Updated August 2023.
If your ancestors lived in Great Marlow or nearby they may well have had a fun, or fraught, day out at the horse races which were held in meadow by the river annually from the 1700s until 1847, probably with some breaks in service.
My first reference to them is in 1725 when William Lofting's animal was amongst the winners and the local MP Edmund Waller was one of those who put up prizes. The next references are from 1728 and 1731. There may not have been many competitors then as the same few animals seem to win most of the races. A minimum number of runners were usually required for the winners prize to be rewarded. In 1728 this saw two hacks entered into one race just so the single race horse competing could legitimately claim the prize for "winning". I believe the races took a break after 1731 before returning in 1752.
In 1755 Sylvester Law* proprietor of the Upper Crown in the Market Place offered transport from there out to the course. Sylvester was an early supporter and promoter of the races. Two years later, then of the Cross Keys, he hosted a meeting of the race subscribers at which the main order of the day was to decide how the event could be organised to do less damage to the meadow it was hosted in. Descriptions of the course in 1833 mention a standing crop almost ready to harvest within the field. The perimeter and space between the river and course had been kept clear for racing and spectators but the field as a whole was naturally not reserved exclusively just for 2 or 3 days racing a year. It was leased to a farmer and strict warnings were made about the trouble which would ensue if horses or spectators trampled the harvest! The course itself was marked by wooden posts put in before each year's racing. The Gentleman's Magazine description of the races in 1752 tells of male and female spectators (the latter in their best colourful dresses) rushing this way and that way across the field both on foot and in their carriages so as to keep sight of favoured horses. The result was chaos with the writer fearing "one half of the company should be trampled down by the other". You can see why Sylvester was probably fighting a losing battle as to prevent damage to the field!
I struggle to find many later 1700s references to the races. By the mid 1820s they were certainly back by the river however and once again they gained some national notice. In between times they may have been run but on too small a scale to leave a trace in the historical record There may also have been another minor lapse in early 1830s.
Talking of small scale, these races were very much for ponies rather than horses. The minimum height of a horse for entry was given at just 11 or 12 hands at different times. The maximum height for most events where there was one was just 14 hands. They are frequently referred to as the "pony races" in contemporary sources.
The early races were more geared towards the amateur performers. Only ponies that had won less than £50 prize money could attend the meeting. The animals ran in simple races, weight handicapped by the animal's age. There was a race just for "aged" animals, which seems to have been those of 6 years of age and upwards. In the 1800s however the sport was of a higher calibre thanks to patronage by Sir William Clayton who offered a silver cup trophy and was a honourary race steward. Some reports say that he was the one who started the races in the first place. Obviously not in the 1750s, but this may indicate that they did fall away for some time before an 1820s revival.
Races were certainly not over the flat only, jump races were just as much a part of the schedule on many a year's programme in the 1800s. Flat racing then tended to be restricted to just two or three races a day but with each spread into multiple heats so there was plenty of action. In between these races were 'matches*', races between the horses of (usually) two individuals as the result of a challenge issued in advance. Such matches were very common at smaller race meets at the time and were often the events held to have the keenest excitement for locals. Anyone who wished to propose such a match needed to register their interest in advance at the Crown and the organisers would accommodate them as the schedule allowed. It was also to the Crown you should go to register your horse for entry into any race, and to pay the entrance fee. (In the early years, the White Horse was also used for this role.) A very few races had no fee to enter, usually when the meeting was otherwise well supported. If you were lucky and won you would earn a prize purse, with some races quaintly requiring the winner to give a share of it to the owner of the horse that came second. In other years, the owner had to give some of the prize money to the Stewards to cover the costs of running the meeting. In 1756 this "gift" was one guinea and was to pay for "flags, drums, etc". In the same year the winner was also required to make a donation towards the cost of organising the following years races. Many later races were run for a mixture of the prize purse and / or plate plus a sweepstake taken from the stake paid by all entrants. The second place horse might get their stake back.
Every year the mix of races and rules as to who could or could not enter each one varied so this information is based on lots of sources. There was always at least one race solely for locally owned horses and another for those owned by subscribers to the event only. At other times entries for individual events were restricted to for instance horses beaten earlier in the day. On many occasions it was stipulated that the winner had to be offered to sale after the race - but the owner was not obliged to accept a low price for the animal. In 1840 the winner of the 20 sovereigns plate was to be to be offered for sale for £100, while the winner of a hurdle race would be presented for £70.
