Florence Nagle
![Nagle picture taken in the 1960s](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/b6/Portrait_photo_of_Florence_Nagle.jpeg/200px-Portrait_photo_of_Florence_Nagle.jpeg)
Florence Nagle (26 October 1894 – 30 October 1988
Described as "the Mrs. Pankhurst of British horse racing",[3] Nagle trained her first racehorse in 1920, the Irish-bred colt Fernley. At that time women were forced to employ men to hold a Jockey Club trainers licence on their behalf, or to have licences in their husbands' names. Nagle worked peacefully to redress such injustices to her sex. She successfully challenged the well-established leading gentlemen's clubs of the racing and canine worlds over their gender inequality, and in 1966 became one of the first two women in the United Kingdom licensed to train racehorses. The first racehorse officially trained in Nagle's name was Mahwa, registered as being owned by her friend Miss Newton Deakin, with whom she jointly owned some of her dogs.
Dissatisfied with the lack of opportunities for women jockeys, Nagle sponsored the Florence Nagle Girl Apprentices' Handicap first run in 1986 at Kempton Park. She died at her home in West Chiltington, Sussex, two years later at the age of 94, leaving funds in her will for the continuation of the race.
Background and early life
Born in
Sulhamstead Abbots, Nagle's family home in Berkshire, was used as a hospital during the First World War. There she met James Nagle, a native of Ireland who had emigrated to Canada but returned to serve with the King's Royal Rifle Corps and then had been sent to Sulhamstead Abbots to recuperate.[6] Against her parents' wishes the couple were married on 1 July 1916, resulting in them threatening to disinherit her.[7] The early days of Nagle's marriage were hard; she was used to a wealthy lifestyle[5] – her family money came from her father's successful business, Maypole Dairies[4] – but her parents offered the couple no financial assistance.[5] Nagle always worked hard and subsidised their income by making cream teas, cleaning windows and scrubbing toilets.[8] The couple had two children, a son, David, and a daughter, Patricia.[9] The marriage was not a success, and her husband ran off with one of the kennel maids.[9] Obtaining a divorce was not easy in the 1920s; when asked in court for the reason James left, Nagle answered "He must have got bored with me."[9] The divorce took place in 1928, five years before her husband's death.[9] At the time of the divorce she was living on a smallholding near Headley, but returned to Sulhamstead in 1932 after inheriting land and money from Sir William.[10] Ten years later, in 1942, she purchased Westerlands, a farm in Petworth,[11] so she could personally oversee the stables.[12]
Working in Folkestone during the Second World War, Nagle managed a canteen for the ARP. She also donated the full cost of £5,000 to purchase a Spitfire named Sulhamstead for the Royal Air Force.[13]
Dog breeding
![Irish Wolfhound painting](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b1/Cecil_Aldin05.jpg/220px-Cecil_Aldin05.jpg)
As a child, Nagle had a
During her marriage, while residing in Concara,
A bitch puppy, the runt of the litter, was purchased for £48 in 1923 and she became Nagle's first dog to gain the title of Champion.[10] Named Sulhamstead Thelma, she was declared the best Irish Wolfhound bitch and awarded the Challenge Certificate at three consecutive Crufts, in 1925, 1926 and 1927.[10][c] Her next Champion was Sulhamstead Conncara, a male dog, born in 1925.[20] Conncara was blind, possibly owing to an accident as a young puppy, but Nagle kept that secret until three years after his death, believing that his qualities would have been overlooked by other breeders if they had known.[21] According to Nagle's biographer, Ferelith Somerfield,[d] this dog was "one of the great sires of all time in the breed"[10] and an "outstanding show dog".[10][e] A prepotent sire,[f] he produced several Champions and other top-class show specimens.[21]
Nagle owned or bred forty-five Wolfhounds who were awarded Challenge Certificates, twenty-one of them Champions.[24] She believed dogs should be capable of carrying out the work the breed was developed to do, and she promoted coursing.[25]
Irish Wolfhounds bred by Nagle were also successful in America; she began exporting dogs there in 1933.
