Marlow Races* may be long gone but it's surprising how many people with a connection to the sport of racing have had made Marlow their home. From racehorse owners the Williams family of Temple House to Marlow native and 19th century benefactor Jack_Langley, followers of the turf were plentiful. Today's subject is race course manager and clerk of the course Frederick Henry Cathcart who lived in Marlow in the 1920s and early 30s. Frederick had a big impact on the town because of his involvement in the purchase of the Court Garden estate to form the public Higginson Park. I feel his role has been overlooked, perhaps because some of the parties involved had longer associations with the town. The ins and out of the purchase and the sometimes messy early history of the park is more fully covered here
Above, Three Gables.
A stage struck family
There were two Frederick Cathcart's who made their home at some point in Marlow. Our subject Frederick Henry was born in London in 1859 to actors Lucy and Rolleston Cathcart and is the man who made Three Gables** his home. The "other" Frederick is his nephew Frederick Rolleston Cathcart who for some time occupied Old Bridge House. The two have sometimes been confused as they died within three weeks of each other, both acted as clerk of the course at Cheltenham, and both were connected to Messrs Pratt and Co more of which below. F R Cathcart had moved away from Marlow at the time of his very untimely death in 1934 aged 34, following an appendix operation.
Our subject comes from a quite literally entertaining family. His grandfather was described as "a Shakespearean actor of great prowess". Father Rolleston Cathcart was put on the stage on completing his education aged 9 and spent a long career as an actor and stage manager. (Stage name Rowley Cathcart) Although Rolleston rarely played the lead role, his obituaries stressed this was not because he was regarded as lacking in sufficient talent. It was instead said to be because his skill at stage management was regarded as very high, and this did not allow him much time to take on main roles. In 1843, when performing as the ghost in Hamlet at a Glasgow theatre, he received repeated calls for an encore. However the etiquette of the time, and the rules of the theatre itself meant only those in leading roles were allowed to return to the stage. The audience were somewhat pacified when this was explained to them but as performances in Glasgow continued the clamour for a curtain call was continued. Rolleston at last made a brief appearance at the end of one show to acknowledge the crowd with a silent bow. For this he was fired immediately. The public was sympathetic and a subscription fund was set up in his support, raising the tidy sum of £70. Frederick Henry Cathcart was Rolleston's second son and unlike many of his siblings and wider family, he did not spend a life on the stage. Rolleston had been involved in race course management in his later life and in this his son followed his footsteps.
Racing Man.
Frederick was involved in a large number of race tracks, in managerial, financial and administrative roles. He was at various times the director of Folkestone race course, Fontwell Park Steeplechase Co, Cheltenham Steeplechase Co, Gatwick, Lewes and Plumpton Racecourses etc.
He leased the Alexandra Park racecourse (Muswell Hill). Most famously Frederick is believed to be the person most likely to have formed the idea for the Cheltenham Gold Cup, where he was clerk of course. The Sporting Times said in 1928 that "when a history of the Turf is written, a place of importance will have to found for the fine work that Mr. F. H. Cathcart has put in". It is also noted that he was invariably known as "Mr Fred" in racing circles.
In 1888 he had also a patent for an "anti - fraud ticket system for race course enclosures necessitating the use of pass out tickets". Whether this was implemented anywhere I have not researched!
Generally Cathcart was associated in the minds of the sporting world of the day with Messrs Pratt & Co who were often called accountants but a better description of their activities is the "Bankers , Accountants , Racing Managers and Printers" as described by The Register in 1909. He was the senior partner at the time he was in Marlow. Frederick also found time to work sometimes as a sporting journalist.
River visitor
Frederick married Alice Elizabeth Fascutt at St Marks, Kennington in 1884. The couple, and son Leslie b 1897, first came to Marlow as a summer visitor. They stayed at the river side Compleat Angler hotel, and later hired as many others did, a house here for "the river season" including Riversleigh and Bridge Close. Their main home was Thrale Park in Streatham.
Frederick and Alice arrived to make Marlow their permanent home sometime before 1921 when they took on the spacious Three Gables, adjacent to Marlow Lock. He had not retired by any means but had scaled back some of his work.
The problem of the park.
When Robert Griffin of the Court Garden estate in Marlow died in 1921 there was some anxiety as to what would happen to the land. Everyone could think of examples where similar properties had been built over. Marlow wanted to keep the beauty of the riverside grounds intact and the views past it. When the estate failed to find a buyer, the fears it would he broken up into many building lots seemed ever more real. Some people began to consider whether the gardens at least could be bought by subscription and saved for public use. In 1926 Marlow's famous General Sir George Higginson was due to celebrate his centenary. A group of citizens wished to commemorate this in some public way and so decided to set up a subscription fund for that purpose. Eventually the two ideas came together and it was decided to buy the Court Garden Estate for the town and name it Higginson Park. Frederick became the honorary treasurer of the park purchase fund, and then one of the park trustees.
