As the First World War was just getting underway among a state of patriotic fervour a charity challenge contest consisting of bowls and billiards matches was organized at the “Bowling Green Hotel” Chorlton-cum-Hardy between two well known jockeys Frank Mason and Harry Buxton in aid of “The Prince of Wales War Fund”.
The pair had previously held a similar event, in October,1911 at the Bowling Green Hotels in Chorlton-cum-Hardy and Chester (being each man’s home venue) when they contested a bowls match of 31 up for a gold medal.(1)
Both men were well known in the area. Harry lived locally at 6, Albermarle Road while Frank was a frequent rider at the Manchester course, on one occasion “going through the card” (2) there and had married a local girl, Vera Broughton at The Holy Innocents Church, Fallowfield on 10th July, 1907.
The two jockeys would likely have drawn a sizeable crowd, both being quite celebrated.
Frank Mason had just retired from a very successful riding career in National Hunt racing and recently acquired a trainer’s license in that sport.
His rides in the Grand National were in double figures and he had won that famous race riding “Kirkland” in the 1905 race; a success for which he was awarded the then princely sum of £1,000.
He had also ridden horses into places in the race on several occasions. Harry Buxton the lighter of the two at 7st 12lb was a rider on the flat riding in both Britain and Ireland.
After not being too successful and one time having his license suspended for “Foul Riding” in the Irish Derby in June 1902 (reinstated March, 1903) Harry decided to venture further afield.
This move met with great success as he became the “Champion Jockey” in Roumania three years running. In 1910 he secured 26 winners from just 54 starts including the Roumanian “Triple Crown” (3) All told, Harry’s total of winning rides surpassed 500 mostly in the other European racecourses.
In the March quarter of 1904 Harry Buxton married Edith Mary (née Valentine) the daughter of James the keeper of the “Travellers Rest” beerhouse at 70, Beech Road, Chorlton-cum-Hardy.
The couple went on to have five children. Their first child, Edith May Violet, was born on 12th December 1905 whilst Harry was based in Ireland riding for Mr. Cunliffe of Kildore, Co. Kildare.
Then came three children born in Chorlton-cum-Hardy; James Harry Aubrey (born 11th October 14th March, 1911), Irene Bessie Vera (born 14th March, 1911)and Alfred Eric Verdun (4) (born 17th May, 1916) (5)
The last addition to the family was Dorothy W.J. who was born on 16th July, 1919 after the family had relocated to Stretford. With war raging throughout Europe riding opportunities became very limited leading to Harry undertaking war work in a munitions factory.
On 2nd January, 1916 “The People” reported that Harry was working at the Westinghouse factory at Old Trafford and had on average an output of more than 450 shells per week. Harry died at Old Trafford in October, 1922 and was laid to rest in Stretford cemetery on the 24th of that month.
Frank “Titch” Mason was born on 4th April, 1879 at 14, Carlyle Street in Wavertree, Liverpool the first son of Thomas, a coal merchant from Shrewsbury, Shropshire and his wife Sarah Ann who was from the small village of Tarbock, Nr. Knowsley, Lancashire. At just twelve years old Frank was apprenticed to the horse stables of Mr. John Gubbins of Telscombe, Sussex.
He then spent some time riding in Ireland where only two weeks after his 14th birthday he rode the first of the more than 720 winners of his career on “Vandal” at The Curragh on 18th April, 1893.
Frank and his wife, Vera, also had five children Vera Letitia (born 1909), Emma (born 1910), Thomas Kirkland (born 1911), Lillian (born 1912), and Frank (born 1914). Between 1912 and 1914 Frank took a break from riding; switching to the training of racehorses.
He doesn’t appear to have been very successful at this as he had to wait until March 1913 for his first winner and in 1914 he relinquished his trainer’s license and returned to riding until he finally retired in 1919 after breaking a thigh in the Valentine Chase at Aintree on 9th November. Frank and Vera first set up home in Little Saughall, Nr. Chester, Cheshire.
Later the family moved, to be closer to his parental home, to “Kirkland”, Pasture Road, Moreton, Wallasey on the Wirral peninsular Cheshire.
