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Lot Essay
The Race
The Newcastle Courant for 18 April 1730 thus advertised the race:
'A Golden Cup of the Value of 50 Guineas, given by the Corporation of Newcastle upon Tine, aforesaid, is to be run for on the Town-Moor, aforesaid... on Thursday the 28th day of the said Month of May, by any Horse, Mare or Gelding, being no more than three Lunar Months above six Years old on the Day of Running... carrying 10 Stone, including Bridle and Saddle, three Heats; Each Heat four Miles, being twice round the said Course: Each Horse, etc. to pay three Guineas entrance, and three or more to enter and run, or no Race. Note: The Horses, etc. that are to run for the... Golden Cup... must be enter'd at the Guildhall... and to be then shewn, if the Mayor or any of the Aldermen of the said Town require the same.'
The race was won by Mr Hutton's grey horse Cripple, for which no pedigree is recorded but which went on to win a 30 guinea plate for six-year-olds at Heighington in October of that year. The 28th May race was also for six-year-olds so we know Cripple was foaled in 1724 and presumably bred by Mr Hutton, one of the principal breeders in the country at the time. On the day nine horses ran in heats and Cripple won the first. A mare owned by Sir Ralph Milbanke won the second but Cripple settled matters by winning the third from the Milbanke mare. In the second heat Cripple must have been ridden purely to 'save his distance' as he was 6th of the 8 runners and the two he beat were both distanced.
Racing at Newcastle
Initially horse racing, which had begun in an organized form at Chester in 1511, was officially discouraged due to unease concerning 'large gatherings of mounted gentlemen as socially and politically dangerous' (The Victoria and Albert Museum, Catalogue of the Exhibition, Sporting Glory, London, 1992, p. 29) particularly during the Civil War and the Restoration. By the late 17th century however, the sport's popularity had increased to such a scale that in 1740 an Act was passed 'to restrain and prevent the increase of horse races... which have contributed very much to the encouragement of idleness'. One method of bringing the numerous local races under control was the Act's insistence that each race should have a prize of at least £50; the sanction of costly trophies resulted in poorer localities dropping out of the stakes. This in turn meant civic and aristocratic sponsorship. The race called the Newcastle Gold Cup was already in existence when the first Racing Calendar was published, for the year 1727. At that time racing took place on Killingworth Moor and had done so for certainly in excess of the previous 100 years. In 1742 the race ceased.
Henry Reay and Cuthbert Smith
Henry Reay, Esq., was made Sheriff of the County of Newcastle upon Tyne in 1707 (as recorded by C. H. Hunter Blair The Mayors... and The Sheriffs of the County of Newcastle Upon Tyne, Newcastle, 1940, p.83). Son of Roger Reay of Newcastle, master mariner, Reay was created hostman, sheriff, and subsequently alderman. He was elected mayor in 1712 and again in 1729. He married Hannah, daughter of Utrick Whitfield, Esq. of Whitfield, and had two sons. He died in October, 1734, aged 63, and was buried in the chancel of Tynemouth Priory, where there is a monument to his family erected by his daughter-in-law, Bridget Reay (H. Craster, A History of Northumberland, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, 1907, p. 130).
Cuthbert Smith, son of Cuthbert Smith of Medomsley, gentleman, was apprenticed to Thomas Wasse, Jr., mercer, in 1711 and admitted in 1721. He was elected alderman, then sheriff in 1729, and mayor for three terms, in 1745, 1754, and 1762. He died in 1767 (C. H. Hunter Blair, op. cit., p. 88). The office of sheriff is the oldest under the Crown, pre-dating the Norman Conquest. Initially charged with keeping the King's peace, collecting taxes and rents, and commanding the local militia, the sheriff's administrative duties increased throughout the Middle Ages under the Norman earls, gradually becoming broader and more routine, until by the 16th century his role had become largely ceremonial, and appears to have included presiding at such civic events as public registry of race horses and the presentation of prizes.
James Kirkup
James Kirkup, goldsmith, was admitted to the Associated and Goldsmiths' Companies on 28 October 1713. Created Steward of the Associated Company in 1715, and seventeen times warden of the Goldsmiths' Company, his professional eminence did not prevent his being fined 3s 4d in 1718, together with Jonathan Ffrench for 'misbehaveing themselves & giving each other unbrotherly words'. He married Jane Dawson in June 1717, and had numerous children, seven of whom predeceased him. According to custom he not only worked as a goldsmith but ran a retail business, which upon his death in 1753, his wife continued to administrate, while the manufacturing side of the business passed to their son, John. The Newcastle Gold Cup appears to be one of only two gold objects struck with Newcastle hallmarks; the other example is a mug of 1722, from the Michael Noble collection, sold Christie's, London, 13 December 1967, lot 43.
