Cockfighting in Georgian Bath

Official city cockfights, as opposed to the many casual contests between individual owners, ran over 3 or 4 days and started with everybody showing the cocks they intended to use in the cockpit. Each cock would be carefully assessed to ensure that its owner was not cheating in the way he had prepared his bird. Fines for cocks judged to be fraudulent were levied at around 3 shillings and 4 pence a bird, and birds were banned from fighting for the rest of the year.

Cocks would then have their feathers trimmed in accordance with the rules agreed upon with other owners. Anyone breaching the terms of this agreement would be fined around 10 shillings. Birds were matched by weight and wore metal spurs, which inflicted terrible injuries.

Cockfights were controlled by an official known as the "Master of the Match", whose decisions were final.

Sometimes, matched cocks refused to fight and had to be withdrawn after 10 attempts to get them to do so.

The official matches received national publicity by being recorded in the annual racing calendars and in the London press.

Cockfighting prior to the eighteenth century had taken place in a purpose-built building in Timber Green on the edge of what is now Saw Close. By 1725, however, when Gloucester met Somerset, the cockpit had fallen out of use, and the match took place at the White Lion inn. The next county clash, this time between Gloucester and Dorset in 1729, took place at the Lamb, which provided the venue for most major meetings.

Also, in 1729 at the beginning of March Mr Cains and Mr Figg fought a match, 31 cocks a side for 2 Guineas for each match and 20 for the overall result known as the "main". The match was won by 2 battles, with birds weighing between 3lb  8 oz and 4lb 8oz. The winner would, therefore, have received 24 guineas, but this would have been a trivial amount in comparison to the side bets made around the pit.

The next year April 1730, saw a match between Mr Cain, who showed 31 Cocks, against Mr Johnson at 4 Guineas and 40. In the end, after the birds were inspected and some were rejected, the match comprised 22 Battles, 12 of which were won by Mr Cain and 10 by Mr Johnson. This was a return match for one that had been fought in Oxford the previous year.

The following year in March, a team of bird owners from the  City of Bath fought a team from the  City of Bristol, showing 41 cocks a side for 6 Guineas and 100 for the main, the match was won by Bath by 6 or 7 Battles.

In 1735 In the "City of Bath, on the first Tuesday in May Mr Segar fought Mr Ball showing as they had at a previous match at Meere in March, 41 cocks a side for 6 guineas and 100, in this match, there were 24 battles 16 of which were won by Mr Segar and 8 by Mr Ball"

In May 1744, Champney Esq. fought the gentlemen of Bristol and Wells, showing forty-one cocks on each side, for ten Guineas a battle and a hundred the main. The main consisted of twenty-eight battles, each side winning fourteen, which rendered it a draw.

In August 1761, an advert appeared in the chronicle "A COCK-MATCH TO be Fought at Mr Charles Smith's, at the Sign of the Coach, in the Parish of Twerton, in the County of Somerset, (one Mile from Bath) between the Gentlemen of Somerset-shire and the Gentlemen of Gloucestershire flew and weigh 31 Cocks each side in the Main, for Four Guineas a Battle, and Twenty Guineas the odd Battle; and 15 Cocks for Bye-Battles.— To weigh the 10th Day of August, and fight the three following Days."

In 1771, the Bath Chronicle, after decrying petty horse races and boxing matches, observed that "Petty cock-matches are no less than the others the source of vice, profaneness, and immorality" 

1772 The Rev. James Woodforde recorded that his "Brother John set forth this morning for 

Bath to a Cock Match." And later, "Brother John returned this evening and supped etc. at Parsonage; he says that he has won fifty Pounds at Bath."

As the century progressed, cockfighting fell out of fashion, and major matches in the city became less frequent. However, as late as 1798, Somerset and Wiltshire breeders fought a two-day match near Grosvenor Gardens.

Prizefighters and prizefighting in Georgian Bath

This is an article about professional prizefighters and prizefighting. Throughout this period, men and women fought with and without weapons in the streets and taverns of Bath to provide entertainment and gambling opportunities for their neighbours and visitors to the City, but theirs is a story for another time.

Prizefighting was still admissible, even condoned, at Bath during the Coronation festivities of 1728, but was banned from the strict confines of the City sometime around 1755. However, it continued to flourish in the countryside around Bath. [1] Reporting on a backsword tournament in 1760, the Bath Journal tells us that the "Heroes of the Fist likewise made no small part of each Day's Diversion".

