People of Note
Anthony St Leger (1731 - 1786)
Anthony St Leger was born in Kildare, Ireland on 28th February, 1731, fourth son of Sir John St. Leger and Levina Pennefather. After attending Eton College and Peterhouse, Cambridge, he joined the Grenadier Guards in 1753.
He was nephew of Arthur, 1st Viscount Doneraile and cousin of the Hon. Elizabeth St. Leger.
It is recorded he had an illegitimate son, William Charles St. Leger, who was born about 1759 and brought up by his grandmother Levina.
In 1761, St Leger married Margaret Wombwell, daughter of William Wombwell and Margaret Standish. She died without issue on 20th December, 1776.
That same year he was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel of the 124th Regiment of Foot, but a year later the regiment disbanded, and St Leger took on the Park Hill estate in Firbeck, where he later bred and raced horses.
In 1765 Thomas Thornhill of Fixby, son and heir of George Thornhill of Diddington, who was brother and heir of John Thornhill of Fixby, sold Parkhill in Firbeck to Anthony St. Leger, .
Deeds relating to the Manor of Laughton-en-le-Morthen, Yorkshire, record that Anthony Eyre of Grove, sold his part of the manor to Anthony St Leger of Parkhill, Firbeck, Yorkshire, esq. in 1767
On 18th March, 1768 he was elected MP for Grimsby;succeeded on 10th October, 1774 by Francis Evelyn Anderson.
In 1779, St Leger re-entered the army as Colonel of the 86th Regiment of Foot. He was Military Govenor of St. Lucia from 1781 to 1782.
He returned to Ireland in 1784 where he died on 19th April, 1786 aged 55. He was buried in St Ann's Church, Dublin.
In addition to giving his name to the St Leger Stakes , the St Leger Arms public house in Laughton en le Morthen is also named after Anthony St Leger.
He was succeeded at Park Hill by his nephew Major General John St. Leger, commonly called Handsome Jack - a friend and companion of George IV, when Prince of Wales. He died, unmarried, in India in 1799.
The St.Leger
In 1776, two years after leaving the House of Commons, and with the assistance of Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marques of Rockingham, he established a two-mile race for 3-year-old horses, on the Cantley Common in Doncaster. In 1778 at a dinner at The Red Lion, Doncaster, the Marquis formerly named the race the St. Leger as a compliment to Anthony St Leger.
When the contest first started, there were only six subscribers and five horses ran. The winner being Allabaculia, owned by St. Leger and ridden by J. Singleton; second was a horse named Trusty.
During the following years there was an increased number of nominations, although by 1785 the interest in the race had fallen off, only five people subscribed and four horses raced.
Sixteen years after the institution of the race, the subscribers increased and during the 19th century the event gained considerable interest. In 1838, 66 horses were nominated, seven ran and by 1850 there were never fewer than 100 subscribers, that year elevan ran.
