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Florence Nagle

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Florence Nagle (26 October 1894 – 30 October 1988) was a race horse and dog breeder, one of the first two women in the United Kingdom to be officially permitted to train racehorses. She has been described as the Mrs Pankhurst of British horse racing. She was a peaceful activist against injustices to her sex and a self-proclaimed feminist.

Background and early life

Born in Fallowfield, Manchester, Nagle was the daughter of Sir William George Watson and his wife Bessie. She was the elder sister of the art connoisseur Peter Watson. During the First World War the family home of Sulhamstead Abbots, in Berkshire, was used as a hospital and it was here that she met James Nagle, an Irishman who had emigrated to Canada and was fighting with the Canadian Highlanders and 60th Rifles. They were married on 1 July 1916, against the wishes of her parents who said they would cut her out of their wills. She began breeding dogs and served as a judge of Irish Wolfhounds and Setters, residing in Concara, Sulhamstead, near Reading. She had a son, David, and one daughter, Patricia Margaret, born in 1919, who married in February 1939. Her daughter predeceased her in 1971.

Dog breeding

Nagle's first Irish Wolfhound, Manin Michael, was registered with The Kennel Club in March 1917 by James Nagle, then transferred to the ownership of Mr. & Mrs. Nagle, and his name changed to Sir Michael of Sheppey in May, 1917. She acquired her first Irish Setter, Sulhamstead D'Or in 1924 to keep a wolfhound puppy company. In April 1930 she entered him into the All-Aged Stakes at The Kennel Club field trials. In August 1932 she entered into the Scottish Field Trials in the same category, although with a dog named Sulhamstead Token D'Or. At the Kennel Club field trials of April 1933, Nagle entered her Irish setter, Sulhamstead Bob D'Or, into the All-Aged Stakes and the judge awarded her the prize presented by the Irish Setter Association of England. 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 twelfth working trials at Pynes, near Exeter.

In July 1935, Nagle entered the field trials of the Irish Setter Association near Ruabon in northern Wales, competing in the Open Stake for Irish Setters and the Puppy Stake for Irish Setters, for puppies which were born the previous year. At the 35th International Gun Dog League trials held at Douglas Castle in August 1935, Nagle was awarded a diploma in the Champion Stakes for Pointers and Setters. 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. 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". 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. 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. Field Trials saw a general down turn in popularity of Irish Setters competing in the 1930s; during the following decade the breed was principally represented by Nagle's dogs. Nagle had eighteen Irish Setter field trial champions during the period she was active in the breed from the 1920s to the mid 1960s.

Irish Wolfhounds bred by Nagle were also successful in America. Best of breed awards at the Irish Wolfhound Club of America speciality shows were secured by Champion Sulhamstead Matador of Killybracken in 1960 and by Sulhamstead Mars of Riverlawn in 1963. She also judged the national specialty there twice.

As late as 1960, Sulhamstead Merman, a 150-pound Irish Wolfhound bred, owned and shown by Nagle at "London's big dog show", Crufts, won the hound group and went on to be declared Best in Show or "supreme champion"; The judges were H. S. Lloyd and Fred Cross. She withdrew from the field trial scene in the mid 1960s following the retirement of her handler, George Abbott.

Racehorse breeding

According to the Encyclopedia of British Horseracing, Nagle had trained her first racehorse in 1920. On 5 July 1935 she entered her racehorse, Comanche, at Newmarket. Nagle entered the Epsom Derby in 1937; her horse, Sandsprite, at 100–1 odds, finished second to Mid-day Sun, owned by Mrs Lettice Miller, the first woman owner ever to win the Derby at Epsom. In the first half of the twentieth century, women trainers were not unknown — Norah Wilmot was training horses for The Queen. However, women trained in an unofficial capacity, and were forced to employ men to hold the licence on their behalf or have a licence in their husbands' names. Thus, from 1932, the divorced Nagle employed Alfred Stickley, a licensed trainer, to work at her stables in the capacity of head lad. At one point Nagle trained fifteen horses. As late as 1975, she trained twelve horses and recommended feeding them some seaweed to provide iodine. She was a also a great believer in the beneficial effects of fresh air, insisting that her horse's top stable doors were permanently left open. She was, however, vehemently opposed to the vaccination of horses against equine influenza, and challenged a Jockey Club decision to make vaccination compulsory.

Activism

For twenty years, Nagle protested peacefully against what she saw as an injustice to her sex. Eventually, frustrated by the Jockey Club's persistent refusal to grant women a training licence, Nagle sought legal redress; initially unsuccessful, her fight finally reached the Court of Appeal in 1966. Using its considerable influence within the Establishment, the club twice had her appeal blocked. Following her third appeal, Nagle emerged from the court victorious. The verdict of the three presiding law lords, Lord Denning, Lord Justice Dankwerts and Lord Salmon, was, in the words of Lord Denning, that "If she is to carry on her trade without stooping to subterfuge she has to have a training licence." Of the Jockey Club itself, the Law Lords went on to pronounce that "The rights of a person to work should not be prevented by the dictatorial powers of a body which holds a monopoly." Faced with the court's damning and embarrassing decision, the Jockey Club was forced to capitulate, and on 3 August 1966 Florence Nagle and Norah Wilmot became the first women in Britain to receive licences to train racehorses.