The fact that Frank not only named his houses after his Grand National Winning horse but also saw fit to name his first born son after it as well indicates that he had a very highly developed ego.
On one or two occasions this personality trait was to land him into minor clashes with the law.
In February, 1912 he faced a charge of assault at Epsom, Surrey against Mr. Arthur Marshall a local fishmonger the case was dismissed when both parties reconciled and expressed a desire to not further bother the court. On 4th July, 1914
The Cheshire Observer reported that Frank been ordered to pay costs of 5s 5d after being summoned for a minor traffic offence for which he would only have received a caution had he not proceeded to get into a dispute with the policeman who had pulled him over.
Finally the Shepton Mallet Journal of 19th October, 1923 reported Frank had been fined £5 for dangerous driving after a collision with a horse and cart on a bend in a narrow road at Smethcote, Shropshire on 19th August while returning from a holiday near Shrewsbury.
After retiring from racing Frank invested some of his earnings in property development around the Moreton area and remained at “Kirkland” house with his wife of over 60 years until his death in the December quarter of 1969. The following year before the start of the Grand National his daughter, accompanied by his widow Vera, scattered his ashes on the Aintree course.
© Tony Goulding 2020
Location; Chorlton
Pictures; the Bowling Green, 2020, from the collection of Tony Goulding, "Kirkland" 19005 grand national winner taken by W. A. Rouch Country life volume 17 (1905) and Frank Mason, Jockeypedia a "google website"
Notes:
1) As reported in “The Sporting Life”.
2) Winning every race usually 5 or 6 of a days racing.
3) The “Triple Crown” is The 2,000 Guineas, The Derby, and The St Leger in the same season.
4) “Verdun” honouring the terrible losses of the French army who at this time (mid-1916) were embroiled in a titanic struggle centred on the town and citadel of Verdun and its surrounding forts.
5) The three children christened at St Clements were all at different addresses at their baptism. James Harry Aubrey was baptised on 17th November, 1909 from 13, Cartwright Road, Irene Bessie Vera on 10th May, 1911 from 6, Albermarle Road and Alfred Eric Verdun on 22nd July, 1916.
Additional material derived from Jockeypedia a “Google site”
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| Bowling Green Hotel - Green and Clubhouse 2020 |
Both men were well known in the area. Harry lived locally at 6, Albermarle Road while Frank was a frequent rider at the Manchester course, on one occasion “going through the card” (2) there and had married a local girl, Vera Broughton at The Holy Innocents Church, Fallowfield on 10th July, 1907.
The two jockeys would likely have drawn a sizeable crowd, both being quite celebrated.
Frank Mason had just retired from a very successful riding career in National Hunt racing and recently acquired a trainer’s license in that sport.
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| “KIRKLAND” 1905 Grand National winner |
He had also ridden horses into places in the race on several occasions. Harry Buxton the lighter of the two at 7st 12lb was a rider on the flat riding in both Britain and Ireland.
After not being too successful and one time having his license suspended for “Foul Riding” in the Irish Derby in June 1902 (reinstated March, 1903) Harry decided to venture further afield.
This move met with great success as he became the “Champion Jockey” in Roumania three years running. In 1910 he secured 26 winners from just 54 starts including the Roumanian “Triple Crown” (3) All told, Harry’s total of winning rides surpassed 500 mostly in the other European racecourses.
In the March quarter of 1904 Harry Buxton married Edith Mary (née Valentine) the daughter of James the keeper of the “Travellers Rest” beerhouse at 70, Beech Road, Chorlton-cum-Hardy.
The couple went on to have five children. Their first child, Edith May Violet, was born on 12th December 1905 whilst Harry was based in Ireland riding for Mr. Cunliffe of Kildore, Co. Kildare.
Then came three children born in Chorlton-cum-Hardy; James Harry Aubrey (born 11th October 14th March, 1911), Irene Bessie Vera (born 14th March, 1911)and Alfred Eric Verdun (4) (born 17th May, 1916) (5)
The last addition to the family was Dorothy W.J. who was born on 16th July, 1919 after the family had relocated to Stretford. With war raging throughout Europe riding opportunities became very limited leading to Harry undertaking war work in a munitions factory.
