Description:During the eighteenth century, the nobility were attracted to Lichfield to attend the race meetings which were an important feature of the City's social calendar at this time. Lasting between two and three days, the race meetings were accompanied by dinners, concerts and balls. These lavish occasions involved much preparation and expense.
The Sutherland Papers contain account books for the race meetings held in Lichfield between 1768 and 1786. The accounts list receipts and disbursements for the events, including details of donations made to purchase two plates for the winning horses.
The image above shows the ‘Subscription’ list ‘for raising two 50l plates, to be run for at Lichfield’ in 1768. Lord Gower donated five pounds and five shillings towards the fund, alongside other local landowners like the Ansons and the Dyotts, and local politicians such as Henry Vernon. The Subscription List reveals that money paid by men entering their horses in the races also went towards buying the plates which were then offered as a prize to the winning horses. Three pounds and three shillings were paid to enter ‘Mr. Danbury’s Mad Cap’ and ‘Mr. Strode’s Lady Thigh’ into the Lichfield Races in 1768.
Click on the images on the left to learn more about how much money was spent on the Lichfield Races.
Contextual Information From: 'Lichfield: From the Reformation to c.1800', A History of the County of Stafford: Volume 14: Lichfield (1990), pp. 14-24. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=42337.