In 1762, George Meggs, the Bristol-born champion of England, fought "a pitched battle for a considerable sum" with one Millsom, a baker of Bath at Calne in Wiltshire, when, after a fierce battle lasting 40 minutes, the Bath boxer was declared the winner. Meggs later challenged Millsom to a rematch, which he also lost.

By 1765, Millsom was reported as fighting and beating another noted west country boxer named Parfitt Meggs on Lansdown. The Bath Chronicle of 1771 reported with approval the action taken by courts in Northumberland to control petty horse race meetings places of "drunkenness, gambling, profane turfing and swearing, quarrelling and fighting, and other breaches of the peace and good behaviour" and which brought "together the greatest number cf the lower classes of the people, and robbing the public of their labour." It noted that "Similar evils arise to the community from the brutal practice of boxing matches, between a banditti of human monsters. Not withstanding these abominable exercises are a disgrace to a civilised nation, and even to humanity, yet, in several parts, and not far from the most polite City of Bath, they are frequently exhibited, not to say authorised.— ls not the suppression of these infamous premeditated bruiting matches as necessary and political as those of the gladiators." From approximately 1780 to 1820, boxing was arguably the most popular spectator sport in England. For major matches, it was not unusual for crowds to gather, numbering tens of thousands. This was even though the sport was illegal for much of this period.

Martin the Bath butcher who had a considerable provincial reputation came to London in 1786 to fight the boxer Richard Humphrey's "the Gentleman" who took an astonishing 105 minutes to beat him.

In the following year, Daniel Mendoza, destined to become one of the leading figures of Georgian boxing, fought Martin the Bath Butcher at Barnet, which he won in 20 minutes, gaining a purse of 25 guineas and effectively ending Martin's London career. The Bath baker George Ring was defeated in a 37-minute fight at the Hay Field, Bloomsbury, in 1788, which seems to have ended what, up to that point, had been a promising entry into the London boxing scene.

In 1789, the newspapers reported a complaint about riotous boxing contests regularly distracting the working people of Bath from attending to their employment on Mondays.

Martin the Bath Butcher, who had for some time been a resident of Oxford, was reported by the Bath papers in 1791 to have signed a contract to fight John Blythe the Coventry Weaver on a stage of 20 feet in diameter for a purse of 20 guineas a side and two-thirds of the gate. The result was to be determined by a boxer falling from exhaustion. 

In October, an advert appeared in the 1793 Bath Chronicle saying that "several gentlemen of this city" had raised a subscription to bring professional boxers to the Tennis Court to put on a display of sparing. This event featured the leading boxers Johnson, Mendoza and Lee. This reflected a Regency fashion for gentlemen training in pugilistic skills with leading exponents of the sport. The most famous adopter being Lord Byron.

The newspapers of 1797 carried complaints that one Sunday bare-knuckled local bruisers, stripped to the waist, had slugged it out on Lansdown, urged on by "horrid imprecations" from the assembled crowd.

In Bath in 1797, London boxing promoters decided to hold a match they had arranged between Tom Jones and the Bristol boxer George Nicholls on Lansdown. The two fighters stripped for the contest when Nicholls, noticing that Jones was considerably taller, refused to fight.

George Nicholls had earlier been matched against the Bath Champion boxer Leonard for 5 guineas a side on Lansdown in a programme that also included a match between two well-known men, Spaniard Harris and Bob Cox. The Bath Champion was severely beaten, and his eyes were so swollen that he could not see to go on.

Charles Williams, a Bath locksmith, pummelled his Bristolian opponent to a standstill in an unremitting two-hour "milling" at Newton St Loe in October 1793.

In 1819, the great chronicler of sports and Regency society, Pierce Egan, wrote: "At no great distance from the Race-Ground stands the Blathwayte Arms, close to which the Fair at Lansdown is held annually on August 10. It is a very large fair, and is distinguished for the sale of horses and large quantities of cheese: great numbers of cattle and pigs are also brought here. It is a most convenient spot for the numerous assemblage of persons that arrive from Bristol, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, &c. and it proves quite a jubilee-day for the country people to enjoy the fun with which it abounds. The gingerbread - stalls form a long street; and numerous shows from different parts of England, of every description, to obtain the money from the pockets of the lads and lasses, are not wanting. Lansdown Fair is also notorious for a number of pitched battles which are fought by the pugilistic heroes of Bristol."

