At this time of year we must pay homage to a resident of East Sheen who won the Ladies Singles at Wimbledon twice a hundred years ago and whose blue plaque shines on the front wall of her house in York Avenue.

Kitty Godfree, who had lost to Suzanne Lenglen of France in the Finals in 1923, duly won the title in 1924 beating Helen Wills Moody of the USA, and again in 1926 beating Lili de Alvarez of Spain.  She thereby bridged the gap between Suzanne Lenglen who had won the Wimbledon Singles six times, and Helen Wills Moody, who went on to win the Wimbledon Singles 8 times.  

Tennis at that time was an Olympic sport and Kitty won 5 medals at the Antwerp Olympics in 1920 and the Paris Olympics in 1924 and is the second most decorated female British Olympian, jointly with Katherine Grainger the rower.  In addition, Kitty was the UK Badminton Champion from 1920 to 1925.

You can read more about her remarkable achievements on Wikipedia including her final claim to fame, vis. “she was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1987 when she was surprised by Eamonn Andrews while shopping in a supermarket in East Sheen.”

She died in 1992 at the age of 96.  Those of us who have lived in East Sheen for over 40 years will no doubt remember her cycling around East Sheen in her 90s.

Contributed by Tim Catchpole