John Gerard Leigh

John Gerard Leigh was a wealthy steeplechase stud owner, prize pedigree cattle breeder and country sports enthusiast whose seat was at Luton Hoo. His horse Half Caste won the 1859 Grand National and he was Master of Fox Hounds of the Hertfordshire Hunt, succeeding Lord Dacre.

Family Background John Gerard Leigh was the eldest son of an eldest son, who were both Liverpool solicitors.

His grandfather, John Leigh (1752-1823) was minor gentry, descended from an old Lancashire family from Upton (one of the original four hamlets that now make up Widnes) and born at Farnworth, adjacent to Upton. Although he owned the estate of Lower House in Upton, he chose to live at the Wirral estate of Grange Hall in West Kirby.

Latterly, he purchased the estate of Sandhills between Liverpool and Bootle where, as well as building a 'handsome house, he had beautiful gardens, complete with hothouses and conservatories'. He also turned much of the pasture land to clay pits and the brickworks needed to fuel the rapid growth of Liverpool. He reputedly lowered the ground level by seven or eight feet (nearly 2.5 metres) and income from this venture apparently well exceeded the purchase price of the land.

In 1810, he bought, for about £10,000, the advowson of the nearby parish of Walton on the Hill (now Walton, a suburb of Liverpool). He, and succeeding generations of his family, are entombed in St Mary's Church.

As well as being a solicitor in Liverpool, he was also Land Agent (or Steward) to both the Earl of Derby and the Marquess of Salisbury. Any position of Land Agent to aristocracy brought distinct advantages (two contemporaries of his had gained a railway directorship and a seat in Parliament) through insider knowledge and monopolies. But it was acknowledged that John Leigh had the vision, foresight and tenacity, more than any other, to see the future growth of Liverpool and to speculate in land accordingly, to such an extent that he nearly brought himself and his family to financial ruin.

John Shaw Leigh (1791-1871) was born at Sandhills and carried on his father's law and land agency practice, taking over as Land Agent to the Marquess of Salisbury. He lived for time at Childwall Hall - Lord Salisbury's first wife was a daughter of Bamber Gascoyne of Childwall Hall.

He also inherited his father's extensive land holdings and debts. The riches came from waiting and finally selling or leasing the land to the dock and railway companies - his 1846 sale of land to the Liverpool and Bury Line amounted to £250,000 alone. Further sales of land made him, reputedly, the richest commoner in England.

Following the death of his wife, Hannah (née Blundell Hollinshead) in 1847, he bought the burnt out mansion and estate of Luton Hoo in Bedfordshire that he then had rebuilt for himself and his son, John Gerard Leigh.

Early Life

John Gerard Leigh was the second child but eldest son of seven siblings:

   Jane Leigh (born 5th January 1820 in Liverpool)

   John Gerard Leigh (born 8th June 1821 in Liverpool)

   Henry Blundell Leigh (born 2nd May 1823 in Liverpool)

   Elizabeth Mary Leigh (born 22nd November 1824 at Edge Lane Hall, West Derby, Lancashire)

   Thomas Leigh (born 6th May 1826 at Edge Lane Hall, West Derby, Lancashire)

   Alice Hannah Leigh (born 5th March 1828 at Edge Lane Hall, West Derby, Lancashire)

   Henrietta Leigh (born 21st May 1830 at Edge Lane Hall, West Derby, Lancashire)

He was baptised 18th May 1822 at St Mary, Walton on the Hill and was brought up firstly in Liverpool, and subsequently at Edge Lane Hall and Childwall Hall nearby.

He is next found at Eton as a fifth form scholar in 1838 (his brother Thomas was in the form below). In the same year, using Eton as his address, he became a member (by annual subscription) of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.

Leigh matriculated at St John's College, Oxford (it had a reputation for law) on 4th March 1841 aged 19 but did not seem to graduate. The only reference to his time at Oxford was that he was 'well known' with the Heythrop Hunt and Mr Drake's hounds - the Bicester Hunt under Thomas Tyrwhitt-Drake (1783-1852).

He was then admitted to membership of Lincoln's Inn on 2nd November 1843 but was not called to the bar as a barrister, thus opting not to follow his father and grandfather actively into the legal profession. Even so, he 'stuck to the firm' helping to manage the Leigh property portfolio whereas his two brothers Henry and Tom, together with elder sister Jane's husband Captain Henry Townshend, were found positions in Allsopps Brewery.

Following the sudden upswing in his family's fortunes and the death of his mother (7th December 1847) at Childwall, he accompanied his father to a new life as a wealthy country gentleman at Luton Hoo in Bedfordshire in 1848. Steeplechase Stud Ownership Half Caste with C. Green up - by an unknown hand (but possibly after Henry Barraud who painted Half Caste in 1859), was painted after Half Caste won the 1859 Grand National.

Steeplechase Stud Ownership

Major references to John Gerard Leigh's steeplechasing activities were only recorded in print after the death of his father, John Shaw Leigh, in 1871. His father disapproved of such activities and 'though it was sailing rather near the wind when he went in for Grand National honours, the secret luckily did not reach the parental ears'.

The earliest reference to Leigh and steeplechasing is recorded, though, under his own name in May 1850 when he officiated as Steward at the Harpenden Races. At the same meeting, his horse Reindeer won by 'a couple of lengths' in the Ladies Purse and was consequently sold for 150 sovereigns. Later on the same day, his Phoebus easily won a 100 sovereign match race against Mr Marsh's Gammon.

In Spring 1853 he is twice named as a Steward at the St Albans Steeplechases in late March and the The Hoo Races of Hertfordshire in early April, and he unsuccessfully enters a horse on the second day ('The Steeple Chases') of the Epsom Autumn Meeting in November 1853. The Hoo Races of 1855 show his father acting as a Steward and both John Gerrard Leigh, running Viscount (the 5:2 favourite), and his brother Thomas, riding his horse The Student, in the three-horse Hunters Stakes - after Viscount had led for most of the course, he was easily beaten by Chief Magistrate by two lengths, and Leigh's objection to the winner on the basis of an improper qualification to run was overruled, presumably in part by his father. The last recorded time J. G. Leigh ran under his own name (until the 1870's) was at Croxton Park, Leicestershire in April 1856.

At this point, Leigh's name disappears from the racing press and a number of noms de course appear... Mr Willoughby and Mr Lynton are confirmed aliases, Mr W Briscoe and Mr Halford are almost certainly him as well. Official business is conducted through the nominee ownership of Samuel Brisco Sheward, a well-known Park Lane / Grosvenor Square horsedealer to the aristocracy. Sheward's relationship to Leigh is later summed up as being his Fidus Achates (ie an intimate companion or trusty friend) for the twenty five years preceding Leigh's 1875 death. He supplied most of the high grade steeplechasers, supervised their training and entered into disputes with the racing authorities as 'owner' with the accompanying press pressure.

Other References

• Burke, Bernard, Sir. A genealogical and heraldic history of the landed gentry of Great Britain & Ireland 6th ed. London : Harrison 1879. Vol II. page 946