Gentlemen Riders 



in which the former participated, invariably took the following 



form : — " First came the fox ; then that d d son of mine, 



John ; then the hounds ! " 



Mr. W. H. p. JENKINS 



(" Mr. p. Merton ") 



Dating from the period when he first began to ride in public, 

 nearly half a century ago, there is no one you could name 

 who has kept more in touch with, or done more for the sport 

 of steeplechasing, than the popular sportsman named above, 

 familiarly known to his friends as " Jenks." Son of Mr. John 

 Jenkins, of Caerleon, Monmouth, by Elizabeth, daughter and 

 co-heiress of Mr. Henry Phillips of Llantarnam, in the same 

 county, the subject of our memoir was born in 1842, and 

 received his earlier education at Rugby, after which he went 

 to Merton College, Oxford, just previous to which, in 1859, he 

 had commenced his riding career in an auspicious manner by 

 winning a steeplechase at a small meeting near Cardiff, on 

 a mare named Crinoline, belonging to Mr. C. H. Williams. 



When up at Oxford his favours were pretty equally divided 

 between boxing and steeplechase ridings it being hard to say 

 at which he was the greater proficient. The latter form of 

 amusement, it need scarcely be said, does not form part of the 

 curriculum at our Universities, and as the new arrival possessed 

 very strong predilections that way, and, what is more, had 

 every intention of indulging them at every given opportunity, 

 he deemed it advisable, with a view to concealing his identity 

 from the Dons, to adopt another name than his own for racing 

 purposes. 



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