There was a match made between Bickens, a Bath man, and Jem Ward, part of a London stable of fighters, for £20 a side and a subscription purse. The battle took place on the racecourse at Lansdown on Friday, July 2, 1823, and Ward won it without a scratch on his face or body.

Horse-racing and boxing often shared locations, and the "Fancy" who financed and bet huge sums on boxing were mostly the same wealthy punters and aristocrats who owned and bred thoroughbred racehorses. These links are particularly manifest in the extraordinary life of John Gully, the most famous boxer connected with the City of Bath.

John Gully was born on August 21 1783, at The Crown Inn, Wick, where his father was the landlord. During Gully's boyhood, the family moved to Bath, where his father became a butcher, and he was brought up to his father's trade. After his father's death, the business gradually declined. An inability to pursue his trade or pay his debts meant that Gully, at the age of twenty-one, became an inmate of the King's Bench prison. He had for some time taken an interest in prizefighting matches, which led in 1805 to his receiving a visit from an acquaintance, Henry Pearce, the 'Bristol Game-Chicken', the champion of England. The two men had a 'set-to' which so impressed the onlookers that a number of prize-fight promoters paid Gully's debts, and took him to Virginia Water, where he was trained for a more serious fight with Pearce. The contest took place at Hailsham in Sussex on October 8 1805, before a huge crowd, among whom was the Duke of Clarence (afterwards William IV). He was beaten after fighting fifty-nine rounds, which occupied an hour and ten minutes. However, his performance in this contest greatly enhanced his reputation. The reason for this can be seen in Pierce Egan's description of the last few rounds: "Thirty-seventh to forty-third.—In the last six rounds the Chicken displayed a manifest superiority: their figures were bloody in the extreme; but Gulley was literally covered from the torrents which flowed down from his ear, and who now began to appear somewhat shy—his head was truly terrific, and had a giant-like appearance, from being so terribly swelled, and the effect was most singular, for scarcely could his eyes be seen.Forty-fourth.—The Chicken, with considerable science and force, planted his favourite hit in Gulley's throat, when he fell like a log of wood. The fortitude that Gulley had displayed in this most trying conflict had raised him considerably, not only in the estimation of his friends but of sporting men in general. He had been so severely punished that he was not able to face his man with his former resolution and propriety— his brave heart was reluctant to acknowledge superiority, and he endeavoured now and then to put in a hit, and falling until the fifty-ninth.—When his friends interfered and positively insisted that he should fight no longer, as the chance was against him; and, at length, he complied …."

Ill health forced the 'Bristol Game-Chicken' to retire in December 1805, and Gully was regarded as his legitimate successor, although he was never formally nominated champion. 

No challenger for his title came forward for two years. He was then matched against Bob Gregson, the Lancashire Giant, for 200 guineas a side. His opponent was measured at 6 feet 2 inches in height and was famously strong, while Gully himself was 6 feet tall. The fight took place on October 14 1807, at Six Mile Bottom, on the Newmarket racecourse. This encounter was remarkable for its brutality. Both men fought to near exhaustion, but in the thirty-sixth round, Gully landed a blow with such force to Gregson's face that it ended the fight. Captain Barclay, a prominent member of the fancy, took the winner off the ground in his carriage, and the next day drove him in triumph onto the Newmarket racecourse. 

Gregson, not being satisfied, again challenged his opponent. This match, which was for £250 a side, took place in Sir John Sebright's Park in Hertfordshire, on May 10 1808. This contest was watched by nearly a hundred noblemen and gentlemen on horseback and in carriages, and a crowd of more modest people that was so great that it caused a rumour that the French army had landed. The two men fought in white breeches and silk stockings, without shoes. After the twenty-seventh rounds of a match which lasted an hour and a quarter Gregson was too exhausted to continue. Pierce Egan summarised the contest as follows. 'Gregson's strength was manifest to his opponent, who endeavoured to ward off its potent effects by his thorough knowledge of the science, and Gulley put in another dreadful facer, which made the claret fly in all directions, when Gregson fell. '

Gully earned large sums of money from boxing, through prizes, purses given by grateful punters and side bets, and now began to think of investing in a different future.

