Thomas St Leger - The Murderer who nearly won Wimbledon
Wimbledon’s participants are a disparate crowd, but it’s safe to say that not too many have been involved in murder. There’s one exception – and it involves a casino, a body in two trunks and a couple desperate to turn their financial fortunes around.

On August 6, 1907, The Times ran a story with the stark headline: “A Woman’s Body in a Trunk”. The article that followed ran:

‘After the arrival of the 5.38 train from Monte Carlo this morning, a man and a woman deposited a trunk and a handbag in the cloakroom. Shortly afterwards they asked the porter to send on the luggage to London. The porter, noticing a smell, informed the special police commissary of the station, who seized the two trunks. When opened they were found to contain the remains of a woman cut to pieces. The two travellers were immediately arrested.

‘When interrogated by the examining magistrates, the prisoners said their name was Gold and that they were husband and wife. They came from Monte Carlo. They denied having murdered the woman. According to their story, they only knew her through having met occasionally in the gaming rooms at Monte Carlo. On Sunday last she came to see them to ask for money…’

The accused couple claimed they had been innocent bystanders of a murder and to avoid being implicated, had decided to dismember the body and dispose of it in this unusual manner.

As far as they were concerned, she was a casual acquaintance from the casino who had come to borrow money. Her lover then burst in on them and killed her. At first this was described as by gunshot, but then the story was altered to stabbings as there was no evidence of a bullet wound.

How debts led to murder

The man proved to be Vere Thomas St Leger Goold from Waterford in County Cork, while his wife, Marie, was a Frenchwoman from Isere. It was her third marriage and shortly after they tied the knot in 1891, they emigrated to Montreal, Canada, returning in 1903 to settle in Liverpool where they started a laundry business which failed.

They then moved to Monte Carlo to try to make their fortune on the gaming tables, and, to fuel that craving, borrowed heavily. And, as the prosecution was to prove, borrowing led to stealing and finally murder.

The victim was a Danish woman, Emma Liven, who had lent the Goolds 1,000 francs and jewellery worth 80,000 francs. She had turned up at their flat to reclaim what she was owed but, following a raging argument, was struck dead.

Once the prosecution had unravelled the defendants’ claims, Goold admitted to the crime and in so doing, attempted to distance his wife from the action. This failed because the prosecutor argued there were too many stab wounds for one person to inflict.

Marie continued to deny any involvement but her pleas fell on deaf ears. Both were convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. She went to Montpellier jail where she died six years later, in 1914.

Goold was transported to Devil’s Island, the French penal colony off the South American coast. In the appalling conditions which prevailed there, he survived just one year, dying aged 55.

A flamboyant tennis past

But for a while the younger son of an Irish baron had been the toast of lawn tennis. He became the first Irish Champion in 1879, causing a stir with his dashing style, coming through to the final without dropping a set and triumphing there with an 8-6, 8-6 score over C.D. Barry.

Goold set off to see whether he could repeat his success at Wimbledon, for, despite the tournament’s infancy – it was only the third year of The Championships – a player could still derive much from overall victory and from the seasonal society gatherings.

By all accounts, his flamboyant style was a hit with spectators who were more accustomed to watching baseliners swap shots. As a player looking to attack from the net, the Irishman was a wow with the crowds mingling round the Centre Court at Worple Road.

They followed his progress through the draw as he recorded victories over F. Durant (6-1, 6-2, 6-2), J. Vans Agnew (6-3, 6-2, 6-1), A. J. Mulholland (6-4, 2-6, 6-1, 6-4) and G. E. Tabor (6-2, 6-5, 5-6, 6-3) to make the last four in the All-Comers Draw.

Close to SW19 success

St Leger, as he was known, then failed to capitalise on the rest day provided by a semi-final bye, going down rather tamely to the Reverend John Hartley, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 in the All-Comers Final.

In contrast Hartley had had to rush back to Yorkshire to lead a Sunday service at his church in Burnestone, before returning early Monday morning to play his semi-final. Rain delays helped him though that match against C. F. Parr, while his steadier play the following day ultimately proved superior to the athletic approach of his final challenger.

That match virtually settled the Wimbledon title as the defending champion, Frank Hadow, conceded a walk-over in the Challenge Round. Meanwhile St Leger finished off his trip to the capital with a victory in what was technically a third-place play-off.

A few months later, St Leger competed in the first open tournament held at Cheltenham where he again lost in the final, this time to William Renshaw. He lost a closely fought contest, 6-4, 6-3, 5-6, 5-6, 6-4 having led 4-1 in the fifth.

His tennis career didn’t last much longer. Following an illness he failed to defend his Irish title the following year, losing out in the Challenge Round, again to William Renshaw 6-1, 6-4, 6-3. For a few years he continued to play doubles and was very much involved in the Fitzwilliam Club, before he disappeared from the tennis scene in 1883.

St Leger had made his mark on the fledgling game and, in the fullness of time, his efforts on court could well have been much greater as the game grew in popularity.

Unfortunately he is now better known for that murderous act rather than any of his tennis exploits. But his dashing style and his 15 minutes of fame in 1879 should not be completely forgotten.

Written by Henry Wancke