The Life of Fred Archer i6i 
gave him of doing as he wished. Sometimes he was silent, 
reserved, and then a different expression was on his face. 
" That he was a thinker I am sure, and not only about 
racing. Many a poor man has had cause to bless Fred Archer's 
name. I recollect on one occasion a broken-down old fellow, who 
had been racing for years, said to me : ' If it hadn't been for 
him,' pointing to the jockey, ' I'd have been dead before now.' 
I asked how this would have happened. 
" ' I was awful bad, and I met him as he was coming off the 
Heath one morning. He pulled up, looked at me, and asked if 
I was ever ill. 
" ' I told him. He rode on. An hour or two later a letter 
came round for me, and in it was a ten-pound note. That first 
put me on my legs and I rested a bit. He's a good 'un, is 
Fred — a good 'un.' 
" Archer was born at Cheltenham on January ii, 1857, 
so that he was nearly a year older than myself. He married 
Miss Nellie Dawson, daughter of John Dawson, on January 31, 
1883, and when she died on November 8, 1884, it nearly 
broke his heart. 
" He was left with one child, a girl, and I saw her riding on 
Newmarket Heath, with Mrs. Chaloner I think, not many years 
ago. Archer's father rode Little Charley in the Grand National 
in 1858, and his brother Charles, who trains at Newmarket, 
also rode races. Another brother, William, was killed at 
Cheltenham in 1878. 
" From the photographs of Fred Archer and Charlie Archer 
it will be seen that there is a great likeness between them. 
Charles Archer named a horse after me, and as a flat racer it 
was a failure. He wrote telHng me he was sorry the horse had 
turned out so badly, for he named him Nat Gould because I 
knew his brother well. Nat Gould, however, when put over 
the sticks, made amends ; he must have won about forty events 
of one kind or another. 
" What a rider Fred Archer was ! Shall we ever see such 
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