Born in the slums of Hull,[1] he ran away aged 11, and became apprentice to Joseph Dawson in Newmarket, where he stayed for seven years.

He also rode the unbeaten St. Simon in his three-year-old year when that horse's usual jockey, Fred Archer, could no longer make the weight.

The explosion in betting, and rumours of race fixing, was threatening to engulf the sport in scandal, and The Jockey Club decided it needs to act.

The matter was brought to wider attention when the Earl of Durham used his speech at the annual Gimcrack Dinner to make disparaging comments about the three.

James was severely injured when torpedoed in the 1st World War and Charles sold his Jevington house and yard, and the estate village and retired to Eastbourne in 1919.