All races and heats involved going either once or twice round the circular course. Contemporary descriptions describe how trees obscured part of the route from spectators. There were basic wooden stands erected between the river and the course to help. A spot in these could also be reserved at the Crown in advance. In 1833, the course got a temporary more luxurious painted wooden grandstand, previously erected at Ascot, according to a sign displayed outside. This caused some mirth in fashionable visitors who thought it pretentious for a country race meet!
There were also booths selling toys and gingerbread, and sideshows offering amongst other things "dancing booths" and a kind of coconut shy with meat replacing the coconuts atop of sticks. Let's hope the "prize" didn't hang round too long. A band always attended, but they halted playing during the race itself.
Fashionable visitors came from a wide area to attend. A special "covered van" came from Reading to bring in visitors each day. The races were advertised long in advance by placards on the roads into town and also by notices in the press. Visitors spoke of the bustle apparent in the streets as the meeting drew near. Sweetly, the rising demand for ribbons to decorate caps and bonnets is mentioned. It was traditional to wave a handkerchief in the air as well as you cheered the riders along. Of course not everybody attending could necessarily afford to dress for the occasion. Visitors walking in with hob nail boots and shabbier clothes get somewhat sarcastically mentioned alongside the better dressed and their attractive prancing ponies and carriages. The image of passing bargemen on the river slowing up to try and get a glimpse of the action is a reminder not everyone who wanted to attend was free to do so.
So who was riding those dashing ponies? Local stable lads and younger grooms were the usual option. However there were just-starting-out jockeys who went on tours of small events in the hope of getting noticed and being thus offered more lucrative rides elsewhere. Frank Butler* incorporated Marlow into just such a tour in 1839. He later won his place in racing history by bagging the famous St Leger, the Oaks, the Two Thousand Guineas and the Derby plus many other races. Frank was the nephew of the then famous jockey brothers the Chifneys but struggled at first to establish his own career, hence the Marlow outing.
The 1839 race meet he visited was a few years later sneeringly described in the New Sporting Magazine. The trainers it said were just local tenant farmers, the whole event more like "playing at racing" than real sport. Frank's horse it claimed had been recently injured and wasn't the best quality even before that but it still had a good chance given the state of the competition at Marlow! Some of the horse and rider pairings were allegedly so inexperienced that out of control horses shot off and dumped their jockeys into the river. It is important to qualify this chaotic description with a note that the publication was snobbish and it was fashionable to sneer at anything "provincial" or involving the participation of working class / farming people.
The article did concede that the setting was beautiful with the ample nearby woods a great place to sneak off to for some flirtation if you met someone at the races. To get to the woods you could take a little ferry rowing boat across the river. Watching the races from the convenient hill on that opposite bank was still favoured by many it reported.
Fourth rate as the magazine declared the competition to be it was exciting enough to have quite a significant effect on one elderly lady in 1824. Fearing a horse would run her over, she collapsed insensible. After several days of hovering near death she recovered so well that the lameness which she had suffered from for a decade was cured! No cure from illness is recorded for a stout lady who provided a soft landing for a jockey who was catapulted from his horse and into her chaise in 1833. Neither seems to have been hurt but the lady's parasol was broken. The horse had apparently been startled by the shadow of some streamers hanging from one of the booths falling across it's path.
Some attempt was made to prevent spectators from getting close to flying hooves as there were rope barriers. A bell rung to tell you to duck behind those barriers before a new race started. The course was additionally patrolled by a steward armed with a club he was not afraid to use if you did not remove yourself from the course when asked. Parish Constable Sadler (employed in a private capacity by the race organisers to keep the course clear) was found guilty of inflicting a head wound on race visitor Mr Rawlins in 1836. A dispute had arisen on where racegoers could safely stand, and what authority these race marshalls had. Henry Stallwood, one of the tithing men at this time was implicated in the assault but was not proceeded against. As the wound was not severe, and a certain amount of rough justice had been inflicted on Sadler by the indigent crowd, a small amount of compensation was awarded to Rawlins. (The crowd had attempted to duck both Sadler and Stallwood in the river.) Small wonder all things considered that many ladies and young boys chose to watch the races from the slopes on the other side of the river in the 1700s - boys up the trees for a good view, ladies more decorously seated on the ground. They were still having trouble keeping the course clear in 1841 when the Bucks Gazette decried the "disgraceful manner in which numbers of persons persisted in crowding on the course while the later races were run." Several people were injured then, one man fairly badly.