In June 1808, with fellow boxing champion Tom Cribb, Gully took a lease on a Tennis Court in London and formally retired from the ring. He also became proprietor of The Plough Inn, 23 Carey Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London. 

He also decided to take his interest in gambling into the world of horse racing.

In 1812, he bought his first horse, Cardenio, and around this time moved his residence to Newmarket, the centre of racing and home of the all-powerful Jockey Club.

In 1827, he gave Lord Jersey 4000 guineas for his Epsom Derby winner Mameluke. He backed his purchase for the St Leger that year, but James Robinson on Matilda took the race, and Gully lost £40,000. 

In 1830, he formed a racing partnership with Robert Ridsdale, another wealthy race horse breeder and gambler. The partnership prospered, and in 1832, they won the Derby with St Giles, and Gully took the St Leger with Margrave, making £50,000 on the former and £35,000 on the latter race. However, having fallen out with Ridsale in the hunting field, he horsewhipped him, which led to his having to pay £500 damages for assault. In partnership with John Day a racehorse trainer, Gully won the Two Thousand Guineas in 1844 with Ugly Buck, and in 1846 he took both the Derby and the Oaks (with Pyrrhus the First and Mendicant), an event previously accomplished only once, when Sir Charles Bunbury's Eleanor carried off both prizes in 1801. 

Gully was again the winner of the Two Thousand Guineas with Hermit in 1854, and in the same year, he won the Derby with Andover, having the bookmaker Henry Padwick for his partner in the latter horse. 

During this period, Gully, as a racehorse owner and gambler, purchased Upper Hare Park, near Newmarket, from Lord Rivers, but he subsequently sold it to Sir Mark Wood. He then bought Ackworth Park, near Pontefract, Yorkshire, becoming MP for that pocket borough from December 10, 1832, to July 17, 1837. Politically, he described himself as a reformer, supporting the ballot and shorter parliaments. 

As an MP and having amassed a considerable fortune from his racing interests, he acquired a degree of respectability and in 1836 was presented at court. He married twice and had twelve children with each wife. Having sold Ackworth Park, Gully took up residence at Marwell Hall, near Winchester. He began investing in coal extraction, purchasing shares in the new Hetton colliery. He was also involved in setting up the Thornley collieries and took a share in the Trindon collieries. In 1862, he became the sole proprietor of the Wingate Grange estate and collieries. By this time, he had moved to Cocken Hall, near Durham. 

Gully died at Durham on March 9 1863, aged 79. His body was returned to Ackworth, where he was interred with his daughter. Lord Lennox summed up Gully's character as follows:
'His unpromising deportment, his great common sense, and his absence of false shame when it came to his career, fairly earned him that respect which I, and I believe many others, retained for him. The memory of John Gully will be cherished by all Englishmen who can appreciate manly courage.' 

1. Fawcett - Bath Entertained

Balls and Ordinaries for the Bath Race-goers of 1817

In the press, following the race meeting of 1817, it was reported that:

"The ordinaries were well attended; on Wednesday at York House and at the White Hart on Thursday".

Ordinaries were fixed-price menus laid on for the race-goers. The York House Hotel was on George Street. The building still exists and is still, in part, a hotel. In its heyday, it was one of the country's premier coaching inns.

The White Hart was another huge coaching inn near the Pump Room on Stall Street.

It was further reported that:

"The Ball at the Kingston Rooms on Thursday evening was more numerously attended than any other similar occasion since the first year of the revival of these races."

Racing had restarted in 1811 following a hiatus driven by the financial collapse of 1793, when a fall in property values had driven many businesses and banks into bankruptcy and concerns over the likely outcome of the continental wars.

The Kinston Rooms were the original Lower Rooms situated on the parades. The site is now known as Bog Island. Their name at this time was based on their being part of the estate of the Dukes of Kingston, which had been inherited by Charles Medows, who changed his name to Pierrepont in 1796. In 1806, he was created the first Earl Manvers.

Racing tragedy

Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette - Thursday 14 July 1825

"At the late Lancaster Races, Sir P Musgrave's colt, on pulling up after the third heat for £50 on Tuesday, was found to be a dreadful state, the near hind-foot from the fetlock joint

hanging on merely by a little skin in the front, and the pastern bone and small pastern joint shivered to atoms. The rider found little failure in action about half a mile from home, but the extent of the fracture was not perceptible until he was in the act of pulling up, when within half a neck. The poor animal was immediately put out of his misery."

