Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1884-11-15
FAMOUS BETTERS.
"Reminiscences Of English Book N, a X ers.
Ministers and Members Of Parlia.
menf.

/
/ When the history of betting comes to be
written by some competent hand it Wal appear
that from the very earliest times nearly all the
prominent members of the ring-that variegated
regiOn-have sprung from very humble origin.
| and started with very little capital As nearly
all those who may. in comparative sense be
termed the saving members of the fraternity die
| wealthy, and, as the rest live in what they con-
slider to be luxurious fashion. it will appear
that bOokmaking is lucrative calling and
| backing the reverse. Take old Michael Brun-
ton, a true YOrkshireman, for instance. born
| in 1755. and Who we are told, lived respected
by all. and died rich at the age of 80, after
having attended Doncaster races f or sixty
| one years without intermissiOn. and having
| carried on his trade till within three years
! of his death. In the matter of bookmakers'
| aspiring to municipal honors history repeats
itself, tor Michael was more than once MAYOR
| of Richmond. where he lived all his life The
/ Interpretation of acts of parliament is said
| to have been the only thing that caused him
| any uneasiness. though IN that difficulty his
sef-reliance never deserted him. and when his
| brother magistrates disagreed with his reading
| and they appear to have done SO pretty often
| it was his habit to produce a handful of coins
| and offer TO lay the bench to all round that
he was right. Quite as great a character was
| old William Richards, the Leicester stocking
| seller. who. like Brunton. invariably dressed in
blue coat with brass buttons drab breeches
| and CATERS Richards used to hawk stockings
| in early life. and. while on his rounds won
| some money at cards. A local race meeting
! gave him the chance of backing a successful
! outsider with his winnings and from this small
/ beginning he became the proprietor of Ragdale
| Hall. Whenever he went to a race meeting he
used to take supply of stockings with him to
sell to the people of the inns at which he stopped
! and whenever he won over a meeting he ALWAYS
brought back brown Windsor soap and ribbons
for his servants. AS an example of his careful
mode OF living, it is said that he always refused
! to keep servant until he was worth $500 q
year. He always read his bible for an hour on
| Sunday, being as methOdical in his studies
as old William ScOtt-nO relation to the racing
| family-who made it a practice to read ''Baileys
Dictionary and the Prayer Book twice every
| year
| Betting on horse racing is no doubt as old as
| horse racing itself. AT any rate i'm the time of
| Charles III. racing seems to have so far grown
! from pleasure to business as to call for egis-
| lative interference In those DAYS however it
must have been well nigh impossible to have
/ obtained correct return of the betting as each
| boekmaker was a law unto himself. certain
Mr.. Ogden, who had the reputation of having
such marvellous head for figures as to
enable him TO amaSS fortune of 9100 COO was
! one of the first to see the weak points in the
old style. and to produce boOkmakng to science.
| This was about 1880 or perhaps little earlier.
| Ogden was another example of a bookmaker
! rising from nothing. for in the Morning Post of
! July ,. 1197, the following question, SUISSE
| quently answered in the affirmative appeared:
| ''ls MIR. Ogden (nOw called the Newmarket Ora
cle) the same person who. twenty five years ago,
was an annual pedestrian to Ascot, covered with
! dust amusing himself with pricking in the belt
/ nuStng in the hat. &c. among the lowest
class of rustics at the inferior booths of the fair?
| In 1871 Frank Richardson allowed his fancy to
| outrun his discretion. and plunged heavily on
Fortuna for the Leger of that year. When she ran
II oh 10 nnf hic
! To his credit however, be it reported. that in
! stead of joining the army of welshers, he
| adopted the busiDess-iike course of asking for
[ time and issuing pro,nissory notes to mis-
creditors. These fOrbearing creatures must
have jumped for jog on hearing that Richardson
| had, at the succeeding Newmarket meeting
/ been lucky enough to back Michaelmas at the
remuneratiye price of 20 to l for the Grand
Duke Michael stakes 1t is not stated In what
| proportion his own uprightneSs and the press
| ure OF his friends contributed to the result;
but the fact remains that the first use he made
| OF his winnings was to redeem his paper. In
| 1924 Richardson had a great turn of luck by
| backing Jerry for the Leger of that year and
| refusing to Law against him. With the fortune
| OF which the money so won was the foundation
| he bought land. and built a great house near
| York. called bg the owner ST. Nicholas Place.