Nagle acquired her first Irish Setter, whom she named Sulhamstead D'Or, in 1924 to keep a wolfhound puppy company.[34] In April 1930 she entered him into the All-Aged Stakes at the Kennel Club field trials.[35] In August 1932 she entered a dog named Sulhamstead Token D'Or into the Scottish Field Trials in the same category.[36] At the Kennel Club field trials of April 1933, Nagle entered Sulhamstead Bob D'Or into the All-Aged Stakes and the judge awarded her the prize presented by the Irish Setter Association of England.[37] In September 1934, she entered her Irish Setter Sulhamstead Snip D'Or into the Novice Stake of the Devon and Cornwall Pointer and Setter Society's 12th working trials at Pynes, near Exeter.[38]
In July 1935 Nagle entered the field trials of the Irish Setter Association near Ruabon in North Wales, competing in the Open Stake for Irish Setters and the Puppy Stake for Irish Setters, for puppies which were born the previous year.[39] At the 35th International Gun Dog League trials held at Douglas Castle in August 1935, she was awarded a diploma in the Champion Stakes for Pointers and Setters.[40] The following month, Nagle took the silver perpetual challenge trophy in the Open Stake of the field trials of the Devon and Cornwall Pointer and Setter Society at Newlyn, near Newquay, competing with her Irish Setter Sulhamstead Baffle D'Or.[41] At the Kennel Club field trials for pointers and setters in April 1936, she entered Sulhamstead Bluff D'Or into the All-Aged Stake and was awarded the Penheale Challenge Cup by Captain N. R. Colville for the "best constitutioned dog or bitch, displaying the greatest game-finding ability".[42] At the 18th annual Scottish Field Trial Association's field trials for pointers and setters at Yester estate in Gifford, East Lothian, Scotland in August 1936, Nagle won first prize in the Brace Stake with Sulhamstead Bluff D'Or.[43] The Kennel Club own a pastel painting by Cecil Aldin of two of Nagle's Irish Setters, the Field Trial Champions Sulhamstead Sheilin D'Or and Sulhamstead Valla D'Or.[44] Field trials saw a general downturn in popularity of Irish Setters competing in the 1930s; during the following decade the breed was principally represented by Nagle's dogs.[45] Nagle had eighteen Irish Setter field trial champions during the period she was active in the breed from the 1920s to the mid-1960s.[46] The male dog Harlequin of Knockalla was pivotal in the revival of the Irish Red and White Setter breed in the 1970s; he was a descendant of Nagle's Irish Setter Sulhamstead Natty D'Or, so the Sulhamstead bloodline is behind most modern day red and whites.[47] Nagle withdrew from the field-trial scene in the mid-1960s following the retirement of her handler, George Abbott.[46]
Other breeds she owned included
Racehorse training and breeding
![photo of Nagle's racehorse, Sandsprite](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f3/Sandsprite%2C_racehorse.jpeg/220px-Sandsprite%2C_racehorse.jpeg)
According to the Encyclopedia of British Horseracing, Nagle trained her first racehorse in 1920,[52] the Irish-bred colt Fernley.[53] Her fascination with the sport stemmed from a much earlier time pre-dating her decision to concentrate on breeding dogs but it was particularly the breeding aspect of racehorses she was drawn to.[54] Nagle owned the winner of the Newport Nursery Handicap in 1932, a horse named Solano, and a reporter recorded that "While Solano is not Mrs Nagle's first winner, it is some years since the 'rifle green, red cross-belts' caught the judge's eye".[54] On 5 July 1935, she entered her racehorse Comanche at Newmarket.[55]
Nagle entered
One of Nagle's early equine purchases was 15-year-old Rose of England, the winner of the 1930
At the December
One of the main winners in the Nagle stables in the early 1960s was Gelert, trained by Nagle and owned by Miss Newton Deakin. Sired by Owen Tudor out of Westerlands Rosebud, he won a race at Ascot.[64] His dam had been successfully raced in the early 1950s and then proved herself as a useful brood.[65]
In the first half of the 20th century women trainers were not unknown –
Activism