Sir P Musgrave was Sir Philip Musgrave MP. The Musgraves had been established in Cumberland since the thirteenth century. Latterly, this Member’s grandfather, Sir Philip Musgrave, known as "Mussy," had sat as MP for Westmorland. Philip Musgrave stood for election first at Carlisle in March 1816, where he was described as the ‘young fox hunting baronet’ known for being a devotee of the turf and was attacked as an interloper. [1]

1. http://www.histparl.ac.uk/volume/1820-1832/member/musgrave-sir-philip-1794-1827

HORSE RACING ON CLAVERTON DOWN The O’Kelly years.

The first recorded racing on Claverton Down was in 1729, but the racing there was at its zenith between 1771 and 1783 when the town was visited annually by the extraordinary Col. Dennis O’Kelly, his much-envied horses, his enormously wealthy friends and, possibly, by his infamous 'wife' Charlotte Hayes.

Dennis O'Kelly

O’Kelly had come to England from Ireland and initially earned his living as a sedan chair carrier. A series of adventures led him to the Fleet prison, where he met and joined forces with Charlotte Hayes. Together, they made an immense fortune based on gambling, brothel keeping and horse dealing. The latter led him to acquire 'Eclipse,' the horse from which some 95% of today’s racehorses are descended.

1771 was an important year for Dennis and racing as it was the year 'Eclipse' went to stud, and his progeny featured in all the Bath races from 1776. It was also a big year for Bath, with the opening of the New Assembly Rooms. Race meetings took place just before the season's opening and generally lasted three or four days.

Claverton Down was used for many equestrian activities; the race course was laid out over two miles in front of Claverton Down House, facing Hampton Down, and from at least 1773, there was a grandstand erected on the course, but Genteel spectators were either mounted or in coaches, often riding alongside the horses in the race. Racing in the 18th century was as much a test of stamina as speed, and typically was settled by running three- or four-mile heats. Claverton Down horse racing attracted sizable crowds, as well as enormously wealthy owners and gamblers. HRH, the Duke of Cumberland, regularly sent horses to run there and may have attended in person. Many businesses in Bath sought to profit from this, and tradesmen paid substantial fees to have booths on the course and to provide services such as shoeing. The Assembly Rooms would also take advantage of the crowds and host special pre-season balls, while local eateries would offer special fixed-price meals.

A typical race was the first of the 1771 meeting, which was for a prize of £50 (approximately £ 3,000 today). The race was open to any horse, and all runners had to carry a minimum of 8st 7lbs except horses who had won a King’s Plate, which had to carry 9st. The result was to be determined by the outcome of three, four-mile heats. As it happened, only two heats were run by only three horses. Mr Hugo’s grey mare 'Frolic' beating Mr Carpenter’s grey horse 'Danger' and Mr Brereton’s bay horse, 'Star'. This could be the same Mr Brereton who was banned from the Jockey Club coffee rooms for making accusations of cheating against two fellow members. 

'Frolic' won the first heat easily, the general opinion being that the other two had not really tried. Surprisingly, the odds going into the second heat went as high as 20:1 against 'Frolic' winning again. However, despite 'Danger' having run much better, 'Frolic' won by several lengths. Two other horses had originally been entered, but Mr Bishop’s 'Daniel' had gone lame, and Dennis had been paid not to start his horse, 'Helen.' It's quite likely that 'Helen' was a nine-year-old mare that appears in the records as having been bred out of Daphne, a daughter of the Godolphin Arabian, one of the three founding Arab stallions of thoroughbred breeding,  by the noted stallion 'Spectator,' winner of the Jockey Club plate. This first race set a precedent with the crowd, who were surprised by and often suspicious of the way races were run and the curious movements in the betting market.

At the end of the meeting, Gyde’s Rooms held a ball, and The Chronicle declared the meeting to be equal, if not superior, to any meeting in the kingdom, which may reflect the impact of O’Kelly. The popularity of the races can be judged by the estimate of 1000 carriages on the Down on the Wednesday of that week. 