On arrival, the jockeys had to register and declare their colours. In 1752 these were displayed as coloured silk waistcoats for the jockeys. In the early 1830s the Marlow jockeys were described as wearing elegant coloured caps and silk jackets on their top half and a more workaday lower outfit of "corduroy unmentionables", worsted stockings and chunky boots. At the first bell they were required to weigh in. This was done in public. At the second bell, they had to mount and the course was cleared. At the third ring, they were off! And of course the winning jockey needed to be weighed again at the conclusion of the race. They were allowed to use both the whip and spurs on their rides.
In the 1840s the event was sufficiently big to have a Race Ball to celebrate it's conclusion. The patrons of this tended to be the same as the subscribers to the race meeting overall. It was hosted at the Upper Crown. The races were celebrated in quite a different way at the Three Tuns run by Widow Aycott. She hosted a special cock fight on the morning of each days racing, between the "gentlemen" of Bucks and Berks in 1753.
The races happened over two (occasionally three) days either Tuesday and Wednesday or Wednesday and Thursday in either July or August with a ball (if held) the day after or the Friday after their conclusion.
The earliest mentions of the racing by the way refer to an Autumn event rather than a Summer one. (October often). Not that a Summer date guaranteed good weather. Twice a day's racing was entirely lost to a weather washout. At other times the weather at least put off the gentlefolk from attending.
Not everyone in Marlow looked forward to the races. Religious objection to the sport were always high and the event was responsible for a certain amount of crime. To be fair I found only four recorded case of pickpocketing (the inevitable silver pocket watches) at the race course itself. Coming and going to and from Marlow or leaving your Marlow home or business unattended while you watched the horses posed a greater risk. For instance the Windsor and Eton Express reported a spate of thefts from properties including the Coach and Horses public house in West Street which occurred while the occupants were at the races in 1841.
Religious objection sprung both from the fact the event offered a bar for public drinking and of course gambling. This happened unofficially between friends and discreetly between strangers too. The rules concerning gambling at the course varied over time, but in the 1830's descriptions given of the event by a comfortably off visitor recorded that everyone expected to lay wagers openly at the course. Reports of the meeting in the 1750s also tell of open wagering between sportsman. No mention is made of gambling ladies but they may have just been more discreet. Later notices that advertised the event sometimes stated that no "gambling devices" would be allowed on the field - this is not the same as banning gambling altogether as the devices mentioned refer to cards and dice played for money. In the first few decades of the 1800s at least the selling of alcohol on the course was restricted to subscribers of the meeting.
With money at stake came the temptation for race fixing. In 1831 attempts were made to poison the mare Adelaide at the course. Fortunately her groom would not take the £20 offered to him by a stranger for committing the deed. The guilty man was caught but escaped.
Lord William Pitt Lennox reported in his memoirs that the stable boy he hired to ride his horse Fidelio at Marlow failed to ride it to win in the first few heats of his race. Seeing the boy in close conference with a dubious looking man who was taking bets inflamed William's suspicion. At the last minute he mounted the horse himself and managed to win. The boy fled.
A happier pairing was Marlow farmer and horse owner / trainer John Cresswell, and his jockey George Ward who lived in Quoiting Square. Several decades later their speed was still talked of. Mr Cresswell also participated in races for wagers outside of the official race meeting. His big rival, in a friendly way, was a Mr Andrews. This man bought a very old, one eyed, lame in both legs horse from John's brother James Cresswell (also a horse owner whose animals successfully competed at the races) and to satisfy a wager proved that he could tend and train it up to be a capable trotting horse. Not I should say at Marlow races.
While most racing was of that good humoured fun-based nature rather than fiercely competitive, that didn't preclude matters getting fractious. The Clerk of the Course was sued for damages in 1836 by a man he got into a fight with and results of races were disputed all the way to courts of law at least twice.
