2 JOHN PORTER OF KINGSCLERE 



father was a "gentleman ** farmer at Fairwell Hall, 

 midway between Rugeley and Lichfield, and 

 during our holidays I spent a good deal of time 

 there. Occasionally we went over to Hednesford 

 to visit Ashmairs uncle, Tom Carr, who had a 

 training stable, and it was no unusual thing for 

 us to stay with him two or three days. During 

 the visits I frequently met my father's friend 

 Saunders, a distant relative of the Ashmalls. 

 These details can have no special interest ; I 

 mention them merely to show that at this im- 

 pressionable age I became familiar with the 

 " atmosphere *' of a racing stable, and acquired 

 a fondness for thoroughbreds which shaped my 

 career in life. 



It might all have been very different. I was, 

 I suppose, about ten years old when, for business 

 reasons, my father had to move to London, and 

 his family with him. While there I attended a 

 school in Tavistock Street, Covent Garden. 

 Our stay in London lasted, however, only two 

 years, and we went back to Rugeley. I have 

 often wondered how Fate would have dealt with 

 me if I had been compelled to remain permanently 

 in London. 



When I left school in 1852 my father wished 

 me to go into a lawyer's office, but before any 

 definite arrangement was made I was allowed a 

 holiday, which was spent with Saunders at Hed- 

 nesford. How long I was expected to stay 