The process was no means straightforward. The auction came before the funds had been raised and so the land was only purchased because Frederick and fellow trustee and the purchase committee chair Rev Canon Michael Graves guaranteed the necessary overdrafts at bank. At the auction, local auctioneer and estate agent George Kendall purchased lots 2-8 on behalf of Cathcart who in turn was acting for the fund. These bordered the Causeway and were considered the most vulnerable to be turned into housing sites due to their road frontage. Frederick set himself the target to fundraise the money to cover the outlay of these lots in particular.
As the story of the development of the park is covered elsewhere in the blog, I'm going to focus on Frederick's role only. Briefly, problems arose because although there had been semi formal discussions with the Marlow Urban District Council about their taking on the park, it was not definitely agreed they would do so and more specifically on what terms. The discussion about this lasted two years. I sense Frederick was a man inpatient with official processes and bureaucracy. He became increasingly anxious that the council would not take on the whole estate or develop it in the way General Higginson had wished - that is keep the house as well as the grounds for public use. In order to try and speed up decision making Frederick offered to liquidate the remaining debt on the estate in 1928 but only if the council agreed to take on the house as well and by a certain date. They did not, and Frederick had had enough. He resigned as hon. treasurer and his offer came to nothing. He publicly denied his resignation had anything to do with any friction with his fellow trustees Canon Graves and purchase committee hon sec L J Smith. Instead he claimed in a letter to the local press that he had done what he committed to do - save and raise the money for lots 2-8. As for the rest, he said that he'd exhausted all avenues of fundraising and the committee needed fresh blood. To be fair to the council, they were in the year 1928 what Canon Graves (also a councillor) described as not quite solvent. They had vastly overspent due to a diphtheria outbreak and there were many who thought the Court Garden house should be sold and the funds used to provide mains drainage to lessen the odds of more disease outbreaks. The need to alleviate frequent street floods was also in their mind. Part of the delay of agreeing how and when to hand control of part of the park to the council was because the park trustees had committed not to do so until all the debt was paid off - and money came in slowly. From the outside though, it looked like more dithering and the passing up for an opportunity to secure a really beautiful facility for the town. Also in people's minds was probably the street protests that had occured when Riley Park took seven years to fully open to the public after the gift of it to the town...and the fact the issue of mains drainage had been discussed in council for over 20 years. The question of where to put the towns first public convenience took more than decade to settle.
Cathcart tried to get local groups such as the scouts and guides to commit to using rooms in Court Garden house to demonstrate it could be put to public use. And he pleaded for all classes of people to accept if necessary a small rise in rates to pay for developing the estate into something the town could be proud of. Obviously Frederick had quite a bit more money than many rate payers at his disposal but he was willing to put money where his mouth was - he put £400 of his own money into the park fund. And he headed many events committees organising fetes and the like to boost funds.
Trouble about trees
Frederick did not wash his hands of the park after that. He offered to pay the entire cost of providing two "bathing chalets" near the riverbank so that bathers in a proposed new bathing place could have somewhere to change. He got an architect to draw up plans but the council said they had agreed not to erect any buildings in that area in order to preserve the view. Frederick then suggested that he could pay for a new side entrance gate for the park from the Causeway. A small one already existed but Fred thought that a lych style gate in the centre of the old wall bordering the Causeway would look attractive, and could also act as a memorial to Higginson. Although the council initially agreed to accept this gift, uncertainty about the future of the wall due to a failed scheme to replace the suspension bridge adjacent meant that a year later they felt unable to definitely agree to the work starting. Undeterred Frederick came up with an idea that surely no one could find fault with - 12 park benches. The fact the park still had none two years after opening had made the national press - and so the benches idea, after a few months delay, allowed.
When 18 trees were felled in the council's part of the park in 1927, and more still in the part managed by the Higginson Park Society*** Frederick was absolutely aghast. So were many others. As a representative of the subscribers to the purchase fund, he contacted with others the Council for Protection for Rural England who threatened to take out an injunction against further tree work against the Council and Higginson Park society. Both hastily agreed to stop work and the Council issued a sort of apology. The work had not been authorized by the whole council but by a couple of members of the sub committee under whose care the park was who admitted mistaking their authority to do so. They had however only acted because the trees were considered dangerous and of little financial value they said. Frederick got a different expert to judge the value of the timber - and he made it at least £200 as opposed to the councils £44. In the words of fellow townsman J Seeley the council's estimate was "an insult of the intelligence to anyone not a lunatic". Many people were angry at the loss but Frederick was not going to let the matter drop. He thought those responsible should resign or at least pledge to take legal advice before "destroying public property" in the future. In the end he secured a promise that more trees would be planted. It should be noted that two of the saved trees were blown down by a gale a short while later - but others originally condemned survived the winds.