The races occurred for the last time, formally at least, in 1847. The 1848 and 1849 meetings were planned but cancelled. Attempts to revive the meeting in the early 1860s got nowhere. There had been rumblings in the last few years of unnamed individuals wishing to "sabotage" the event. Clearly there is more to the cancellation of the races than meets the eye but everyone involved was careful to make only the broadest of hints, probably fearful of an accusation of slander or libel! It was latter said that Sir William Clayton, having lost both the 1842 and 1847 elections to be Marlow M.P became tired of supporting the town who did not support him. And so he withdrew his financial support and patronage from events such the races and town ball. They may be right.
Later Victorian Marlovians turned their racing interest towards rowing races. Sporting challenges between individuals eventually came to be focused around getting teams together and having a football or cricket match rather than pitting horses together in competition. The loss of wealthy patrons who wanted to focus on more prestigious racing elsewhere or other sports probably had a role too.
Some wealthier individuals did maintain race horses later, such as Colonel Owen Williams in the 1890s, they just had to go a bit further to compete. By then racing was much more professional and serious. One of William's jockeys, James Watkins, was killed while exercising a race horse at Temple Park. The horse stumbled and fell on James. He was taken to the Cottage Hospital in Marlow but never regained consciousness and died shortly after, age 22. [October 1890]
Mention should also be made of the occasional steeple chase held at Marlow, mainly before 1850. One in 1836 received coverage in the national press. It finished "over a hedge onto the turnpike road". The course was marked out with flags, at least partially. Going the wrong side of these, and the resulting back tracking required cost Mr Westbrook and his grey Grimaldi the race. He was beaten by a neck by Mr Webb's Holbeiness.
*"Marlow Victoria", a local racing pony of renown, was advertised in national racing press in the late 1830s and early 1840s as available for the sort of matches mentioned above. (Not necessarily held at Marlow.) She would run against a fellow 13.1 hands high pony over 2 miles for a prize of £35 (sometimes more), with the money to be put down at the Greyhound Inn in Spittal Str. Handicaps would allow for a race against a slightly smaller or bigger pony. Her owner was John Creswell. (Cresswell) The Gaming Act of 1845 declared all betting contracts illegal so no action could be taken to legally recover money won by a wager and not paid.
Researched and written by Charlotte Day and Kathryn Day
More Information:
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*1 If you are otherwise interested in Sylvester as a man you will find a summary of his will as transcribed by me in an earlier post on this blog here.
*2 To find out more about Frank's life and career see this Jockeypedia article https://sites.google.com/site/jockeypedia/butler-frank He was not of Marlow origin.
Some research sources:
General Evening Post, October 1756, September 27th 1757 - digitised by Google.
The Newcastle Courant, 26th October 1725. Copy held at the British Library. Accessed by me via the BNA July 2020.
The Whitehall Evening Post or London Intelligencer January 1755 digitized by Google from a copy at the Bavaria State Library. Accessed May 2020.
The New Sporting Magazine 1854.
Celebrities I have Known, memoir by William Pitt Lennox 1876.
Colburns Kalender of Amusements for Town & Country (H Colburn 1840), digitised by Google, accessed May 2011
Windsor and Eton Express 10th June 1843 and 21st August 1841 via the BNA, accessed June 2019.
Bells Weekly Messenger 30th August 1824, as above
Bells Sporting Life clippings circa 1840.
Windsor and Eton Express 30th July 1831, as above.
The London Magazine; Or, Gentleman's Monthly Intelligencer. United Kingdom: C. Ackers, 1752.
Wikipedia article about Frank Butler accessed July 2020.
Private letter.
Victoria County History of Buckingham, ed. by William Page, Constable, London. 1908 edition.
Spirit Of The Times: A chronicle of the turf etc (Volume 12, Issue 32, 1842)
A History of Steeple-Chasing by William Charles Arlington Blew. (J C Nimmo, 1901)
Bucks Gazette 21st August 1841.
*1 If you are otherwise interested in Sylvester as a man you will find a summary of his will as transcribed by me in an earlier post on this blog here.
*2 To find out more about Frank's life and career see this Jockeypedia article https://sites.google.com/site/jockeypedia/butler-frank He was not of Marlow origin.
©Marlow Ancestors.