Select Tattersall Miscellany



Here are some Tattersall stories and accounts over the years:


The Lincolnshire Tattersalls

These Tattersalls took their name from the place name of Tateshal or Tatteshall near Horncastle in Lincolnshire.  The first so named was Robert de Tatteshall, born in 1222.  His son Robert was the first Lord Tatteshall.  However, four generations later in the early 1300's, Robert apparently lost his inheritance in litigation and the male line ended.

Tattersall castle, which lies on the road between Horncastle and Sleaford, was built in the 15th century on the site of Sir Robert de Tatteshall's 13th century structure.  A plaque there marks the grave of Tattersall's most famous resident, Tom Thumb.  He was just 47 centimeters tall and died in 1620, aged 101.


Tattersalls

In London, Richard Tattersall entered the service of the Duke of Kingston, first as a groom and then rising to be the Duke's Master of Horse.  In that capacity he met the great men of racing of his day and his good judgment and honesty helped him establish a business buying and selling horses for others.  In 1776 he set up auction rooms on Hyde Park Corner.  These became a celebrated market for thoroughbred horses; and his "subscription rooms," reserved for members of the Jockey Club, a rendezvous for sporting and betting men.

Although Richard Tattersall died in 1795, the business stayed in family hands for the next 150 years through a succession of sons and cousins:

  • his son, Edmund Tattersall (1758-1810)
  • Edmund's eldest son, Richard Tattersall (1785-1859)
  • his son, Richard Tattersall (1812-1870)
  • his cousin, Edmund Tattersall (1816-1898)
  • and Edmund's eldest son, Edmund Somerville Tattersall (1863-1942).

Tattersalls relocated to Knightsbridge in 1865 and then to Newmarket in the 1970's  Although no longer a family business, it has retained its cachet in horseracing circles.


Nicholas Tettersell of Brighton

Nicholas Tettersell died in Brighton, then a small fishing village called Brighthelmstone, in 1674.  The inscription on his tomb in St. Nicholas's churchyard read as follows:

"Captain Nicholas Tettersell,
through whose prudence, valour, and loyalty,
Charles II, King,
after he had escaped the sword of his merciless rebels,
and his forces received a fatal overthrow at Worcester, September 3, 1651,
was faithfully preserved and conveyed to France,
departed this life on July 26, 1674."

For this service many things had been promised.  But come the Restoration none had been given.  Tettersell therefore sailed into the Thames and moored his dingy bark off Whitehall where it attracted the attention of the King.  He, being thus reminded, gave the captain a ring, a perpetual annuity of £1,000 per annum, and took his vessel into the navy under the name of The Lucky Escape.     

With the King's money, Tettersell bought the Old Ship Inn in Brighton.  His ring was kept as a family heirloom and was part of an exhibition in Brighton in 1867.


Tattersall Convicts to Australia


 from -
Departure
 Vessel
John Tattersall
 Lancashire
 1818
 Shipley
John Tattersall
 Lancashire
 1820
 Maria
Henry Tattersall
 Lancashire
 1835
 Susan
John Tattersall
 Lancashire
 1842
 Elphinstone
Eve Tattersall
 Lancashire
 1849
 St. Vincent
Wilkinson Tattersall
 Lancashire
 1850
 Blenheim
Margaret Tattersall
 Lancashire
 1851
 Anna Maria
Henry Tettersell
 Sussex
 1839
 Canton

The youngest of these convicts was 14 year old Henry Tattersall in 1835, transported for a term of 14 years for the theft of an earthen jug and eight shillings in Haslingden.


Tattersalls in the West Ridings

In the early 1800's George Tattersall had a nursery close by Silkstone Cross in the village of Silkstone (near Barnsley).  When the waggonway was made in 1809 his garden was cut in two by the passage.  His son William lost some 30,000 trees in the great storm of 1838. 

This family built the Bonny Bunch O' Roses pub in 1813.  It is believed to have been the only pub with this name in the whole of England.  But sadly the Bunch closed its doors for the last time in 2002.   



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