For twenty years Nagle worked to end the Jockey Club's ban on licensing women as race horse trainers,
Nagle credited herself with "dragging the Jockey Club into the twentieth century".[6] She said: "This was a matter of principle. I am a feminist. I believe in equal rights for women. Things should be decided by ability, not sex".[70] At odds with Nagle's view, in her court case Lord Justice Salmon commented that "No doubt there are occupations, such as boxing, which may be reasonably regarded inherently unsuitable for women",[71] and Lord Denning had gone on to say that "It is not as if the training of horses could be regarded as an unsuitable occupation for a woman, like that of a jockey or speedway-rider";[71] it was another eight years before Jockey Club rules permitted women jockeys in 1972.[3] When asked by a journalist in the late 1970s if she thought women could ever match men on the racecourse, Nagle replied: "My dear man, it used to be said women couldn't stand up to three-day-eventing. Now they're beating the men regularly – and the same will happen in racing. Give them time."[73] Her endeavours led to her being described as "the Mrs Pankhurst of British horse racing"[3] in Stud & Stable Magazine and "Racing's Emily Pankhurst".[74]
At the age of 83 Nagle was still pursuing gender equality, accusing the Kennel Club of sexual discrimination in their insistence on male-only membership and taking them to court over the matter.
Leonard Pagliero was Chairman of the Kennel Club at the time, and before Nagle was able to complete the appeal he contacted the canine press, Dog World and Our Dogs, on 8 September 1978 announcing that the Club's General Committee was recommending that the club's constitution be changed to allow women members.[76] The proposal was carried unanimously at a meeting held on 23 November 1978.[76] The result was that Nagle and many other ladies were accepted as members of the Kennel Club at a formal meeting held on 10 April 1979.[76] The total number of women approved for membership at the landmark meeting was 80; the costs of the campaign were funded by Nagle.[78]
Later life
In the 1980s, still dissatisfied with the lack of opportunities for women jockeys, Nagle sponsored a race at Kempton Park, The Florence Nagle Girl Apprentices' Handicap. The first event took place in 1986; after the race John Oaksey wrote in the Daily Telegraph that Nagle was no doubt looking down from her celestial cloud with approval. She subsequently wrote to inform him that she was still alive, but that when the time came she expected to end up in a hotter place – "and there to meet most of her racing friends".[79] Nagle left a bequest in her will to ensure the race's survival.[80]
Nagle died at her home, Little Mayfield in West Chiltington, Sussex, at the age of 94.[6]
References
Notes
- ^ Photo taken around the time she was pursuing action against the Jockey Club; the diamond brooch was described by the author of her biography as "one of her [Nagle] favourite pieces of jewellery".[1]
- ^ Nagle's dog were originally registered with the affix Sheppey.[9]
- ^ A hound has to win three Challenge Certificates from three different judges (one must be won after the dog is a year old) to be a Champion.[18] A Challenge Certificate is awarded to the best male and the best female in breeds at championship shows where the Kennel Club has allowed an allocation of CCs for that breed.[19]
- ^ Ferelith Somerfield is an international dog judge, breeder and wife of Stafford Somerfield.[22]
- ^ The Kennel Club introduced a rule prohibiting the showing of blind dogs when they discovered one had been exhibited by Nagle.[21]
- ^ A prepotent sire is a stud dog that passes on certain of his traits to an especially large number of his offspring so that they resemble each other more closely than usual.[23]
- ^ Nagle and Newton Deakin also jointly owned some of the gundogs.[7]
Citations
- ^ Somerfield (1999), p. 114
- ISBN 0950041890.
- ^ a b c d Curling (1971), p. 29
- ^ a b c Somerfield (1999), p. 16
- ^ a b c d Somerfield (1999), p. 17
- ^ a b c d Wray, Vamplew (2004), "Nagle, Florence (1894–1988)", required.)
