View source for John Singleton (jockey, born 1715)

{{Distinguish|John Singleton (jockey, died c. 1789)|John Singleton (jockey, born 1776)}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox horseracing personality
|name  = John Singleton
|image = John_Singleton,_jockey.png
|caption  = Engraving of John Singleton, taken from A History of the English Turf, 1901
|occupation  = [[Jockey]]
|birth_place = [[Melbourne, East Riding of Yorkshire]]
|birth_date  = 1715
|death_place =
|death_date  = c. 1795
|career wins  = ''not known''
|race  = York [[Great Subscription Purse]] (1766)<br/>Newmarket Sweepstakes v. Herod
|honours  =
|horses  = [[Bay Malton]]
|
}}
'''John Singleton''' (1715 in [[Melbourne, East Riding of Yorkshire|Melbourne]] &ndash; c. 1795) was a British [[jockey]], who has been described as "the pioneer of professional jockeys".{{sfn|Tanner|Cranham|1992|p=17}} He is commonly referred to as '''John Singleton I''', '''John Singleton, Sr.''' or '''John Singleton the Elder''' to distinguish him from later relatives of the same name who were also jockeys.
==Career==
===Yorkshire===
Singleton was born to John Singleton of Melbourne, Yorkshire and baptised on 10 May 1715, one of nine children.<ref name=PockHist/> On the death of his father, he became a cattle herder, and started riding at the age of 10, on wild young [[racehorse]]s that lived among the cattle on the common land of the moors above Melbourne.  With this experience behind him, he became [[Groom (profession)|groom]] to Wilberforce Read of [[Grimthorpe]].  He is described as having "a broad chest, strong arm, quick eye, cool head and ample nerve."{{sfn|Tanner|Cranham|1992|p=18}}
After a particularly good riding performance, Read rewarded Singleton with the gift of a [[Sheep|ewe]].  Singleton used this ewe for breeding, and with the sale of the offspring he was able to pay for the [[stallion]] Smiling Tom to [[Horse breeding#Covering the mare|cover]] his master's mare.  The mating was a successful one, resulting in a [[filly]] called Lucy, which Singleton rode to victory in a number of races in 1737.  These included the Subscription Plates at [[Hambleton District|Hambleton]], [[Morpeth, Northumberland|Morpeth]], [[Stockton Racecourse|Stockton]] and [[Sunderland]].{{sfn|Cook|1901|p=352}}  He is said to have walked the entire 120 mile journey round the tracks of the North East, sleeping under haystacks.{{sfn|Tanner|Cranham|1992|p=18}}
===Newmarket===
By 1751, he had moved to the headquarters of [[Horseracing in Great Britain|British horse racing]], [[Newmarket, Suffolk|Newmarket]].  In April 1756, he won a valuable 200 guinea match race against Mr Bowles' Trajan over the Beacon Course at Newmarket on the famous [[Matchem]].{{sfn|Whyte|1840|p=452}}  In Newmarket, he became [[horse trainer|trainer]] and jockey to fellow Yorkshireman and future [[Prime Minister]], the [[Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham|Marquis of Rockingham]].{{sfn|Tanner|Cranham|1992|p=18}}  He was used by Rockingham in all major races from the early 1760s until 1780,<ref name=PockHist/> riding at Newmarket in the spring and [[Thixendale]] in Yorkshire in the summer.{{sfn|Cook|1901|p=353}}
His greatest successes came on the [[Bay Malton]], named after the Yorkshire town where Rockingham had estates.<ref name=PockHist/> In October 1765, without Singleton on board, the Bay Malton had raced [[Gimcrack]], the most famous racehorse of the day.  The Bay Malton beat Gimcrack 'very easy', winning Rockingham 9,000 [[Guinea (British coin)|guineas]].{{sfn|Whyte|1840|page=509-514}}  At [[York Racecourse|York]] in August 1766, the Bay Malton set a new record of 7 minutes 43 1/2 seconds for four miles in the [[Great Subscription Purse]].<ref name=PockHist/> It was also on the Bay Malton that he rode his most memorable victory at Newmarket's second spring meeting in April 1767.  He beat the acclaimed horses [[Herod (horse)|Herod]], Turf and Ascham at a race that brought more people to the racecourse than had ever been seen before.  Afterwards, Singleton was presented with a specially commissioned gold cup with figures of horse and jockey.{{sfn|Tanner|Cranham|1992|p=18}}
