OTHER SEATS CF HORSE-RACING. 49 



The first stand erected at Ascot for the ac- 

 commodation of the public was built by, or at the 

 cost of, a Mr. Slingsby, one of the Royal tradesmen 

 of the period, a master bricklayer, who was a 

 favourite with His Majesty "King George III. 

 of blessed memory." This stand, which was 

 a substantial structure, capable of affording a 

 view of the races to about 650 persons, was 

 in use till about the year 1840. Two or three 

 years before that date, a movement for the 

 erection of a laro^er and more convenient structure 

 took place, and resulted in the formation of a 

 company with a capital of ;^ 10,000, subscribed 

 in hundred-pound shares. The money, after 

 considerable difficulty, having been found, the 

 chief corner-stone of the building was laid in its 

 place by the Earl of Errol, on the i6th of 

 January, 1839, and the occasion of the opening 

 of the stand was signalised by the presence of 

 Her Majesty, who sent for the jockey who rode 

 the winner of the Ascot Stakes, a boy of the 

 name of Bell, and after complimenting him on 

 his skill and judgment as a rider, kindly presented 

 him with a ten-pound note. The excellent riding 

 of this tiny jockey excited an immense amount 

 of admiration, the boy being almost a mere child, 

 and only weighing fifty-six lbs. When before the 

 Queen, upon being asked his weight by Her 

 Majesty, he replied, much to the amusement of 

 the Royal suite : " Please, ma'am, master says as 

 how I must never tell my weight." 



The constitution of the new stand company 

 provided for the application of the profits realised 

 in the following fashion: To begin with a dividend 

 of five per cent, to be paid to the shareholders, 



