Horses, Pubs, and King’s Lynn Races

Thousands attend King’s Lynn Races in the mud.

The Welcome Diversion

In 1850 the King’s Lynn newspaper claimed that 20,000 – 30,000 thousand got there, some on special trains. In 1851 they extended the event over two days. Despite the rain and mud 3,000 came on the first day; 10,000 on the second.

Days at King’s Lynn Races were a welcome diversion for people in a town (see below) which was slowly facing up to its decline in fortunes. And those events were partly established by a man who loved horses, but who wasn’t always able to control his cash flow. As he was to learn, horses were to become yesterday’s technology.

The Coaches and Horses

Robert Henry Bollin (1812-1885) was someone who had moved into the transport business. His father had been a painter and glazier in Richmond, Surrey, but Robert decided to develop a career closer to horses. By the age of 26 he was advertising in the Cambridge and Peterborough Gazette as proprietor of a new stage coach running between Hitchin and Cambridge. In addition to driving the coach, he also had part ownership of the coaches and horses. He needed to expand his trade and later added a route from Cambridge to Lynn (arriving at the Globe Hotel in the Tuesday Market Place).

However, by the time Bollin arrived in King’s Lynn in 1847 there was a sense that coach transport might soon decline. The railway had arrived in Lynn in 1846, and Bollin’s service between Lynn and Cambridge was cut in November 1847.

The Pubs

Clearly Bollin was hard-working, flexible, and keen to seize an opportunity. Despite the downturn of his transport business people were still using stagecoach travel. Bollin settled in Lynn as a coach builder and as landlord of the Albert Tavern. Before long he was running the posting department at the Duke’s Head Hotel in the Tuesday Market Place. In 1850 he took up the prestigious post of running the whole Duke’s Head.

In his advertisements for the Duke’s Head Bollin stresses that there was stabling and coach houses at the rear. He stresses that he had been, for many years, acquainted with “a large body of the Commercial world” and was aware of their requirements.

The King’s Lynn Races

Bollin played a pivotal role in establishing the Lynn Races in 1850. He was clerk of the course for the new racecourse established 50 acres of land in West Lynn. This had been part of the riverbed before the River Ouse was straightened by the Eau Brink Cut in 1821.

The course was a mile long, with a grandstand at the end at the north end. Local dignitaries subscribed £150 each towards the prize money for six races.

The course opened on 11 September 1850. Special trains were laid on and it was claimed that 20,000 – 30,000 attended. Some arrived in carriages and pony carts. Bollin raced his own horse. At the end of the first day’s racing he hosted a dinner at the Duke’s Head for 60 gentlemen.

A two-day event was planned for August in the following year. Extra trains were laid on, but pouring rain deterred the crowd. Around 3,000 endured the mud and rain on the first day, and around 10,000 enjoyed the weather on the second day. Nothing was planned for 1853 and numbers were seriously down for 1854. Sponsors decided not to risk any further events.

Planks and Screws

Bollin was declared bankrupt in 1857 with debts of £1790. To pay for the debts 30 of his carriages were sold, together with the planks and screws from his coach building business, and along with all his household furniture. The list of goods for sale demonstrated the extensive business he had built up. The court concluded that “trading had been improvident and otherwise unfavourable”.

After King’s Lynn

Bollin returned south and for the next 28 years had several jobs in transport and in the hospitality industry. In 1861 he was running the Old Hat Public House in Ealing and in 1871 he as a Hotel Keeper at the Bull Hotel, Gerrards Cross. Initially he was an omnibus proprietor in Surrey taking passengers from Shalford to Godalming for four pence a trip. By 1881 he was an omnibus proprietor again offering transport for commuters from the new railway station at Acton. He had been made bankrupt again in 1869.

He died in London on 24 March 1885 and was buried in Hanwell Cemetery four days later.

© James Rye 2024

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Source

Shackell, C. (2019) Robert Henry Bollin: One Man’s Impact on Life in 19th Century King’s Lynn, Norfolk Record Office