==Later life==
In 1769, Singleton married the widow of horseman Peter Jackson, and had a son, also called John.  This John didn't follow his father into the riding profession and instead became a scholar at [[St. John's, Cambridge]]. After graduating he took up a post as a land agent near the family home in East Yorkshire.{{sfn|English|1984|p=34}}
The elder Singleton had a nephew, another [[John Singleton the Younger|John Singleton]], who did become a jockey.  John the nephew also came into the employ of Rockingham and won the first St. Leger in 1776.<ref name=PockHist/> John Singleton the nephew, confusingly also had a [[John Singleton, Jr.|son called John]], who rode the winner of the 1797 Derby,{{sfn|Cook|1901|p=354}} although other scholars have cast doubt as to whether these latter John Singletons were relations at all.{{sfn|Tanner|Cranham|1992|p=18}}
In 1772, the elder Singleton was still riding at a weight of 8&nbsp;st 7&nbsp;lbs (54.0&nbsp;kg), and it was said that "his head and nerves remained as cool as his chest and arms were strong and solid."{{sfn|Cook|1901|p=354}}  He eventually retired from Rockingham's employ in 1780 and died, depending on which source is to be believed, in 1793,<ref name=Genuki/> 1795{{sfn|Cook|1901|p=353}} or 1799.<ref name=PockHist/> He is buried in the churchyard at Great Givendale, near Grimthorpe, where his winnings had helped make the family's fortune.
Singleton was twice immortalised by famous equine portraitist, [[George Stubbs]], in commissions by Lord Rockingham.  In the first painting of c. 1765-67 he was portrayed riding Bay Malton.  In the second he is on board Rockingham's bay Scrub, standing by a lake possibly at Wentworth.<ref name=PockHist/>
==References==
{{reflist|2
|refs=
<ref name=Genuki>
{{cite web |url=http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/YKS/ERY/Greatgivendale/Greatgivendale92.html |title=Great Givendale: Geographical and Historical information from the year 1892 |publisher=GENUKI – UK and Ireland Genealogy |access-date=29 April 2013}}</ref>
<ref name=PockHist>
{{cite web |url=http://www.pocklingtonhistory.com/archives/people/famous/johnsingleton/ |title=John Singleton |publisher=Pocklington History |access-date=29 April 2013}}</ref>
}}
==Journals==
{{cite journal |last=English |first=Barbara |year=1984 |title=Patterns of Estate Management in East Yorkshire, c. 1840 – c. 1880 |journal=The Agricultural History Review |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=29–48 |publisher=British Agricultural History Society |jstor=40274302 }}
==Bibliography==
*{{cite book |last=Cook |first=Theodore Andrea |title=A History of the English Turf (Vol. 2) |year=1901 |publisher=H. Virtue & Co. |location=[[London]] }}
*{{cite book |title=Great Jockeys of the Flat |last1=Tanner |first1=Michael |last2=Cranham |first2=Gerry |year= 1992 |publisher=Guinness Publishing |location=[[London Borough of Enfield|Enfield]], [[Middlesex]] |isbn=978-0-85112-989-1 }} <!-- Tanner encyclopaedia -->
*{{cite book |last=Whyte |first=James Christie |title=History of the British Turf, from the earliest period to the present day, Volume I |year=1840 |publisher=H. Colburn |location=[[London]]|ol=6544990M }}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Singleton, John}}
[[Category:1715 births]]
[[Category:1790s deaths]]
[[Category:Year of death uncertain]]
[[Category:English jockeys]]
[[Category:Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge]]