222 The Life of Fred Archer 
his successes being the Champagne, Autumn, Clearwell, 
New, and Richmond Stakes, and the Dewhurst and Middle 
Park Plates. 
This was the year of the sale of Lord Falmouth's horses, 
and on this occasion Dawson and Archer presented to Lord 
Falmouth a beautiful silver salver, round the edge of which 
were graven his victories. Naturally, Lord Falmouth prized 
this beyond everything, and he stated it would always be pre- 
served as an heirloom in his family. All the winners whose 
names were recorded on the salver were ridden by Archer, with 
the exception of Kingcraft in the Derby and Cecilia in the One 
Thousand Guineas, the mounts respectively of Tom French 
and John Morris, 
But 1884 was a fatal year to Archer, and the day he rode 
Thebais to victory in the Liverpool Autumn Cup was probably 
the last happy day he spent. As has been said his wife had 
had a little boy, who died immediately, and she was very ill, 
now on November 8, when he returned to scale from riding 
Thebais, a telegram was handed to him, informing him that 
he was the father of a daughter, and poor Fred rushed straight 
off to Newmarket. 
The events of that day are described in a cutting in Sir 
Willoughby Maycock's scrap-book, headed " The American 
Tattersall on Archer," and written by Mr. William Easton. 
Part of it reads as follows : 
" Some years ago scarcely a day passed that I did not 
spend some of it under the hospitable roof of Mr. John Dawson, 
the famous trainer at Newmarket. At that time Mr. Dawson's 
Nellie, afterwards Mrs. Fred Archer, was a child, and I of 
course knew her. Poor Archer, knowing this, seemed to find 
relief from his terrible grief after her death in talking to me 
about her. Hence the poor fellow's confidential conversa- 
tion with me, which I will give in his own words. 
" It happened when he was out here and we were return- 
ing from the Park, where he had been for a gallop. It was the 