The Newcastle Courant for 18 April 1730 thus advertised the race:
'A Golden Cup of the Value of 50 Guineas, given by the Corporation of Newcastle upon Tine, aforesaid, is to be run for on the Town-Moor, aforesaid... on Thursday the 28th day of the said Month of May, by any Horse, Mare or Gelding, being no more than three Lunar Months above six Years old on the Day of Running... carrying 10 Stone, including Bridle and Saddle, three Heats; Each Heat four Miles, being twice round the said Course: Each Horse, etc. to pay three Guineas entrance, and three or more to enter and run, or no Race. Note: The Horses, etc. that are to run for the... Golden Cup... must be enter'd at the Guildhall... and to be then shewn, if the Mayor or any of the Aldermen of the said Town require the same.'
The race was won by Mr Hutton's grey horse Cripple, for which no pedigree is recorded but which went on to win a 30 guinea plate for six-year-olds at Heighington in October of that year. The 28th May race was also for six-year-olds so we know Cripple was foaled in 1724 and presumably bred by Mr Hutton, one of the principal breeders in the country at the time. On the day nine horses ran in heats and Cripple won the first. A mare owned by Sir Ralph Milbanke won the second but Cripple settled matters by winning the third from the Milbanke mare. In the second heat Cripple must have been ridden purely to 'save his distance' as he was 6th of the 8 runners and the two he beat were both distanced.
Racing at Newcastle
Initially horse racing, which had begun in an organized form at Chester in 1511, was officially discouraged due to unease concerning 'large gatherings of mounted gentlemen as socially and politically dangerous' (The Victoria and Albert Museum, Catalogue of the Exhibition, Sporting Glory, London, 1992, p. 29) particularly during the Civil War and the Restoration. By the late 17th century however, the sport's popularity had increased to such a scale that in 1740 an Act was passed 'to restrain and prevent the increase of horse races... which have contributed very much to the encouragement of idleness'. One method of bringing the numerous local races under control was the Act's insistence that each race should have a prize of at least £50; the sanction of costly trophies resulted in poorer localities dropping out of the stakes. This in turn meant civic and aristocratic sponsorship. The race called the Newcastle Gold Cup was already in existence when the first Racing Calendar was published, for the year 1727. At that time racing took place on Killingworth Moor and had done so for certainly in excess of the previous 100 years. In 1742 the race ceased.
Henry Reay and Cuthbert Smith
Henry Reay, Esq., was made Sheriff of the County of Newcastle upon Tyne in 1707 (as recorded by C. H. Hunter Blair The Mayors... and The Sheriffs of the County of Newcastle Upon Tyne, Newcastle, 1940, p.83). Son of Roger Reay of Newcastle, master mariner, Reay was created hostman, sheriff, and subsequently alderman. He was elected mayor in 1712 and again in 1729. He married Hannah, daughter of Utrick Whitfield, Esq. of Whitfield, and had two sons. He died in October, 1734, aged 63, and was buried in the chancel of Tynemouth Priory, where there is a monument to his family erected by his daughter-in-law, Bridget Reay (H. Craster, A History of Northumberland, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, 1907, p. 130).
Cuthbert Smith, son of Cuthbert Smith of Medomsley, gentleman, was apprenticed to Thomas Wasse, Jr., mercer, in 1711 and admitted in 1721. He was elected alderman, then sheriff in 1729, and mayor for three terms, in 1745, 1754, and 1762. He died in 1767 (C. H. Hunter Blair, op. cit., p. 88). The office of sheriff is the oldest under the Crown, pre-dating the Norman Conquest. Initially charged with keeping the King's peace, collecting taxes and rents, and commanding the local militia, the sheriff's administrative duties increased throughout the Middle Ages under the Norman earls, gradually becoming broader and more routine, until by the 16th century his role had become largely ceremonial, and appears to have included presiding at such civic events as public registry of race horses and the presentation of prizes.
James Kirkup
James Kirkup, goldsmith, was admitted to the Associated and Goldsmiths' Companies on 28 October 1713. Created Steward of the Associated Company in 1715, and seventeen times warden of the Goldsmiths' Company, his professional eminence did not prevent his being fined 3s 4d in 1718, together with Jonathan Ffrench for 'misbehaveing themselves & giving each other unbrotherly words'. He married Jane Dawson in June 1717, and had numerous children, seven of whom predeceased him. According to custom he not only worked as a goldsmith but ran a retail business, which upon his death in 1753, his wife continued to administrate, while the manufacturing side of the business passed to their son, John. The Newcastle Gold Cup appears to be one of only two gold objects struck with Newcastle hallmarks; the other example is a mug of 1722, from the Michael Noble collection, sold Christie's, London, 13 December 1967, lot 43.