William Norman (Billy) Bissill was born in Winderpool, Nottinghamshire in 1871. He rode in two Grand Nationals and was unfortunate not to have won one of them.
He had been the intended rider of Rubio in 1908 for trainer Fred Withington, but when Ernie Piggott declared that he would be unable to partner the stable’s better fancied Mattie Macgregor, William jumped at the chance of riding her instead of Rubio. That turned out to be a costly error of judgement, for Rubio, ridden by Henry Bryan Bletsoe, went on to win with Mattie Macgregor finishing ten lengths behind in second place.
He did get to ride Rubio in the following year’s Grand National, only to fall at the water jump when leading.
Billy married a daughter of Rippon Brockton, a former top-class amateur who rode 256 winners. They had three children. Their sons Jack and Rippon (Rip) Bissill both became trainers, while their daughter Mary married Malton trainer Pat Rohan.
Jack Bissill was also a successful National Hunt jockey, riding mainly for Tom Coulthwaite and George Owen, as well as for his brother Rip, who trained at Aslockton, two miles east of Bingham, in Nottinghamshire. Jack achieved his biggest success on Rightun in the 1937 Grand National. He won a total of 16 races on Rightun including the 1938 Grand International Chase at Sandown Park. Jack’s other major victory came on Novgord in the 1938 Grand Annual Chase at Cheltenham.
Billy Bissill died in Aslockton, Nottinghamshire on March 17, 1936, aged 64. He left £1,332.
