Charles Albert Heckford was born in Newmarket in 1888, the son of a house steward. He was apprenticed to James Ryan at Newmarket and rode his first winner on Gladstone in a 2-y-o selling race at Newmarket on 6 October 1905.
He achieved his biggest success when dead-heating on Earlston with Otto Madden’s mount Sancy in the inaugural running of the Chester Vase in 1907.
Charles also won the 1908 Victoria Cup on Llangwm.
He retired from riding in 1925.
On Tuesday, December 1, 1914, he married Gertrude Mabel Day.
Charles died at Newlands Stud, Ashley Road, Newmarket on November 11, 1966, aged 78. He left £48,952.
Gertrude Mabel (Gert/Gertie) Day (born 20/5/1889 at Randwick, NSW) married
Charles Albert (Chas/Charlie) Heckford (1888 - 1966).
Charles (Albert) Heckford, a 'stableman groom', aged 12, born at Newmarket, Suffolk, lived (along with 14 others similarly employed and 4 other servants) at the home of James Ryan, a trainer of race horses, aged 64, born in Scotland, at Green Lodge, The Severals, Newmarket (1901 Census).
The marriage of Charles Albert Heckford, of full age, bachelor, jockey, of Newmarket, son of William Thomas Heckford, house steward, and Gertrude Mabel Day, of full age, spinster, daughter of Frederick William Day, gentleman, was solemnised at St. Mary's Church, Woodditton, Cambridgeshire, on the 30th of November 1914. The ceremony, which was by licence, was conducted the Revd. Arnold W. Taylor, Vicar. The witnesses were Reginald Day, W. Hayhow, Florence Moore, and Ethel Watts (Cambridgeshire County Record Office, Cambridge).
Newspaper Cutting (Newmarket Journal) 5/12/1914:
'Marriage Of Mr C.A. Heckford And Miss Gertie Day.
The marriage of Mr Charles Albert Heckford, the well-known jockey, to Miss Gertrude Mabel Day, second daughter of Mr F.W. Day, of Homebush, near Newmarket, was very quietly solemnised at the parish church, Woodditton, on Monday last at 11 a.m. The Rev. A.D. Taylor, vicar of Woodditton, officiated. The bridal party consisted only of immediate relatives and a few intimate friends, and since the time and place of the wedding were not generally known there was only a small attendance. The happy event is, however, one in which many friends will be keenly interested, for both the bride and the bridegroom are widely known and very popular in the district. The bride's father and brother have both gained fame as trainers; while she is herself a violinist of unusual talent, and has been a welcome contributor to the best of our local concerts. (The Revd. Arnold Douglas Taylor was an uncle of the late Peter Taylor, of Dullingham).
Previous to the service Mr A. Carter-Brown, who presided at the organ, played appropriate voluntaries, including a Moderato in F by Stephen Heller, and an Air by Mozart. The bride was given away by her brother, Mr Reginald Day, and was charmingly attired in a dress and coat of royal blue silk crepe Bengaline. The skirt was draped, with crossed-over belt of satin to match, and the bodice was made with a soft tulle and lace front, with small Medici collar. The coat was trimmed with satin and moire, and was worn over a separate waistcoat of white moire. She wore a hat en suite. Her only ornament was a diamond pendant, and she carried a lovely bouquet of white roses, white heather and lilies of the valley, both the gifts of the bridegroom. There were no bridesmaids. Mr Coll. Leader acted as best man.
When the happy couple were leaving the church the organist played Mendelssohn's Wedding March, and a merry peal was rung upon the bells. After the ceremony a reception was held at the residence of the bride's father; and later in the day Mr and Mrs Heckford left for London, en route for the South Coast, where they are spending their honeymoon.
The bride's wedding dress and trousseau were supplied by Emmeline Griffin, of Newmarket; the beautiful bridescake by Messrs. Lakeman Bros., High Street; and the motor cars in which the bridal party travelled to and from the church by Mr C.W. Stevens, Rous Garage.
Lord Marcus Beresford, having been asked to send a jockey out to the Christmas meeting at Calcutta, has made an admirable selection in choosing Heckford. This is a jockey who can be depended upon to keep his head, and to adapt himself to the altered conditions under which racing in India takes place, as well as to do justice to the horses he rides. Heckford is likewise to be congratulated, for the engagement means that instead of loafing through the winter in England he will be seeing something of a new world and he, perhaps, more than any other jockey (except Maher), is of a temperament to appreciate the indescribable fascination of the East. What would the majority of the readers of this column think if they were offered first class expenses to India and back, with £30 a week for every week they were absent. This is what Heckford's contract amounts to. He sails next Thursday (18th inst.) on the P. and O. liner Egypt, and returns at the end of February.'
Charles was listed as a horse breeder at Beech Lodge Stud, Cheveley, Cambridgeshire, in Kelly's 1929,
and was listed as manager of the Newland Stud, Ashley Road, Newmarket, Suffolk, in Kelly's 1937.