126 THE JOCKEY CLUB 1750- 



M.P. for Tregony. He is not to be confounded with 

 another Mr. Parker (afterwards Lord Boringdon) , who 

 was also a member of the Jockey Club, and was more 

 distinguished upon the Turf. To him we shall come 

 hereafter. 



Mr. Pigott, who is upon the list of subscribers to 

 the Jockey Club Cup, and is a signatory of the Jockey 

 Club documents in 1769 and 1771, was Eobert Pigott, 

 junr., Esq., of Chetwynd Park, Salop, and of Ches- 

 terton Hall, Hunts, the gentleman who has already 

 been mentioned as 'backing' his father's life at 

 Newmarket against young Mr. Codrington's father's ; 

 whence arose a curious decision of Lord Mansfield's. 

 The case is probably well-known, but will bear repeti- 

 tion. It so happened that Mr. Eobert Pigott, senr., 

 was already dead at the very time when the aforesaid 

 bet was made, but the news of the death had not 

 reached Newmarket, nor was it so much as suggested 

 that either of the bettors knew of the death, or had 

 any suspicion of it. When, however, Mr. Eobert 

 Pigott, junr., heard of his father's death, and found 

 by calculation that it must have taken place before 

 the bet was made, so that he had no chance of win- 

 ning, he refused to pay. Meanwhile Mr. Codrington 

 had transferred his bet to Lord March, afterwards 

 ' Old Q.,' a very awkward customer to deal with, who 

 appealed to the law, which did not then ignore wagers, 

 and won his case ; Lord Mansfield, before whom it 

 came, deciding that ' the impossibility of a contingency 



