Portrait of Fred Archer (1857-1886), half-length, in a buff coat and waistcoat

Fred Archer was the second son of the jockey William Archer and Emma Hayward, the daughter of William Hayward, the owner of the King's Arms, Prestbury, near Cheltenham. As a young boy of eleven he was apprenticed to the Newmarket trainer, Matthew Dawson, who not long after Archer joined him was to train Lord Falmouth's horses, an event that was to have a decisive effect on their careers. This trio was to form what was possibly the greatest winning partnership the Turf has ever known. By 1874, aged seventeen, Archer was Champion Jockey, with his only real rival being George Fordham. 1877 and 1878 were two glorious years for Lord Falmouth, winning in stakes a staggering £30,000 and £38,000 consecutively, almost all of it won by horses ridden by Archer. Archer rode for all the great racing peers of the time including Portland, Rosebery, Beaufort, Hastings and Westminster, and for sums of money which, in those days, were astronomical. Archer was to retain the title of Champion Jockey until his death in 1886 with 2,748 victories to his name, of which twenty one were Classic wins.

Rosa Corder was the mistress of James McNeil Whistler's unofficial agent, Charles Howell. Whistler's portrait of her, painted in 1875-8, is in the Frick Collection, New York (no. 14.1.134).