Another typical race was a sweepstake, such as the second race on the second day of the 1772 meeting. A fifty-guinea sweepstake for three-year-olds over a four-mile course, which was competed for by:

Mr Parker’s grey filly. Mr Parker is almost certainly John Parker of Saltram House in Devon, who represented Devonshire in Parliament and who would go on to win the 1783 Derby. The grey filly was probably a horse called 'Charlotte' out of a Regulus mare, and the stallion 'Shakespeare,' 'Shakespeare,' bred by Sir John Moore, was not a very successful racehorse but had a solid reputation for breeding good mares.

Mr Wildman’s grey colt was entered on his behalf by Mr Coxe. Wildman was a wealthy wholesale butcher and stock dealer who had bought the horse 'Eclipse' from the sale of the Duke of Cumberland’s stud. It's not clear who the J. Coxe was who entered Wildman’s colt, but he was almost certainly a connection to the Coxe family, which owned Ston Easton Park. The grey colt was probably a horse called 'Lamplighter' and was bred from 'Antinous' by the 3rd Duke of Grafton at Euston. 'Antinous' ran for six years from age four, beating the top horses of his day in big purse matches.

Mr. O’Kelly’s chestnut colt, Young Colin.

Lord Corke and Mr Coxe paid forfeits of 25 guineas each to withdraw their horses.
Betting before the start was: Mr Parker’s filly, evens. 6 to 4 against the grey colt and 2 to 1 against 'Young Colin.' In running, bets were offered that 'Colin' would not come last. The race reports described it as a very fine heat won with difficulty by the filly carrying 8st 5lb against the colts' 8st 7lb. The winner won 200 guineas (about £24,000 today).

The third race of the 1780 season was for three-year-olds over one two-mile course. The field consisted of: HRH, the Duke of Cumberland’s colt 'Polydore' by 'Eclipse' out of a Spectator Mare. 

Mr Luttrell’s bay colt 'Tetrarch' by Herod, dam by 'Careless.' 

Mr O’Kelly’s colt 'Budroo' by 'Eclipse' out of a Sweeper mare. 

Mr Parker’s brown colt by 'Matchem' out of an Old England mare. 

In fact, 'Budroo' and 'Polydore' had in May competed in the first running of the Epsom Derby, 'Polydore' coming 6th and 'Budroo' coming 2nd out of a field of nine. But this day, 'Budroo' won and 'Polydore' came last. The following year, 'Budroo' beat the winner of the first Derby, Sir Charles Bunbury's 'Diomed' at a 300-guinea rematch at Newmarket.

In addition to pre-advertised races, two owners often agreed to race their horses against each other in a match. In 1774, the match planned between Dennis’s 'Catchpenny' and Mr Fenwick’s 'Playfellow' for 200gs was called off because O’Kelly objected to how Fenwick proposed paying with a credit note payable in America. This undoubtedly reflects his concerns about the rapidly deteriorating relationship between the British government and the American colonists.

At the end of each meeting, the subscribers chose one of their number to be the steward, who would organise the following year’s meeting. Among the many colourful characters who undertook this role in Bath was the notorious Sir John Lade, Dr Johnson’s godson and soon to be the husband of the even more notorious Letty Lade.

Letty Lade

Sir John Lade

It's not clear why O’Kelly stopped coming to Bath, but by 1783, he was 58, with only four more years to live. There were increasing disputes with landowners on the Down, who resented the damage and disruption caused by the racing. But Dennis was also starting to distance his family from all that had made him rich with the intention of making his heirs gentlemen, and in that, he succeeded.

The Equestrian Circus in Monmouth Street and the Child of Promise

On 17 April 1788, the following advertisement appeared in the press:

'By particular Desire of several Ladies and Gentlemen positively the last night. At Ryle's Ride, the top of Monmouth Street, will be presented a variety of equestrian exercise, consisting of horsemanship by the whole troop, tight rope dancing by the unrivalled Signora Riccardini, and the Child of Promise. Slack Rope Vaulting by Master Smith, Mr Smallcomb will pick up a watch blindfold. Mr Handy, in the character of harlequin, will make several surprising leaps through a hogshead of real fire (Beatles fans take note) to conclude with the tailor's disaster Or disagreeable journey to Brentford, with the hunter and road horse, by Mr Smallcombe. The doors open at half past five, and begin at half past six. Front seats, 2s. Back seats, 1s. Mr Handy returns his best thanks for the great encouragement he has been honoured within this city.'

Stephen Ryle, who put in this advertisement, kept equestrian premises in Monmouth Street, from which he sold carriages and horses and ran a stud. He also offered riding tuition in his 'Circular Riding School.' 