More tiffs and troubles
Frederick tried to mediate in another spat the council found themselves involved in. In 1928 legal action was threatened and eventually injunctions served on park trustees L J Smith and Canon Graves relating to the holding of fairs or fetes in the park. Park neighbour Margaret Walton had been assured by these two that no noisy fairground organs or rides would be allowed to spend days and days playing in the park outside her home during the regatta period. When - without in fact Smith or Graves permission - some rides arrived earlier than expected she was furious and said they had gone back on their word. She intended to hold them personally responsible for any disruption of her peace in the future. The full story of this is in a post about Margaret Walton who was involved in several disputes with the authorities. [Post is being updated - link will follow] But the affair got very ugly indeed and there were public protests and demonstrations against Margaret's actions. Smith and Graves were put under a lot of stress during this affair. Frederick took Margaret aside after one heated public meeting. He decided the time was to communicate other than through legal letters. He reported that afterwards she indicated she would be receptive to a letter of apology from the council (in whose part of the park the rides would be) and would withdraw her action. However the council was irked at Frederick taking upon himself to mediate and said he should have asked them first because they were not sure if he'd suggested any terms of settlement they couldn't agree to. The dispute was however settled - but not before all had nasty legal advice bills to settle.
Other roles in Marlow
Frederick was one of the governor's of Borlase school and presented regular prizes for essay competitions etc. On the day of the Higginson Park dedication ceremony in 1926 he entertained the school boys to tea. Mrs Cathcart gave a plate for ladies to row for at Marlow regatta and gave out the prizes there from time to time. She was also a keen gardener and supporter of the Chrysanthemum Society, again sponsoring prizes at their annual show and at Hurley and Bisham flower show. In fact Mrs Cathcart was much in demand at opening fetes and judging baby shows. Her last gift to the town was a piece of land for the scouts to build their hut on. For this she was granted life membership of the movement.
Frederick died age 74 in 1934 after a long illness which meant he had retreated from much of his public work at Marlow. His wife remained in the town until her death 3 years later.
Further information:
* History of Marlow Race Course here
**The history of Three Gables is available here
*** The role of the Higginson Park Society is explained in the earlier Higginson Park post here
The delay in opening Riley Recreation Ground is covered here and more about that park here
Written and researched by Kathryn Day
Sources include:
The Era 28 July & 27th October 1850, 7th July 1883, 8th February 1896
"England and Wales, Birth Registration Index, 1837-2008," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:26T9-LPS : 1 October 2014), Frederick Henry Cathcart, 1859; from "England Wales Births, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Birth Registration, Pancras, London, England, citing General Register Office, Southport, England.
England and Wales, Census, 1861", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2MG-H3GQ : Sat Mar 09 12:44:21 UTC 2024), Entry for Rolleston Cathcart and Lucy Cathcart, 1861.
"England and Wales, Census, 1871", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VRFJ-WL2 : Tue Oct 08 19:58:44 UTC 2024), Entry for Lucy Cathcart
England and Wales, Census, 1881", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q274-CNR6 : Tue Mar 05 08:08:20 UTC 2024), Entry for Annie Payne and Frederick Payne, 1881.
Freeman's journal - 5th June 1884.
The Official journal of the Patent Office, Volume 9, H.M. Stationery Office, 1888
England and Wales, Birth Registration Index, 1837-2008," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:26T9-LPS : 1 October 2014), Frederick Henry Cathcart, 1859; from "England & Wales Births, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Birth Registration, Pancras, London, England, citing General Register Office, Southport, England.
Bucks Free Press 3rd August 1900, 24th January 1925, 21st May & 9th July 1926, 4th February, 8th & 14th July, 12th August 1927, 28th September 1928, 19th April & 13th December 1929, 16th February 1934, 26th November 1937
South Bucks Free Press - 15th July 1898
South Bucks Standard 23rd June 1899
The Stock Exchange Official Intelligence Volume 30 1912. (No publisher given)
Cheltenham Looker-On - 11th April 1914
MUDC council reports July & August 1927
Directory of Directors 1927, Thomas Skinner & Company 1927.
Sporting Times - 17th March 1928
Bucks Herald 8th August 1930
Gloucester Echo - 13th February 1934
Country Life 8th June 1938
Baily's Magazine of Sports and Pastimes Volume 91 (Vinton, 1909)
Kelly's Post Office London Directory
Volume 2, 1921
The Pall Mall Budget. United Kingdom, J. Kellett, 1884.
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