but dubbed by the neghbors Jerry hall Before
| many years had passed he was again in difficult
! ties. and died in 1888 at the Golden Lion, New
| market. in stratened circumstances.
| Newmarket Heath has ever been q favorte
resort with Cambridge undergraduates of the
| period. and in Bob Munton's day they in
trusted him with all their business and this
| Juvenile connection gained for him the SOU
bq'iq,Ut OF The Baby Jumper" Bob they say,
had hack, appropriately enough a son of
flatcatcher, who knew hacker well as his
master. and would stop dead when one ap-
preached. Just when Munton was at the height
of his success he, unlike the jockey in the
story. '.hedged," and, giving up the trade OF
oookmaking, became dissenting minister
I This by 70 means eXhauStS the list of men
| Who have In some wav or other been remark
! able and who owed their success to boOkmak-
| ing. There was John Gully. for instance, who
| was in turn butchers boy, prize fighter public
| house landlord. outside betting man. member
| of Tattersalls and NJ. p. for Pontefract. He
was taken out of prison (where he was confined
| for debit by Col Mellish, to fight Pearce 1.-The
Game Chicken" He was beaten. fought Greg
| son twice. and then retired from the prize ring
| to settle at Newmarket where he used TO keep
hell, and where. it is sad he began a sys-
tenn Of corruption that placed the secrets of
all Newmarket at his disposal" a statement
that may be a little wide Of the mark though
trainers were not then the men they now are.
There have doubtless been several Davises
/ in the ring. but the only two whose lives have
! been recorded were very different men. Davis,
the ex-tailor. began by attending gaming
house in Pickering place, after which he took
! one of his own i'm st. James street. and finally
became prominent bookmaker. He it was
who called out at the Newmarket Subscription
ROOM Here, Bentinck, I'll accommodate
| you'-a piece of impertinence for which he was
we'll snubbed; while on another occasion he
anticipated the man who, on booking small bet
to the Marquis of Hastings, when his plunging
days were over, emphasized the entry with the
remark: Mind, expect this to be paid" by
saying to hacker. Il wonder if | shall ever see
your money if you lose" The other Davis was
the well known "Leviathan," who first had his
attention called to the profits Of bOOkmaking
while employed as jOurneyman carpenter at
the Newmarket Subscription Rooms On his
return TO town he acted as bookmaker to his
fellow workmen at Cubitt's and then. after
betting in the streets became a member of
Tattersals and the proprietor Oflists nnumerable
that were looked after by clerks in various public
houses. He did not come into prominence till 1S4S
when he laid Lord Strafford-to whom the COM
mission to back The Cur tor thu Cesarewitcn
had been intrusted-f12. 900 to Fl 600 in single
bet. IL Davis was one of the best men to win
FROM he was one of the worst to lose to- as he
would never bet again with any one who had to
TASK for time" Besides the loss of f12 OOOOve
The Cur. HOtspur's not winning the Derby Is
said to have made difference to him of about
ESQ., and Barbarfan's failure Of nearly twice
that sum. VOltigeur's Derby is reported to
have cost him FAC, 600, while in TeddngtOn's
year he paid Mr.. Greville f15.000 in one check.
but. in spite of losses, his winnings are supposed
to have been large enough to have allowed him
to begin the season OF 1852 with 4130 600 to his
credit at the London and Westminster bank It
will be remembered that Davis left his moupv IN