‘Roughs on the Turf and’ suburban Saturnalia’: Anti-social Behaviour on Victorian Racecourses

Abstract

Horse racing has a paradoxical status and is ‘possibly the best example of a sport that remained very exclusive in social terms but also had a huge popular following’ (Holt, 1992: 181). Well into the twentieth century, social exclusivity was unchallenged in the membership of the Jockey Club, the ruling body of the sport, or in the attendance at Newmarket meetings, while Ascot and a number of fixtures were key moments of the London season. Even in preindustrial England, the presence of plebeian spectators in less exalted venues, occasionally resulting in disturbances, was ‘disapprovingly acknowledged’ (Malcolmson, 1973: 51). The association of ‘the sport of kings’ with popular entertainment was seen more favourably when horseraces were included in the traditional holiday calendar, during Wakes Week for instance, thus contributing to the paternalistic, cross-class nature of rural recreations. This paradoxical status did not disappear with the Industrial Revolution. On the contrary, it may have been reinforced by various innovations in the late eighteenth century and the development of the railways a few decades later. These arguably turned horseracing into the first mass spectator sport, with attendant concerns of crowd control and unseemly behaviour. This chapter will first outline perceptions of and attitudes to what would now be called ‘anti-social’ behaviour on the racecourse. It will then assess the effectiveness of attempts to deal with it, from the Victorian period to the interwar years.