V ET E It! N A R Y JURISPRU D E N C K . 
4GL 
had won from some, and he had lost to others. From the plaintiff' he had 
won cflSSO, but had also lost largely, and amongst others he had lost to 
Mr. Portman, Mr. Beale, and to a Mr. Clarke; he had also lost to Mr. Byng, 
one of the defendants on this record, and to other persons who were in the 
habit of frequenting and betting on races. The practice of the turf as re- 
spected betting was this : — Parties betting keep books wherein they enter 
the names of those with whom they make bets, and also the amount of their 
winnings and losings. After the races are over there is a settling-day fixed, 
which, as regards Epsom races, is generally the Tuesday following. On that 
day all parties attend at Tattersall’s to pay their losses and receive their win- 
nings ; and any person who makes bets, and who does not then attend and 
settle them, is considered as a defaulter, and, according to the rules and 
practices of the sporting world, if he does not pay his losses he is not en- 
titled to receive from those of whom he has won. This is the invariable 
rule, and parties who had lost money to one so circumstanced were not 
bound to pay him. Now, on the Tuesday in question, which was the sett- 
ling-day, Gurney did not appear at Tattersall’s either to pay or to receive; 
the fact was, he had lost money which he could not pay, and the consequence 
was, that those who had lost to him declined to pay him ; in fact, he never 
attended at Tattersall’s ; he made no demand on his losers ; he neither at- 
tempted to pay or to receive. However, certain gentlemen who had won 
largely from Mr. Gurney, conceived a device by which to obtain their money 
from him, and they proposed to him to receive all bets which might be due 
to him on the races, and then satisfy those who had won from him by paying 
the amount of their winnings. Gurney agreed to accede to this arrangement, 
and authorized Messrs. Portman, Beale, and Clarke, accordingly, who pro- 
ceeded to lay the facts before the stewards of the Jockey Club, and received 
their sanction for the course they were pursuing, not, however, without some 
dissatisfaction being exhibited amongst the members of that body, who pro- 
tested against the arrangement, unless all the creditors of Mr. Gurney were 
paid in full, as they considered that such a thing as a composition in the 
payment of bets was altogether unprecedented and unheard of. Messrs. 
Portman, Beale, and Clarke, being anxious to carry out the arrangement, 
entered into an undertaking that Gurney’s debts should be paid in full at 
the end of the Houghton Meeting at Newmarket, which takes place at the 
end of October. They then applied to several of the parties who had lost 
money to Gurney for the payment of their bets, many of whom refused at 
that moment to settle with them unless a guarantee were given that Mr. 
Gurney’s debts should be paid in full before a certain day, and Messrs. 
Beale, Clarke, and Portman then agreed to give such guarantee ; and to 
carry on the transaction on that footing, they accordingly deposited in the 
hands of the steward the following undertaking, signed by themselves : — 
TattersalVs June 14, 1841. 
<e We, the undersigned, undertake that Mr. Gurney’s account shall be paid 
in full, by the end of the Houghton Meeting.” 
It appears that these gentlemen then applied to Mr. Thornton, to pay 
them the amount which he had lost to Gurney, and wrote him the following 
letter : — 
“ Sir, — Mr. Weatlierby having been desired by the Jockey Club to furnish 
you with a copy of their decision upon an investigation of Mr. Gurney’s 
case this afternoon, we have to request that you will pay us on Monday next, 
at Tattersall’s, the amount due from you to Mr. Gurney. 
We are, &c. 
“ W. B. Portman, 
“ Occendon-street , June 12th. “ Charles Beale.” 
VOL. XV. 3 Q 
