362 A MIRROR OF THE TURF. 



As has been stated, the inner history of the 

 Club is not as yet pubHc property. The Jockey 

 Club is simply of the nature of a private society, 

 and racing authorities differ somewhat as to 

 the time when it was instituted. One writer 

 says it was during the reign of George II.; 

 another tells us the Club was constituted between 

 the years 1750 and 1760, when a few gentlemen 

 interested in the sport of horse-racing, and who, 

 moreover, were in the habit of ridinof their own 

 horses, banded themselves together, and became 

 founders of the tribunal which at present governs 

 the " sport of kings." The original title to 

 enrolment, it has been stated, was the wearing 

 of boots and spurs. The first official mention 

 of the Club occurs in Heber's Racing Calendar 

 for 1758, under the heading of "Orders," given 

 for the purpose of compelling riders to weigh 

 when they came in from running their horses 

 in a race, on pain of being dismissed, which order 

 is signed by Lord March and other noblemen 

 and gentlemen then members of the institution. 



In an excellent, although brief, sketch of 

 the history of the Club contributed to the 

 "Badminton Library," we are told that tradition 

 points to its origin in the year 1750, before which 

 time the usual meeting-place for gentlemen 

 attending Newmarket was the " Red Lion Inn," 

 the site of which is supposed to have been on 

 the present Station Road. In 1752, the sub- 

 scription-room was built, and it may be taken 

 for granted that the Club would then be formed, 

 or had been formed a little time previously. It 

 was not till the year 1770 that stewards began to 

 be regularly appointed, and their duties defined; 