Nagle justifiably credited herself with "dragging the Jockey Club into the twentieth century". 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". At odds with Nagle's view, at her court case 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 a speedway-rider"; it was to be another eight years before Jockey Club rules permitted women jockeys in 1972. 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."

Still dissatisfied with the lack of opportunities for female jockeys in the 1980s, Nagle wrote a cheque to the Managing director of United Racecourses, Tim Neligan, to sponsor a race at Kempton Park and left funds in her will for its continuance. The first Florence Nagle Girl Apprentices' Handicap was run in 1986 and after the race, John Lawrence wrote in the Daily Telegraph that Nagle no doubt looked down on the race 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.

At the age of 83, she 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. After the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 was enacted, Nagle was proposed as a member of the Kennel Club at the end of September 1977; the nomination was refused in January 1978 because the Kennel Club's constitution restricted membership to men only. Nagle referred the matter to an Industrial Tribunal five months later. She was Chairwoman of the Ladies Joint Committee, a group that had been set up in 1975 as a part of the Kennel Club hierarchy but the Ladies committee were not allowed any input into general Club decisions. Her actions against the Club were fully supported by the other members of the Ladies committee. Legal technicalities caused the tribunal to reject the case but it recommended the Equal Opportunities Commission should be approached as discrimination was clearly demonstrated. Nagle was determined and stated her intention to appeal the decision. 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 were recommending the Constitution be changed to allow women membership. The proposal was duly carried unanimously at a meeting held on 23 November 1978. 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. The total number of women approved for membership at the landmark meeting was 80; the costs of the campaign were funded by Nagle.

Death

Nagle died at her home, Little Mayfield in West Chiltington, Sussex, on 30 October 1988 at the age of 94.

References

Citations

  1. ^ Curling (1971), p. 29.
  2. ^ Hargreaves (2002), p. 276.
  3. ^ Anon. "Irish Wolfhound History: The Sulhamstead Kennel". irishwolfhound.org. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  4. ^ Pyke (2014), p. 178.
  5. "English Setter Club." The Times (London, England) 19 April 1933: p.14. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  6. Butterworth (2011), p. 27.
  7. "Marriages." The Times (London, England) 14 February 1939: p.17. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  8. Ingle Bepler & Ryan (1937), p. 50.
  9. "Kennel Club Field Trials." The Times (London, England) 28 April 1930: p.5. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  10. "Scottish Field Trials." The Times (London, England) 8 August 1932: p.15. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  11. "British Bulldogs." The Times (London, England) 17 April 1933: p.15. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  12. "News in Brief." The Times (London, England) 24 September 1934: p.20. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  13. "Field Trials." The Times (London, England) 22 July 1935: p.10. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  14. "Field Trials." The Times (London, England) 16 August 1935: p.8. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  15. "Field Trials." The Times (London, England) 16 September 1935: p.10. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  16. "Field Trials." The Times (London, England) 27 April 1936: p.21. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  17. "Field Trials." The Times (London, England) 10 August 1936: p.8. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  18. Waters, Nick (29 February 2008). "The dog in art: Irish Setters at the Kennel Club". Dog World. Archived from the original on 12 October 2014. Retrieved 12 October 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  19. Leighton-Boyce (1973), p. 104.
  20. ^ Roberts (1978), p. 25.
  21. "1960 - 1969 Specialties". Irish Wolfhound Club of America. Archived from the original on 12 October 2014. Retrieved 12 October 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  22. ^ Bengtson (2008), p. 270.
  23. "A 150-pound Irish wolfhound". Alton Evening Telegraph. 11 May 1966. p. 9. Retrieved 11 October 2014 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  24. "The Crufts Immortals". Dog World. 5 March 2010. p. 80. Retrieved 12 October 2014. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |subscription= ignored (|url-access= suggested) (help)
  25. Vamplew (2005), p. 343.
  26. "Racing." Times (London, England) 5 July 1935: p.5. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  27. Clark, Neil (30 May 2007). "Memories of a golden day in 1937". The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group Limited. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  28. Lambie (2010), p. 479.
  29. Pathe Gazette Presents: the Derby 1937 (Motion picture). British-Pathé. 1937.
  30. ^ Curling (1971), p. 31.
  31. "Successful Formula". The Kansas City Times. 11 September 1975. p. 37. Retrieved 11 October 2014 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  32. "70-Year-Old Woman Becomes Horse Trainer". The Kokomo Tribune. 30 July 1966. p. 9. Retrieved 11 October 2014 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  33. ^ Wray, Vamplew (2004). "Nagle , Florence (1894–1988)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. Retrieved 10 October 2014. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
  34. Barret, Tamsin (22 November 1999). "Woman's place is now in the home straight thanks to suffragette's legacy". The Independent. independent.co.uk. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  35. Oakley, Robin (November 2013). Tales From the Turf: Reflections from a Life in Horseracing. Corinthian. ISBN 1906850682.
  36. Oakley, Robin (22 May 1999). "The whip hand". The Spectator. Retrieved October 11, 2014 – via HighBeam Research. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |subscription= ignored (|url-access= suggested) (help)
  37. Wojtczak (2008), p. 114.
  38. ^ Sutton (1980), p. 9.
  39. Sutton (1980), p. 25.

Bibliography

External links

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