- ^ a b c Jupp, Hilary, "Irish Wolfhound History: The Sulhamstead Kennel", irishwolfhound.org, archived from the original on 25 January 2016, retrieved 11 October 2014
- ^ Somerfield (1999), pp. 17–18
- ^ a b c d e Somerfield (1999), p. 18
- ^ a b c d e f Somerfield (1999), p. 20
- ^ Somerfield (1999), p. 111
- ^ a b c d e f g Somerfield (1999), p. 87
- ^ Somerfield (1999), p. 27
- ^ a b c Somerfield (1999), p. 19
- ^ "English Setter Club", The Times, 19 April 1933, p. 14
- ^ a b Somerfield (1999), p. 178
- ^ Somerfield (1999), p. 177
- ^ "Regulations for Entries in the Stud Book, Champions and Warrants" (PDF), The Kennel Club, archived from the original (PDF) on 28 December 2013, retrieved 19 October 2014
- ^ Simon, Parsons, "What's it all about?", Dog World, archived from the original on 23 September 2015, retrieved 27 April 2015
- ^ Somerfield (1999), pp. 20–21
- ^ a b c Somerfield (1999), p. 21
- ^ "Diana Hamilton, Oudenarde", Cairn Terrier Club, archived from the original on 26 May 2007, retrieved 19 October 2014
- ^ Beuchat, Carol, "The Costs and Benefits of Inbreeding", The Institute of Canine Biology, archived from the original on 17 May 2015, retrieved 9 May 2015
- ^ Somerfield (1999), pp. 175–176
- ^ a b Somerfield (1999), p. 25
- ^ "1960–1969 Specialties", Irish Wolfhound Club of America, archived from the original on 19 October 2014, retrieved 12 October 2014
- ^ a b c Bengtson (2008), p. 270
- ^ Somerfield (1999), p. 132
- ^ Somerfield (1999), p. 35
- ^ a b "A 150-pound Irish wolfhound", Alton Evening Telegraph, 11 May 1966, p. 9, retrieved 11 October 2014 – via
- ^ "The Crufts Immortals", Dog World, 5 March 2010, p. 80, retrieved 12 October 2014
- ^ a b Somerfield (1999), p. 179
- ^ Somerfield (1999), p. 39
- ^ Ingle Bepler & Ryan (1937), p. 50
- ^ "Kennel Club Field Trials", The Times, 28 April 1930, p. 5
- ^ "Scottish Field Trials", The Times, 8 August 1932, p. 15
- ^ "British Bulldogs", The Times, 17 April 1933, p. 15
- ^ "News in Brief", The Times, 24 September 1934, p. 20
- ^ "Field Trials", The Times, 22 July 1935, p. 10
- ^ "Field Trials", The Times, 16 August 1935, p. 8
- ^ "Field Trials", The Times, 16 September 1935, p. 10
- ^ "Field Trials", The Times, 27 April 1936, p. 21
- ^ "Field Trials", The Times, 10 August 1936, p. 8
- ^ Waters, Nick (29 February 2008), "The dog in art: Irish Setters at the Kennel Club", Dog World, archived from the original on 18 October 2014, retrieved 12 October 2014
- ^ Leighton-Boyce (1973), p. 104
- ^ a b Roberts (1978), p. 25
- ^ Somerfield (1999), pp. 167–168
- ^ Somerfield (1999), p. 162
- ^ Somerfield (1999), p. 163
- ^ Somerfield (1999), p. 15
- ^ Somerfield (1999), p. 14
- ^ Vamplew (2005), p. 343
- ^ Staff (22 April 1920), "Racing at Epsom", The Times, no. 42391, p. 7
- ^ a b c d e Somerfield (1999), p. 86
- ^ "Racing", The Times, 5 July 1935, p. 5
- ^ Clark, Neil (30 May 2007), "Memories of a golden day in 1937", The Telegraph, retrieved 11 October 2014
- ^ Lambie (2010), p. 479
- ^
Pathe Gazette Presents: the Derby 1937 (Motion picture), British-Pathé, 1937, archivedfrom the original on 14 November 2021
