52 Ancestors 2026 Week 17 - Working for a Living
George Alexander Butchers (1866–1938)
My paternal 1st cousin 3× removed
🐴 From Rye to the Racing Yards
Born in Rye in 1866, George grew up in a family where work began early and never really stopped. By fifteen he was already a groom in Findon, learning the trade from the ground up: feeding, brushing, calming, and understanding horses in a way that only comes from long hours and instinctive connection.
He was apprenticed to W. Bevil, trainer of the Oaks winner Placida — a prestigious start for a Marsh boy. And in 1884, he rode his first winning mount, the earliest newspaper trace of a career that would stretch nearly fifty years.
🏇 “Licences Granted to… George A. Butchers”
Throughout the 1890s, George’s name appears again and again in the official lists of licensed jockeys. These clippings place him among the recognised professionals of the day — riding under both flat and National Hunt rules, trusted by owners and stewards alike.
He rode for major patrons, including Mr. Bottomley, taking mounts in steeplechases and hurdle races across the South. These were not gentle flat races. They were gruelling, dangerous events over fences and rough ground.
And George was good at them.
⚡ The Plumpton Legend — A Jockey of Iron
One of the most vivid clippings comes from his Golden Wedding article decades later. It recalls a race at Plumpton in 1888:
George lost his cap,
then his whip,
then both stirrups,
yet still won by a neck.
A backer — the notorious “Jubilee Plunger” Benson — won £1,400 on the race and tipped George £50. It’s the kind of story that becomes family folklore, but here it is preserved in print.
🐎 A Professional Jockey for 22 Years
George rode professionally for 22 years, appearing in race reports from Plumpton, Newbury, Folkestone, Harpenden, and beyond. He rode horses like Bedgrove, Sidley, Duke of Tipperary, and Cephee, sometimes winning, sometimes placing, sometimes simply surviving the course.
One clipping shows him riding in treacherous conditions at Newmarket — “greasy and treacherous on top, hard beneath” — in his first ride under National Hunt rules.
Another shows him riding in the Canterbury Hurdle. Another has him aboard a favourite in the Surrey Selling Handicap Hurdle. His name is everywhere.
🐐 From Jockey to Trainer — A Second Working Life
By 1893, George had begun training — the natural progression for a man whose body had endured years of falls and hard riding. And here, too, he excelled.
He trained at Lewes, building a reputation for reliability, horsemanship, and results. One of his patrons, Mr. G. C. Pulley, owned the horse Hymir, with whom George won 12 races worth over £4,000 — a huge sum for the time. By the time of his retirement he had trained over 500 winners.
He bought and sold horses as part of his work:
Lennoxlove advertised for £150
Indian Feast purchased for 80 guineas
Llandreamer bought for 25 guineas
Silver Song purchased and sent to Leslie’s yard
He trained winners like Lackey, Greenogue, Z.Z., Dinia, English Fare, and Zarane — the last of whom tragically dropped dead on the gallops, a loss recorded in the press.
🏰 The Varipati Years — A Bigger Stage
In 1917, George was appointed private trainer to Madame Varipati, a wealthy and ambitious owner. He left Lewes to take charge of her large establishment at The Nunnery, Thetford.
The newspapers document this era vividly:
Varipati’s horses included Cheneskaki, Tric-Trac, Pourboire, Speculator, Ma Pompes, Darklin, Spectre, Claudette
George trained 65 winners in three seasons at Thetford
He returned to Lewes at the end of his contract
Tragically Madame Variapati died in a motor accident 5 months later
This was the peak of his professional life — a Marsh-born horseman running a major national training operation.
👨👦👦 A Racing Dynasty
George’s sons inherited his talent:
Leslie Butchers became a successful jockey and later took over the Lewes stables. Leslie's son Robert became a beloved racing tipster with Daily Mirror named "Newsboy"
Donald Butchers won the Danish and Swedish Derbies, and the Liverpool Hurdle twice as well as clocking up more than 160 wins and was also placed in both Champion Hurdle and Cheltenham Gold Cup
George F Butchers won over 100 races before his untimely death in Flanders 1917
One clipping describes a “family affair” — Leslie training Llandreamer and Donald riding him to victory.
Another shows George still riding out Zarane during exercise hours after recovering from a serious operation — a man who simply couldn’t stay out of the saddle.
🌧️ Setbacks, Hardship, and the Realities of Working Life
The clippings don’t shy away from the hard parts:
Horses dying suddenly in their boxes
Injuries, operations, and recoveries
Dangerous conditions on the course
The precariousness of racing income
This was not a glamorous life. It was a working life — physical, risky, relentless.
🎩 Retirement and Legacy
George retired in 1931, handing the reins and the Lewes stables to Leslie. His retirement notice reads like a résumé of a life spent entirely in motion:
22 years as a jockey
38 years as a trainer
First winner in 1884
Trained winners into the 1930s
He
died in 1938, aged 72. His funeral of course was also described in
print:
The
clippings tell a rich story of a man whose work shaped not only his own life,
but the careers of his sons, the fortunes of his patrons, and the racing
history of Sussex and Norfolk.
⭐ Why George Defines “Working for a Living”
Few ancestors embody this theme as completely as George:
He began work as a child
Rode professionally for two decades
Trained horses for nearly forty years
Worked for major owners
Ran a large training establishment
Built a family racing dynasty
Appeared in newspapers for over fifty years
His life was not one of quiet labour, but of skilled, dangerous, disciplined work — the kind that leaves a mark on the world.
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