2 IRiMuo IRccoUcctions au& ITurf Stories 



I was born at Peterborough in the year 1842. 

 As a youngster I was always attached to horses, and 

 was only too anxious to secure a ride whenever 

 opportunity offered. Amongst my earliest experi- 

 ences before I left home, was riding the winners of 

 several pony races, under what were at that time 

 called " Ramsey Rules," which were quite of the 

 "win, tie, or wrangle" order. It was in the year 

 1855, at this very place — Ramsey, a little town in 

 Huntingdonshire — that I won a race for a saddle. 

 Needless to say, it was a very minor affair. As 

 usual, there was an objection. It was not raised 

 until we went, an hour afterwards, to fetch our prize. 

 Then they said we did not repass the post after 

 winning. The conditions were for catch-weights, so 

 of course weighing-in was unnecessary. The pro- 

 ceedings ended in a fight for the saddle, which, had 

 it been put up to auction, would scarcely have realized 

 half as much as the expenses were. 



Winning this race at Ramsey caused me to ride 

 another of a much better class a fortnight after, at 

 Peterborough. This particular mount was for poor 

 George Ede, better known as " Mr. Edwards," who 

 won the Liverpool Grand National on ' The Lamb,' 

 and afterwards met with his untimely death on the 

 same course. Mr. Ede was learning farming with 