Benjamin Handy began his career as an ostler with Hughes Equestrian Circus. Hughes had been a performer with Phillip Astley's famous circus in London, but left to create his own company and amphitheatre to break Astley's virtual monopoly. Handy's appearance with his own company in Bath was one of his first. The company mostly consisted of members of his own family and former members of the company Astley had brought to Bristol in the 1770s. 

The Tailor's Disaster Or Disagreeable Ride to Brentford was a well-established clowning routine which would have been familiar to those who had attended Astley's shows.

Signora Riccardini was Handy's wife, who could perform on 'One and Two Horses in a capital Manner' and famously would stand on her head on top of a spear surrounded by fireworks. She and  Benjamin had married in Birmingham in 1873.

The 'Child of Promise' was the Handy's daughter, Mary Ann, whose star turn was riding on another rider's shoulders 'without the assistance of Hand or Rein, having nothing to keep her up but her perpendicular Balance, and which is allowed to be the greatest balance ever attempted.' She would have been around four years old in 1788. A year later, her father refused an offer of 365 guineas a year from Astley for his daughter's services. 

The Master Smith mentioned in the bill was Handy's indentured apprentice; however, by the 1787 -8 season, he was a well-established performer, which may explain his running away from his service in 1793 to become a major star of the London circus scene.

Astley's Amphitheatre in 1777

At Bristol on 25 April 1788, in 'a large commodious yard at the back of the Angel, in the Borough Walls, leading from Redcliff Street to Thames Street,' a group of performers from Astley's and Hughes's riding schools in London were presenting riding, rope dancing and other entertainments. Still, the group was called (Benjamin) Handy's Troupe in the advertisements. Featured were 'the celebrated Mr Franklin, the Child of Promise' (Mary Ann Handy), Signora Riccardini (Mrs Handy), and Benjamin Handy. Mr Franklin was Thomas Franklin, the son of a clown, famous for his feats of strength.

In December 1788 and early January 1789, 'Ryle's Circular Riding-School,' which by now had been granted a Royal Patent to Host Equestrian Entertainments, hosted the same troupe of performers. The wonders promised included: 'Mr Franklin will carry the Child of Promise over the leaping bar on two horses in the attitude of a Flying Mercury.' This show did not feature Handy's wife, possibly because she was incapacitated by the illness from which she would later die. By October of that year, Ryle's was putting on a show, under the patronage of the Mayor of Bath, that did not include the Handy family, probably because of the death of Handy's wife on 25 September. But they did have Franklin and many other members of the Handy troupe. The performers also included Mr Parker throwing 'a Somerset (sic) off the horse at full speed.' (Beatles fans may take note here, too!). Parker's celebrated actress wife, who was said to be the best Columbine in England, joined him and was a member of the company at the Theatre Royal for the 1789/90 season.

By November, Ryle and Franklin had formed a partnership and put on their own shows at what was now billed as 'Ryle and Franklin's Amphitheatre' with facilities comparable to Astley's London arena, e.g., heating and ringside boxes which could be reserved, as in the Theatre, by sending your servants to occupy them. There were three performances a week. The Ryle Franklin enterprise doesn't seem to have thrived because, by March 1790, Franklin and Hardy had become partners and were again in Bristol building a new riding school and ring for performance behind the Full Moon in North Street, St Paul's. Construction was delayed, however, and the planned opening on 8 March was postponed until the 22nd. Meanwhile, the two men offered riding lessons to the ladies and gentlemen of Bristol.

Even though they had so recently erected an arena, on 10 May 1790, Franklin and Handy announced plans for a more elaborate riding school and performance ring. They promised their patrons that construction would commence as soon as 500 gs (of a total of 1000 gs needed) should be subscribed. They also noted they would attend six months of the year to teach riding to Bristolians and to break horses for them. They continued to perform in their old circus at Bristol throughout May and then left to perform elsewhere. Their new establishment in Bristol opened in 1792, but Handy sold his interests in the Bristol establishment in 1793. Handy went on to have a long and successful career both as a performer and proprietor, eventually owning a part share in Astley's Amphitheatre in London. Jacob DeCastro, the comedian, in his memoir of 1824, said that Handy' lives as an independent gentleman, and a magistrate for the county of Somerset, very near the famed city of Bath . . .'

