246 



A HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH TURF. 



and to keep the course clear of all dangerous or unwelcome intruders. As a matter 

 of fact the Record Office reveals that the State Papers of the Restoration have 

 almost as much of racing in them as of more serious business, and when the details 

 of a sport are being carefully catalogued among the national archives, it is not a 

 very difficult matter for its votaries to quote authority and precedent if they desire 

 to do so. Whether the foundation of the Club really reflects that early necessity 

 for providing presentable jockeys in a Royal race, I cannot say, though a large 

 number of its members were certainly fond of riding their own horses in a race, and 



did it well, too, among them being 

 such famous gentlemen jockeys 

 as the Dukes of Hamilton and 

 Oueensberry, Sir Nathaniel Cur- 

 zon of Kedleston, Lord Wilton, 

 Mr. Henry Compton, the Duke of 

 Grafton, Mr. Vernon, Mr, Shelley, 

 Lord Orford, Messrs. Jenison and 

 Robert Shafto, Mr. Duncombe, 

 Mr. Shirley, Sir Henry Fether- 

 stonhaugh, Mr. Brand, and others. 

 It is clear, at any rate, that in 

 Royal racing the Club found at 

 once its origin and its justification. 

 The two Dukes of Cumberland, 

 uncle and brother of George III., 

 were among its earliest members, 

 and it has never been without a 

 member of the Royal Family upon 

 its roll from that day to this. 



At first the Club seems to have held its official meetings at the Star and Garter in 

 Pall Mall, where it is also recorded, by a most interesting coincidence, that " the laws 

 of cricket were revised, on February 25th, 1774, by a committee of noblemen and 

 gentlemen." But other hostelries as well were favoured, and members also met in 

 each other's houses, until later on Mr. Richard Tattersall provided them with a cook 

 and a private coffee-room at Hyde Park Corner, and Messrs. Weatherby's room in 

 Old Burlington Street became the recognised headquarters fur London. The 



A Jockey on the Throne. 



