Vere St. Leger Goold
Cover of Le Petit Journal, No. 875 from August 25, 1907
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| Full name | Vere Thomas Goold |
|---|---|
| Country (sports) |
 Ireland
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| Born |
2 October 1853 Clonmel, County Tipperary, Ireland |
| Died | 8 September 1909 (aged 55) Île du Diable, French Guiana |
| Singles | |
| Highest ranking | No. 2 (1879, Karoly Mazak) |
| Grand Slam Singles results | |
| Wimbledon | F (1879) |
Vere Thomas "St. Leger" Goold (2 October 1853 – 8 September 1909) was an Irish tennis player. He quickly faded from the game and took his own life on Devil's Island, where he was serving a life sentence for murder.
Vere Goold was born into a wealthy family. In his early life he apparently had boxing skills as well as tennis skills. In June 1879 he became the first Irish tennis champion after defeating C.D. Barry, 8–6, 8–6 in the final. Later that summer Vere tried his luck at the third edition of the Wimbledon Championships and made it all the way to the All-Comers final in which he was defeated by Reverend John Hartley, 2–6, 4–6, 2–6.
A few months later he competed in the first open tournament held at Cheltenham. He again reached the final and lost, this time to the famous William Renshaw, in a closely fought match, 4–6, 3–6, 6–5, 6–5, 4–6. He wasted a 4–1 lead in the final set.
After an illness he failed to defend his Irish title in 1880, losing out in the Challenge Round, again to William Renshaw 1–6, 4–6, 3–6. St. Leger's career went downhill and he disappeared from the tennis scene by 1883.
Vere Goold's life after 1883 was wasted on drink and drugs. One day he was asked by a relative to pay a bill at a dressmaker's shop in the Bayswater section of London that was owned by a Miss Marie Giraudin. This French lady (from most accounts) was not beautiful but could charm people when she wanted. It was not too difficult for her to charm Goold, who was from a prominent Irish social family. The accounts of the case are not always in tandem, but she had been married twice before, and she was a woman of very expensive tastes. Apparently she did not care how she got the money to pay for them. Unfortunately Vere Goold was not from the wealthy portion of his family, and whatever prospects he had were long gone. The dressmaker's shop was not a real success, especially as Mrs. Goold apparently borrowed money from many of her customers.
In 1891, Goold married Marie Giraudin. The couple quickly descended into debt. They moved to Montreal, Canada in 1897 where Marie had a dressmaking establishment before moving to Liverpool in 1903 to manage a laundry business.
In 1907 Mrs. Goold convinced Vere Goold to go to Monte Carlo to try their luck at the casino. She thought she had a winning method for the gambling tables. They took with them her niece, Isabelle Giraudin. They also used the titles of "Sir" Vere and "Lady" Goold, which they claimed they were entitled to use. According to Charles Kingston the system did not work, but Leonard Gribble's account suggests that it worked for at least a couple of days or a week. However, soon the Goolds were without funds. They met a wealthy Swedish woman, Emma Levin, at the Casino, the widow of a Stockholm broker. Mrs. Levin already had a parasitical "friend" named Madame Castellazi, but soon the widow had Mrs. Goold as well. The two "hangers-on" detested each other, and finally had a public dispute in the Casino. This got into the social columns at Monte Carlo, and Madame Levin decided she had to leave the city because of the publicity.
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