The vicar of Wimbledon

Approach with joy his courts unto.

TO begin at the conclusion, the answer to Tuesday's question was that John Hartley, Wimbledon winner in 1879 and 1880, was a Church of England priest - for 45 years vicar of Burneston, near Bedale.

Hartley is probably the only men's singles winner to be what's still called a clerk in holy orders; Vere St Leger Gould, whom he beat in 1879, is probably the only finalist to have been convicted of murder - though several, metaphorically at least, appear to have got away with it.

Both are extraordinary stories and we shall return to them shortly. They are topped, however, by the sort of coincidence about which jobbing journalists can only dream.

All these years later, all those ructions and all those rallies, a weekend back in that small North Yorkshire village on July 26-27 will celebrate the memory of Canon Hartley and the restoration of the courts that so manifestly he approached with joy.

Ann Jones, women's singles winner in 1969, will unveil a plaque in Hartley's memory. Ian Ritchie, chief executive of the All England Lawn Tennis Club will speak at a £50-a-head-dinner.

There'll be tennis, and champagne and strawberries, of course.

Burneston Hall, the former vicarage where Hartley practised, is now occupied by chartered surveyor Roger Woolhouse and his wife Kate. "The tennis court was totally neglected," says Kate.

"We found an old net in a shed but it almost fell into dust when we touched it. It was such a shame.

"We've put two years hard work into restoring the court. I can't say it'll be Wimbledon standard, but it's really very good. It's a quite incredible tale."

FIRST parson singular, John Thorneycroft Hartley was born in Wolverhampton in 1849, one of two priests from that Black Country town to achieve high sporting distinction.

Kenneth Hunt, the other, scored one of second division Wolverhampton Wanderers' goals in the 3-1 FA Cup final defeat of mighty Newcastle in 1908, was ordained the following year and won two full England caps in 1911.

Renowned for his energy, Hartley is said to have courted Alice Lascelles, his future wife, by riding to the River Swale, swimming across it and meeting her on the opposite bank.

The 1879 tournament was Wimbledon's third. On the Saturday evening, having won the quarter-final, he caught a train back north in order to fulfill his Sabbath duties - first service, second service - with the intention of returning later on Sunday.

He was told, however, that a parishioner was ill and likely to die. Hartley stayed with him until his passing in the early hours of Monday, returned to the vicarage to pick up sandwiches, rode to Thirsk railway station, caught a train to Kings Cross and a horse-drawn carriage to Wimbledon, changing into tennis clothing on the way.

Down 6-2 after the first set, he appeared not to have a prayer. "It was then," recalls a book called Great Sporting Eccentrics, "that the Great Umpire in the sky decided that one good turn deserved another, and down came the rain."

Hartley had a cup of tea, a rest and whatever else clergy do in such straitened circumstances and won the remaining sets 6-0, 6-1, 6-1.

Gould, the Irish champion, succumbed 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 and never contested Wimbledon again.

Hartley was the first Wolverhampton lad to win Wimbledon, an' all.

After the storms of 1879, 1880 was the year that sun shone upon the righteous. Playing Herbert Lawford in the final, before a record 1,300 crowd, Hartley won the first set under cloudy skies.

When the sun came out, it shone straight into his opponent's eyes.

He won by three sets to one.

Hartley also reached the final in 1881, losing to W C Renshaw - who went on to win the singles title seven times, a record equalled by Pete Sampras.

VERE Thomas St Leger Gould was a professional gambler, travelling the world to play the tables and not really a good bet at all.

A Danish widow befriended by Gould and his wife Violet loaned them money but in Monte Carlo in 1907 demanded its return.

Gould killed her, packed her body into a trunk and, somewhat inexplicably, addressed it back to his quarters in London.

On Monte Carlo railway station, however, a porter smelled something was up, opened the trunk and called the gendarmerie.

Gould was arrested, pleaded guilty and was sent to penal servitude on Devil's Island.

A loser in the game of saints and sinners, he died there two years later.

JOHN Hartley served St Lambert's church in Burneston until 1919, the altar and surrounding woodwork his gift in 1908. He died, in Harrogate, aged 86.

The Woolhouse family moved to the former vicarage, home of champions, four years ago. "We were aware of the story and are keen tennis players but that's not the reason we bought it," says Kate. "We just fell in love with the house."

