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Victorian

The Grand National Anomaly, 1836-1838

The Grand National is coming up soon – living in Liverpool as I do, this is a big deal in the city, although I’ve never been myself.

I was reading up about the history of the event and the provenance of one of the most infamous jumps of the race – Becher’s Brook. It was named after Captain Martin Becher, who won the first Steeplechase at Aintree in 1836, on a horse called The Duke. However, this race and the following two are now disregarded as part of the history of the Grand National proper. The first “real” Grand National was officially in 1839, although it was then called The Grand Liverpool Steeplechase. Becher also entered the 1839 race, riding on Conrad, and fell at the first brook. He survived by lying in the brook until all the horses had passed and later remarked how the experience had made him realise that “water tastes disgusting without the benefits of whisky.”

Becher sounded like quite a character – his party trick consisted of leaping onto a mantelpiece from a standing jump. Now that I’d have liked to see. Maybe he would have done better on the Brook without the horse?

We all know the Grand National is held at Aintree, which is charmingly described below as “…in the winter season not fit for the dwelling-place of a snipe possessing a sense of what is due to snipe-hood.”

London Daily News, 22nd March, 1872
London Daily News, 22nd March, 1872

But was it always at Aintree? This question throws up a surprising amount of confusion which I am going to try to unravel.

This little article from The Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser explains how the first three races didn’t count, although it doesn’t explain why. Here’s the first confused facts you’ll see in this post – the 1839 race was actually on 26th February, not 24th:

The Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, 17th April, 1908
The Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, 17th April, 1908

The first Steeplechase was in 1836, and held annually every year after that, and apparently all of them were called The Grand Liverpool Steeplechase until 1847. At that point, the name was changed to The Grand National Handicap Steeplechase, which is still its official title today. According to those who know, the 1836, 1837 and 1838 races originally counted as official races, but their status as official Grand Nationals was revoked at some point between 1862 and 1873. The official Grand National site states that this is because the race was originally run at the Maghull racecourse and moved to Aintree in 1839 – hence being essentially the same race from that point on, run on the same ground. But where the races were actually run from 1836 to 1838 are the subject of some dispute – Wikipedia says:

“There is much debate regarding the first official Grand National; most leading published historians, including John Pinfold, now prefer the idea that the first running was in 1836 and was won by The Duke. This same horse won again in 1837, while Sir William was the winner in 1838. These races have long been disregarded because of the belief that they took place at Maghull and not Aintree. However, some historians have unearthed evidence in recent years that suggest those three races were run over the same course at Aintree and were regarded as having been Grand Nationals up until the mid-1860s. To date, though, calls for the Nationals of 1836–1838 to be restored to the record books have been unsuccessful.”

The “some historians” include Mike Mutlow, whose site is possibly the definitive one on the subject – here. It seems to be now agreed that the 1836 race was at Aintree, but Mike says that 1837 and 1838 must have also been there, as the Maghull course closed in 1835. Which ties in with this note I found in The Dublin Evening Packet and Correspondent from the start of 1835:

The Dublin Evening Packet and Correspondent, 1st January, 1835
The Dublin Evening Packet and Correspondent, 1st January, 1835

Mike writes:

“Why would so many mistakes creep into the records of the world’s greatest steeplechase? Basically because steeplechasing was not really recognised until the late 1860s, after the National Hunt Committee was formed in 1866. The records of the Grand National were then officially compiled, but from memory only, some thirty years after the event, which is when the mistakes first crept in. These errors were then duplicated….T.H.Bird’s book (One Hundred Grand Nationals) attempts to sidestep the issue by suggesting that the 1837 and 1838 races were run over a course that stretched from Aintree to Maghull, but this is geographically impossible.”

OK, my British Newspaper Archive finger is all atwitch. Let me add my findings to the debate. Looking at the newspapers, The Grand National was a sensation right from the start, and massively popular.

Firstly – it seems to be agreed now that it was in Aintree in 1836, and so it states in the Westmorland Gazette and Kendal Advertiser:

Westmorland Gazette and Kendal Advertiser, 5th March, 1836
Westmorland Gazette and Kendal Advertiser, 5th March, 1836

But it’s still written in various places, including in in the official annals, that the 1837 and 1838 races were at Maghull. Well, not according to the Leeds Intelligencer in 1837:

Leeds Intelligencer, 4th March, 1837
Leeds Intelligencer, 4th March, 1837

Or the Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, which also agrees it was at Aintree:

Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, 4th March, 1837
Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, 4th March, 1837

The Preston Chronicle says it was run on the Aintree course in 1838:

Preston Chronicle, 10th March, 1838
Preston Chronicle, 10th March, 1838

The London Morning Post agrees and gives details about what the actual course was like, even stating “The line of country chosen was the same as that run over on former occasions of a similar nature at Aintree.”

