National Hunt jockey George Nicholas Sherwin held a licence between 1955 and 1963 and rode a total of four winners. He worked for Cefn Park, Wrexham permit holder Lt.-Col. Roderick Fenwick-Palmer who owned and trained all of George’s winners. The first of those was Golden Vanity in a three-mile handicap hurdle at Bangor-on-Dee on April 12, 1958.
George’s second victory came on Eternal in the three-mile Walrus Handicap Chase at Haydock on March 5, 1960, getting up close home to beat Jimmy Fitzgerald’s mount Sham Fight by half a length. Next time out George rode Eternal to win the Great Bangor Handicap Chase, again beating Jimmy Fitzgerald, this time on O’Malley Point, into second place.
Eternal won three races the following season, including Manchester’s Emblem Chase and Ludlow’s Forbra Gold Cup, but each time Robin Langley was the man in the saddle. However, George was finally reunited with Eternal to win the Goosander Handicap Chase at Haydock on March 10, 1962. They then finished out of the frame in the Great Bangor Chase and fourth in the Lancashire Chase.
Tim Brookshaw took over on Eternal the following season to win the Grand Sefton Chase and finish eleventh in the 1963 Grand National. George had one more opportunity to ride him in that year’s Great Bangor Handicap Chase, finishing fourth of five, beaten nine lengths without ever really looking like taking a hand.
George relinquished his licence at the end of that season. Riding exclusively for Lt-Col. Fenwick Palmer meant he never had more than 14 rides in a season, usually not attaining double figures. He had already hung up his boots by the time Eternal finished fourth in the 1964 Grand National, ridden on that occasion by Stephen Davenport.
George Sherwin’s winners were, in chronological order:
1. Golden Vanity, Bangor-on-Dee, April 12, 1958
2. Eternal, Haydock Park, March 5, 1960
3. Eternal, Bangor-on-Dee, April 2, 1960
4. Eternal, Haydock Park, March 10, 1962
As for Lt-Col. Fenwick-Palmer, his family’s origins could be traced back to the 16th century, and the birth of Sir James Palmer, a connoisseur, collector and miniature painter for King James I. Knighted in 1629 by Charles, the Prince of Wales, he was made Gentleman Keeper of the Privy Closet with responsibility for the King’s pictures.
Lieutenant-Colonel Roderick George Fenwick inherited the Cefn Park estates in 1910. Known to all as Roddy, he kept and trained racehorses, including Eternal, as well as being a published author. He died in 1968 whereupon the estate reverted to the Graham family and was inherited by Roger Henry William Graham. His son Archie Graham-Palmer took over in 2010 and runs the estate today living at Cefn Park with his young family.