The Saturday dinner, at which both Ann Jones and Ian Ritchie will speak, is at nearby RAF Leeming.

The following day, the former Wimbledon champion will unveil the plaque and start an afternoon of tennis and tea.

The weekend ends with an Evensong service dedicated to Canon Hartley - the whole thing, appropriately, aimed at raising funds for St Lambert's.

The Rev Dr Julie Nelson, priest-in-charge of Burneston and neighbouring parishes, fears that she may not share her predecessor's prowess, however.

"I used to be quite good at school but now I don't think I have a racket and certainly not any tennis whites; it's dreadful.

"I used to be quite good at croquet - I could play that in my cassock."

The court, says Dr Nelson, is looking immaculate. "Mr and Mrs Woolhouse have put a tremendous amount of work, energy and money into it and to get Ann Jones and Ian Ritchie is a real coup."

It will, she promises, be a fantastic weekend - 128 years on, game, set and match to J T Hartley.

Grand Slam titles including - 39 years ago today - the women's singles at Wimbledon.

It spoiled Independence Day for millions of Americans and especially for Billie Jean King, who uncharacteristically double faulted to give Jones victory.

England exulted. According to "The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions", even the Fab Four stopped recording Golden Slumbers to listen to the match on radio.

The first left-handed female to take the title, Jones - now a BBC summariser and tennis administrator - went on to win the mixed doubles with Fred Stolle and to be named BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

The Echo joined the national rejoicing, not only recording the triumph on the front page - the winner's only problem had been the constantly clicking camera shutters; they didn't even oil them, she said - but devoting a leader column to it as well.

"A British women's singles champion may not solve the country's problems,"

we said - familiarly - "but Ann Jones has given a welcome boost to our morals." Morale was probably lifted, too.

BACKTRACK BRIEFS...

TUESDAY'S column had word of mother and son playing together in the same cricket match. It may not be unique, but what happened next could be.

Max Bailey, 16, was joined by mum Sam - "40-ish" - for Willington's second team game against Hylton last weekend.

Usually Sam's scorer, tea lady, whatever. "The first team pinched a couple of players from the seconds, so they had to make up the numbers, too," says Willington chairman John Coe.

Sam batted 11, joining Max at the wicket. "I saw her play a couple of balls, she seemed to be doing OK," says John, who played for the club with his dad.

Then Max hit a shot towards the boundary, called for a second run and turned to find his mum had barely finished the first - he'd run her out, without scoring.

John Coe's sympathetic. "We were all out for 84 and Hylton knocked them off without loss, so it didn't make much difference - but I don't suppose Max got any tea."

MENTION of Malcolm Macdonald the other day prompts David Wilson in Etherley to recall - or think he recalls - the day that Supermac scored direct from a thrown-in.

It was last his last season at Newcastle, thinks David, an FA Cup replay against Bolton Wanderers at St James's. "Macdonald had a monumental throw. It brushed off a Bolton defender and went in, but he was credited with the goal - maybe the only instance of a goal being scored from a throw-in."

The Mags did indeed play Bolton in the 1975-76 FA Cup, but the first match was at home - a certain Sam Allardyce opening the scoring for Wanderers in a 3-3 draw. Though Macdonald scored twice, one was said in the Echo a goal of the season candidate and the other little inferior.

The replay was goalless, United winning the Elland Road replay 2-1 before a 43,440 crowd. Burns and Gowland scored. David blames advancing years; a throw-back, anyway.

FREED by Newcastle United and by Doncaster Rovers, just two goals in nine on-loan games for Darlington, South Shields lad Richard Offiong filled a page of the Daily Record this week - last season's player of the year in the Scottish first division.

Offiong, still just 25, hit 21 goals to help Hamilton Academicals to top flight promotion - and challenges the view that they'll be the Derby County of the SPL.

"I've played more games at Hamilton than at all my other senior clubs put together," says the England Under-20 international. "I want to prove I'm the player I thought I could be."

AND FINALLY...

BACK to SW19. Martin Birtle in Billingham today invites readers to suggest what was used at Wimbledon for 100 years but hasn't been seen since 1985.

Centre court, the column returns on Tuesday.