Three weeks after the wedding of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, Liverpudlian amateur rider Mr Bartholomew Bretherton won the 1840 Grand National – or rather, the Grand Liverpool Steeplechase, as it was called in those days – on the 12/1 shot, Jerry, owned by Henry Villebois. A pile-up at the old stone wall which saw the demise of the favourite plus three others undoubtedly aided his cause.
He had five more rides in the Grand National: Goblin, who fell in 1841 but was remounted to complete the course last of seven finishers; Satirist, who failed to finish in 1842; Goblin once more, who finished fifth in 1843; and Wolverhampton (who he also owned), who failed to finish in 1848 and fell in 1849.
There has been a great deal of confusion over the years regarding the life of Bartholomew Bretherton, primarily because there were four people of that name, including two cousins from the same era who are often mistaken for each other.
The original Bartholomew Bretherton (c1775-1857) was born at Stonyhurst, Aighton, near Clitheroe, in North Lancashire. He was a coach proprietor and land owner who lived in Rainhill, near Liverpool. He founded St Bartholomew’s Church in Rainhill and owned Rainhill House, which later became Loyola Hall.
Bartholomew had two older brothers, Peter (c1770-1844) and Francis (c1770-1833). Like Bartholomew, both were coach proprietors, Peter’s business being based in Yardley, Birmingham, while Francis’s was based at Maghull. Peter and Francis each had a son that they named Bartholomew.
Peter’s son Bartholomew (1806-1874) was the sixth child and fourth son. He inherited the family’s coaching business in Yardley on his father’s death in 1844. He married in 1837 and had two sons, the elder of which was (just to add to the confusion) also named Bartholomew (1839-1863).
Francis’s son Bartholomew (1812-1866) was the eighth child and third son. He became an amateur rider and lived in Maghull, north of Liverpool, and he was the one who won the Grand National on Jerry. He and his older brother Peter (second child and first son of Francis) were credited with starting horse-racing at Maghull Meadows, the precursor of Aintree Racecourse in the late 1820s and 1830s.
The first steeplechase ever held at Aintree took place on Monday, 29th February, 1836. Some sources insist it was the unofficial precursor of the race which would become known as the Grand National. Mr Bretherton rode in it, coming seventh and last of those that finished on Cock-a-hoop. Mr Horatio Powell, who was to win the Grand National the year after Mr Bretherton’s success, was riding Laurie Todd, the 3/1 favourite in the same race. Laurie Todd fell, and, as Mr Powell was rising from the ground, he was badly kicked by Cock-a-hoop. (There was a suggestion that Mr Bretherton had deliberately run over his rival to prevent him from remounting, but nothing was ever proven.)
Captain Martin Becher, who won this inaugural race on The Duke, was later to be forever immortalised when, in the first official Grand National (1839) he tumbled from his mount, Conrad, and took shelter in the brook, which forever after would be known as Becher’s Brook.
In 1838, Mr Bretherton prevented a coach from overturning on the Preston Road. Dramatically climbing out of the window of the runaway vehicle, he took over the reins and, jumping onto the horses’ backs, brought the coach to a standstill.
A newspaper article of 1851 describes a pair of jockey boots that were made for him in Liverpool; they weighed just five ounces.
He never married and lived for a number of years with two of his sisters in Lydiate, near Maghull, where he died on 13th October 1866, aged 54. His younger brother Francis was his executor.
As for the other Bartholomew Bretherton (Peter’s son), he married and had two sons. He died on 29th March 1874, aged 67, his wife having predeceased him in 1873. He left over £4,000.