On 2nd January, 1916 “The People” reported that Harry was working at the Westinghouse factory at Old Trafford and had on average an output of more than 450 shells per week. Harry died at Old Trafford in October, 1922 and was laid to rest in Stretford cemetery on the 24th of that month.
Frank “Titch” Mason was born on 4th April, 1879 at 14, Carlyle Street in Wavertree, Liverpool the first son of Thomas, a coal merchant from Shrewsbury, Shropshire and his wife Sarah Ann who was from the small village of Tarbock, Nr. Knowsley, Lancashire. At just twelve years old Frank was apprenticed to the horse stables of Mr. John Gubbins of Telscombe, Sussex.
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| Frank Mason in racing colours |
Frank and his wife, Vera, also had five children Vera Letitia (born 1909), Emma (born 1910), Thomas Kirkland (born 1911), Lillian (born 1912), and Frank (born 1914). Between 1912 and 1914 Frank took a break from riding; switching to the training of racehorses.
He doesn’t appear to have been very successful at this as he had to wait until March 1913 for his first winner and in 1914 he relinquished his trainer’s license and returned to riding until he finally retired in 1919 after breaking a thigh in the Valentine Chase at Aintree on 9th November. Frank and Vera first set up home in Little Saughall, Nr. Chester, Cheshire.
Later the family moved, to be closer to his parental home, to “Kirkland”, Pasture Road, Moreton, Wallasey on the Wirral peninsular Cheshire.
The fact that Frank not only named his houses after his Grand National Winning horse but also saw fit to name his first born son after it as well indicates that he had a very highly developed ego.
On one or two occasions this personality trait was to land him into minor clashes with the law.
In February, 1912 he faced a charge of assault at Epsom, Surrey against Mr. Arthur Marshall a local fishmonger the case was dismissed when both parties reconciled and expressed a desire to not further bother the court. On 4th July, 1914
The Cheshire Observer reported that Frank been ordered to pay costs of 5s 5d after being summoned for a minor traffic offence for which he would only have received a caution had he not proceeded to get into a dispute with the policeman who had pulled him over.
Finally the Shepton Mallet Journal of 19th October, 1923 reported Frank had been fined £5 for dangerous driving after a collision with a horse and cart on a bend in a narrow road at Smethcote, Shropshire on 19th August while returning from a holiday near Shrewsbury.
After retiring from racing Frank invested some of his earnings in property development around the Moreton area and remained at “Kirkland” house with his wife of over 60 years until his death in the December quarter of 1969. The following year before the start of the Grand National his daughter, accompanied by his widow Vera, scattered his ashes on the Aintree course.
© Tony Goulding 2020
Location; Chorlton
Pictures; the Bowling Green, 2020, from the collection of Tony Goulding, "Kirkland" 19005 grand national winner taken by W. A. Rouch Country life volume 17 (1905) and Frank Mason, Jockeypedia a "google website"
Notes:
1) As reported in “The Sporting Life”.
2) Winning every race usually 5 or 6 of a days racing.
3) The “Triple Crown” is The 2,000 Guineas, The Derby, and The St Leger in the same season.
4) “Verdun” honouring the terrible losses of the French army who at this time (mid-1916) were embroiled in a titanic struggle centred on the town and citadel of Verdun and its surrounding forts.
5) The three children christened at St Clements were all at different addresses at their baptism. James Harry Aubrey was baptised on 17th November, 1909 from 13, Cartwright Road, Irene Bessie Vera on 10th May, 1911 from 6, Albermarle Road and Alfred Eric Verdun on 22nd July, 1916.
Additional material derived from Jockeypedia a “Google site”
Harry Buxton is my great grandfather, on my mother's, father's side, Harry's son Eric Buxton is my grandfather, Harry died on 20/10/1923, He's buried in Stretford cemetery, I have some artifacts and photos of him.
ReplyDeleteThank you Robert l bet Tony would be interested
ReplyDeleteFunnily enough, my brother Tony, worked at The Bowling green pub for a few years.
ReplyDelete