The London Morning Post, 8th March, 1838
The London Morning Post, 8th March, 1838

The information I’ve read says that date and place confusion arose in the 1860s when histories of the event were written for the first time, from memory, and that the previously accepted races of 1836-38 were discounted at this point because of a belief that they had been run at Maghull racetrack. But discrepancies and disagreements arose earlier than that. Most of what I could see seems to class the 1839 race as the first one almost as soon as it had been run. But not because the previously ones had been run at Maghull – there is no mention of any of them being run anywhere but Aintree. It seems to me it was for a different reason.

Here’s Lloyd’s Weekly London Newspaper mentioning the 5th anniversary in 1843 – making the first one 1839, and ignoring the first three.

Lloyd's Weekly London Newspaper, 5th March, 1843
Lloyd’s Weekly London Newspaper, 5th March, 1843

And so also says The Coventry Standard. Perhaps it was promoted as the 5th anniversary specifically by the organisers of the time as there were numerous newspapers describing it as such.

Coventry Standard, 3rd March 1843
Coventry Standard, 3rd March 1843

But just to confuse things further, here’s an article about the 17th anniversary in 1853, making the first one 1837:

The Era, 6th March 1853
The Era, 6th March 1853

HOWEVER, in 1842 reporting was fairly widespread stating it was the 4th anniversary of the race since it gained the distinction of being called “national”, although the details in the different newspapers seem to come from the same report. So in 1839, the designation of “national” was bestowed for the first time, hence it being officially a “different race”:

The Southern Reporter and Cork Commercial Courier, 8th March, 1842
The Southern Reporter and Cork Commercial Courier, 8th March, 1842

Cumberland Pacquet and Ware's Whitehaven Advertiser, 8th March, 1842
Cumberland Pacquet and Ware’s Whitehaven Advertiser, 8th March, 1842
Lancaster Gazette, 5th March, 1842
Lancaster Gazette, 5th March, 1842

And indeed, the name may have officially changed to “Grand National” in 1847, but it’s called “national” for the first time in 1839, at least in some newspapers:

The Dublin Monitor, 1st January, 1839
The Dublin Monitor, 1st January, 1839

Bell's Life in London and Sporting Chronicle, 27th January, 1839
Bell’s Life in London and Sporting Chronicle, 27th January, 1839
Bell's Life in London and Sporting Chronicle, 24th February, 1839
Bell’s Life in London and Sporting Chronicle, 24th February, 1839

And in 1840, and beyond:

The London Morning Chronicle, 7th March, 1840
The London Morning Chronicle, 7th March, 1840

So, if its title and designation changed in 1839, it is justifiable that the races before that were not part of the history of the “Grand National”. But there is no reference that I can see in contemporary accounts to the 1837 and 1838 races being run at Maghull at all, and indeed the racetrack seems to have closed in 1835. It wasn’t in the 1860s that the history of the event changed, as far as I can see – it was right from the start.

But why was Maghull raised as a possibility at all? Here’s a couple of clues. In 1937 The Grand National, rather controversially, designated that year the centenary. Obviously at some later point, it officially changed its mind about that date and reverted to 1839. Why 1837? Because the 1837 race was the first one written on an old raceboard hanging in the stands at Aintree (1836 somehow fell through the gaps). It also said the race was at Maghull, which is possibly where all the confusion first arose. I suspect this scoreboard wasn’t written at the actual time of the race, otherwise why do all the newspaper accounts mention Aintree instead?

The Nottingham Evening Post, 17th March, 1937
The Nottingham Evening Post, 17th March, 1937

And then this became a local urban legend, propagated by local farmers. Although in this case, perhaps it could be better called a “rural legend”. There was still dispute over this – many different farmers claimed the race was run over their fields, basically graffiti-ing “The Grand National woz ‘ere” over their walls:

The Nottingham Evening Post, 17th March, 1937
The Nottingham Evening Post, 17th March, 1937

Confusion reigns at the end of the day, but in matters of detail I tend to trust the contemporary accounts. Aintree was a newer course, and so I don’t think it would have just been assumed that the steeplechase would have been held there. Admittedly, the fact the two villages were not far from each other could have caused some kind of geographical confusion in the newspaper reports. But despite that, none I saw mentioned Maghull at all. That course had already closed down.

But despite the lack of “national” status (however that was bestowed), I feel the first three should count, they certainly are reported as being run over the same course after all. Give Captain Becher his due as the first Grand National winner! There’s such a poignant line from his obituary in The Lancashire Gazette – at his last public appearances “he was in his usual spirits but it was clear he had almost run his race.”

Lancashire Gazette, 22nd March, 1864
Lancashire Gazette, 22nd March, 1864

Finally, there’s nothing new under the sun and all that. Here’s a complaint about the race’s cruelty, way back at the time of the first official race, in 1839:

Blackburn Standard, 6th March 1839
Blackburn Standard, 6th March 1839

By Estelle

I am Estelle, a small person who lives in Liverpool. I love all books apart from "The World According to Clarkson". Also very keen on comedy, cooking, octopods and other small people.