- ^ "Westerlands Rose", allbreedpedigree.com, archived from the original on 26 October 2014, retrieved 26 October 2014
- ^ a b Somerfield (1999), p. 94
- ^ "15,000gns. for two-year old filly.", Dundee Courier, 6 December 1944, p. 4 – via British Newspaper Archive (subscription required)
- ^ "Newmarket sales", Western Morning News, 8 December 1944, p. 4 – via British Newspaper Archive (subscription required)
- ^ Somerfield (1999), p. 99
- ^ Somerfield (1999), p. 103
- ^ Somerfield (1999), p. 98
- ^ a b c Curling (1971), p. 31
- ^ Somerfield (1999), p. 102
- ^ "Successful Formula", The Kansas City Times, 11 September 1975, p. 37, retrieved 11 October 2014 – via
- ^ "Prominent Horse owner Bets Only Shillings", The Evening Independent, 5 January 1945, p. 12, retrieved 7 March 2015 – via
- ^ a b Hargreaves (2002), p. 276
- ^ a b c d e f g Reported as Nagle v Feilden [1966] 2 QB 633, [1966] 2 WLR 1027, [1966] 1 All ER 689; see Extract from online casebook, Oxford Centre for Higher Education Policy Studies
- ^ "70-Year-Old Woman Becomes Horse Trainer", The Kokomo Tribune, 30 July 1966, p. 9, retrieved 11 October 2014 – via
- ^ Barret, Tamsin (22 November 1999), "Woman's place is now in the home straight thanks to suffragette's legacy", The Independent, retrieved 11 October 2014
- ^ Lambie (2010), p. 480
- ^ Wojtczak (2008), p. 114
- ^ a b c d e f g Sutton (1980), p. 9
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
- ^ Sutton (1980), p. 25
- ^ Oakley, Robin (22 May 1999), "The whip hand", The Spectator[dead link]
- ^ Oakley (2013), p. 317
Bibliography
- Bengtson, Bo (2008), Best in Show: The World of Show Dogs and Dog Shows, BowTie Press, ISBN 978-1-931993-85-2
- Curling, Bill (April 1971), "Florence Nagle: the 'Mrs Pankhurst' of Racing", Stud and Stable, 10 (4)
- Hargreaves, Jennifer (2002), Sporting Females: Critical Issues in the History and Sociology of Women's Sport, Routledge, ISBN 978-1-134-91277-3
- Ingle Bepler, M.; Ryan, C. W. (1937), Setters, Irish, English and Gordon, Our Dogs
- Lambie, James (2010), The Story of Your Life: A History of the Sporting Life Newspaper (1859–1998), Matador, ISBN 978-1-84876-291-6
- Leighton-Boyce, Gilbert (1973), Irish Setters, Barker, ISBN 978-0-213-16414-0
- Oakley, Robin (2013), Tales From the Turf: Reflections from a Life in Horseracing, Corinthian, ISBN 978-1-906850-68-5
- Roberts, Janice (1978), The Irish Setter, Popular Dogs, ISBN 978-0-09-129700-8
- Somerfield, Ferelith (1999), Mission Accomplished: The Life and Times of Florence Nagle, 1894–1988: the Woman who Took on Both the Jockey Club and the Kennel Club, and Won, Dog World Publications, ISBN 978-0-9500418-9-6
- Sutton, Catherine G. (1980), Pryde, William (ed.), Dog shows and show dogs, K & R Books, ISBN 978-0-903264-41-9
- Vamplew, Wray (2005), Encyclopedia of British Horseracing, Psychology Press, ISBN 978-0-7146-8292-1
- Wojtczak, Helena (2008), Notable Sussex Women: 580 Biographical Sketches, Hastings Press, ISBN 978-1-904109-15-0
External links
- Woman wins training rights Florence Nagle on British Pathé News