36 The Life of Fred Archer 
I was particularly fortunate some years ago to meet Fred 
Archer's sister Alice, the late Mrs. Pratt. I obtained from her. 
the following recollections of her brother. They are put down 
just as she related them to me. 
" It was a pretty, old-world place," said she, " and in the 
smoke-room every man had his own particular corner. I think 
there was a picture of this room in the Sporting and Dramatic, 
at the time of Fred's marriage. The smoke-room was for the 
gentry, and most of the other people went into the tap-room 
downstairs, except John Cheswas, a steeplechase jockey, a very 
superior man and all that. He could always be found in the 
smoke-room, smoking his long churchwarden pipe with the best 
of his betters. I remember this used rather to annoy my father ; 
he often said things about it ; but John sat there all the same, 
and, in fact, he seemed to mix altogether with a class of people 
far above him. Sarah Cheswas, John's wife, had been an old 
servant of ours, and she used to come in by the day and work 
for mother. 
" In places like Prestbury there is always the village idiot, 
isn't there ? And Sam Cheswas, Sarah's and John's son, was 
ours. He had fits, and we were rather afraid of him. We 
children used often to go down to Sarah's, but before we went in 
we'd always ask Sarah, ' Is Sam at home, and do you think he'll 
have a fit ? ' And Sarah would sometimes say, ' I don't think 
so. He had five in the night.' 
" The King's Arms in this photograph of it looks just what 
it was — an old-fashioned country inn. I think the trams have 
rather spoilt Prestbury, and, of course, old Mr. Holland is gone, 
which makes a difference. He was such a nice old man, and 
so was his father, who lived to be ninety-five. Everybody 
respected them both ; and as for the old father, children and 
dogs simply worshipped him ; indeed, all animals fairly loved 
him. So did Sam Cheswas — he followed old Mr. Holland about 
like any dog. Wherever Mr. Holland went, there was Sam 
after him, and Mr. Holland would often give him a bit of meat 
