of tennis and brought style and excitement to the game. They said that he caused quite a stir with his dashing style at Fitzwilliam tennis club in Dublin when he became the very first Irish tennis champion in 1879. They said that he took Wimbledon by storm in that same year. His flamboyant tennis style delighted spectators who were more accustomed to a long, slow-paced game. He drew in the crowds and became the darling of Wimbledon. He was in huge demand also on the social scene and was swamped with invitations to seasonal society gatherings. He was Vere Thomas St Leger Goold – the youngest son of an Irish baron from Waterford. His adoring fans called him simply St Leger.

Having won his way through to the final at Wimbledon he was beaten by Rev John Hartley 2-6, 4-6, 2-6. They said that St Leger was suffering from a massive hangover and was unable to play with his usual pizzazz.

Undaunted, St Leger went on, that same summer, to compete in the first ever open tennis tournament at Cheltenham where, again, he made it to the final but lost to William Renshaw with the same malaise that he suffered at the Wimbledon final.

St Leger’s style of tennis certainly influenced the game at that time and caused it to become more and more popular. The following year his tennis career took a nosedive when he failed to defend his Irish title because of an undefined illness.

However, he remained on the Irish tennis scene, being very involved with the Fitzwilliam Club. By 1883 he had drifted away from the tennis courts until he surfaced again in a different kind of court altogether – a court of law in France – where he was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life on Devil’s Island.

Devil's Island was part of the notorious French penal colony of French Guiana. The inmates were everything from political prisoners to thieves, anarchists and murderers, all banished to the harsh conditions of the disease-infested island never to be seen again. Very few escaped and there are amazing stories of those who did – in particular the book by Henri Charrière detailing his time on and escape from Devil's Island. It which was made into a film in 1970 called Papillon starring Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman. But St Leger didn't escape. Neither did he survive very long to tell the tale.

It began in Monte Carlo in 1907 where a couple arrived and rented a villa for the season giving their names as Sir Vere and Lady Gould. According to witnesses, Sir Vere was an exceedingly nice and well-spoken gentleman who let it be known that he wasn’t short of a few bob. His wife was a French lady who spoke English fluently and they were both accepted readily into society there. It was noted that Lady Gould “had great energy with complete authority over her husband”. Soon they were regulars at the tables in the Casino and as the season progressed their luck ran out and they were heavily in debt. As a result of this they had to borrow from a friend – Emma Liven, who lent them 1,000 francs and jewellery worth 80,000 francs. When here was no sign of her loan being repaid, she called on them one evening at their rented villa in Monte Carlo.

On August 6th, 1907, a man and woman left a trunk and hand baggage in the cloakroom of the train station in Marseilles. The porter was instructed to send the luggage on to their London address but as he complied he noticed what he thought to be blood leaking from it. The gendarmes were called, and when the trunk was opened they found it contained the dismembered body parts of a woman.

The travellers were caught and arrested and charged with the murder of Emma Liven. There was plenty of proof of their guilt at the villa, added to which, some of Emma Liven’s jewellery was found in Lady, or perhaps I should I say, Madame Goold’s handbag. The court in Paris found them both guilty of murder.

Vere Thomas St Leger Goold was transported to Devil’s Island to serve his life sentence. The flamboyant tennis star died there the following year aged 55.

His wife was sentenced to life imprisonment in Montpellier jail. Six years later she died there of typhoid fever.