Richard Tattersall
| Richard Tattersall | |
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Richard Tattersall, painted c. 1790 by Thomas Beach
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| Born | 1724 Hurstwood, Lancashire |
| Died | 21 February 1795 (aged 70) |
| Occupation | founder of the racehorse auctioneers Tattersalls |
Richard Tattersall (June 1724 – 21 February 1795) was the founder of the racehorse auctioneers Tattersalls.
He was born in Hurstwood in Lancashire, and was educated at Burnley Grammar School. He left home in 1745, apparently because his father had thwarted his ardent desire to join the jacobite rebels. He had an interest in horses from an early age, and entering the service of Evelyn Pierrepont, 2nd Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull, he soon rose to be his stud-groom.
Having put by a considerable sum of money, he purchased in 1766 from the Earl of Grosvenor the ninety-nine years' lease of premises at Hyde Park Corner (then an outlying part of London). There he set up as a horse auctioneer. His straightforward honesty and businesslike precision won him golden opinions. He soon numbered among his clients the chief members of the Jockey Club and the nobility, and he even procured horses for the king of France and the dauphin.
In 1774 he sold the stud of his former patron, the Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull, and had some difficulty in resisting the claims to the proceeds of the rapacious Elizabeth Chudleigh, Duchess of Kingston. Early in 1779 he bought the famous racer Highflyer from Lord Bolingbroke for what was deemed the enormous price of £2,500, being then described as "Richard Tattersall of the parish of St. George-in-the-Fields, liberty of Westminster, gentleman."
He now started a stud farm at Dawley in Middlesex (near Hayes, Hillingdon), which, together with his reputation for integrity, became the cornerstone of his large fortune. About the same time he fitted up two rooms at Hyde Park Corner for the use of the members of the Jockey Club; and these "subscription rooms" soon became a most important resort of the sporting world, and the centre whence all betting upon the turf was regulated.
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