In February 1793, Franklin brought his company to Monmouth Street four times a week. The company consisted of 9 performers and 9 horses. The programme offered horsemanship, rope-vaulting, ground and lofty tumbling and Egyptian Pyramids. Performers included:

• Mr Franklin, himself, performing his "much-admired trick with oranges and forks.
• The astonishing eight-year-old "Young English Mercury", whose speciality was playing the violin while on the shoulders of Franklin while he rode two horses
• Master Smith
• The Little Devil performing somersaults on horseback
• Mr Crossman, who had learned his trade with Astley

Franklin's Bristol venture was never adequately capitalised and failed around 1794. DeCastro says that Franklin went to America, where he died. Ryle seems to have gone back to focusing on his core business, and his 1804 advertisements announce his hiring of a fashionable London riding master to teach the gentry alongside his livery and horse hire services. He also acquired additional livery accommodation in Pulteney Street.

In July 1813, the newspapers announced that 'Mr Sam Ryle, former livery stable keeper and master of the riding school in Monmouth Street; he retired to bed in his usual state of health and in the morning was found dead.'

And what of the Child of Promise? She went on to have a successful career as a performer on horseback but, more famously, as a slackrope dancer until her tragic death at about thirteen. Travelling with her company from Liverpool to London in the packet Viceroy, she drowned when it sank in St George's Channel in December 1797.

The Craven Meeting of 1829

The Sporting Magazine Reported that:

"Amongst the nine that started for the Craven Stakes were, as is always the case, some horses of great note; and, though not equal in number to former years, they were quite so in qualifications. Fleur-de-Lis was first favorite [sic] at very little odds [5 to 4 against], and early in the race took the situation her backers expected. Thirty yards from home she seemed to have made victory her own, being a neck first at the very best pace, followed by Amphion, who ran a good horse; and after him Zinganee, rode by Chifney, about a neck from the second; when, by one of those astonishing efforts bordering on impossibility, Chifney passed Amphion, and, to complete the wonder, beat Fleur-de-Lis a "short head" (the Judge's words). Arthur Pavis rode her, some said not well (losers, I suppose). I, however, thought otherwise, but at the same time, cannot applaud the judgment of His Majesty's managers, who put upon her the lightest jockey in Newmarket, who had in consequence to carry at least three stone of dead weight."

The Craven Stakes is named after William Craven, 6th Baron Craven, a member of the Jockey Club. His support for racing at Newmarket led to the introduction of the Craven Meeting in 1771.

This particular running was a 10-sovereign subscription race for horses of any age. Ten owners entered horses, so the prize money amounted to 60 sovereigns. This amounts to nearly 440 grammes of 22-carat gold. Today, that amount of gold would sell for about £11,000.

The winning horse was owned by William Chifney, a Newmarket trainer and ridden by his brother, Samuel Chifney. They were sons of the famous Samuel Chifney, the eighteenth-century jockey who rode for the Prince of Wales. Both Samuel Senior and Junior were famous for the "Chifney Rush", holding horses back until the last few yards and then overtaking the opposition.

Bay colt Zinganee held
by jockey Sam Chifney Jr.
with his brother William Chifney,
c.1829

Zinganee, who started at 3 to 1 against, was a 3-year-old bay colt by Tramp out of a mare called Folly by Young Drone.

Later that year, in June, George IV started buying horses principally with a view to winning the Ascot Cup, which was run in late June. The Chifney brothers offered him Zinganee, but he refused, and the horse was sold to Lord Chesterfield two hours before the start of the Ascot Cup and went on to win, much to the King's annoyance.

The King's behaviour may be explained by the fact that in 1802, William had seriously assaulted Colonel Leigh (then the manager of the Prince’s stud) in the High Street, in front of the Jockey Club. The assault was provoked by the Colonel's role in the Escape affair, which had begun his father's downfall.

From the Sporting Magazine's report, the King had attempted to win the Craven Stakes by buying the favourite Fleur-de-Lis from Mr Delme-Radcliffe, under whose name she had been entered. Fleur-de-Lis was a 6-year-old bay mare by Bourbon out of Lady Rachel by Stamford. As a six-year-old Fleur-de-Lis who has been required by the rules of the race to carry 9st 9lbs, therefore the jockey chosen by His Majesty's advisors must have weighed only 6st 9lbs.