Meridian House stables lambourn

Meridian House & Stables/Elmfield
If you can provide any photos associated with this stable, or additional information to fill any gaps then contact johnwslusar@gmail.com
	1906-1916 William Tinmouth Meridian House occupied a large area of land on what was then known as Mount Pleasant hill, with perfect views of Lambourn Village, St Michael and All Angels Church and the village of Eastbury to the east. It was built by William Tinmouth in 1906, who employed local builders Messrs W Brain & Son, and was named after the ship, the Meridian, which William captained in the latter part of his Naval career for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. William was born and brought up in South Shields, but he settled his family in Berkshire, initially in a house at 2 Bockhampton Road, which at that time was known as Station Road, while awaiting completion of the building of Meridian House. By 1906 the family had moved in, and consisted of William, his wife Sarah Jane, eldest son George William (better known as Bill) born 1891, youngest son Thomas, born 1894, eldest daughter Sallie born 1890, and younger daughters Hessie, born 1895 and Caroline Lilly, also born 1895. During the First World War William continued his naval career, sailing to and from Canada, leaving Sarah Jane to cope on her own with her large family, so it is not surprising that in 1916 she moved the family back to South Shields to be nearer her own family. William joined her in 1921 after completing his service, but unfortunately died at Westoe, South Shields on 9th December 1923 aged 60. Meridian House was sold to Fred Templeman, probably in 1917 or 1918, although it is uncertain whether he initially leased it in 1918 before buying it in 1920 on the back of his success in the 1919 Epsom Derby.
			1918-1956 Fred Templeman Frederick George Templeman, born in Hertfordshire on 10th February 1892, son of William and Emma, was one of 6 children, his sisters being Mary Anne born 1884, Hettie Miriam born 1898 and Florence born 1898, while his brothers were Clark born 1886 and Arthur Spurr born 1888. Although it was originally thought that he was the great grandson of Sim Templeman, three times winning jockey in the Epsom Derby, it is more likely that Sim was his great great uncle. Sim won the Blue Riband in 1839 Bloomsbury (SR 2047), 1847 Cossack (SR 2013) and 1848 Surplice (SR 2044). William had been a jockey based in Lambourn in 1881, living with the Jarvis Family in the High Street, but he was not as successful as his grandfather Sim. Fred almost certainly made it his life-long ambition to equal or better his great grandfather.
*I am grateful to Ordnance Survey (© Crown Copyright) for permission to use the 1830 map shown above.*
By 1901 Fred lost his mother, so his father moved in with his sister at Fox Farm, which was next door to the Fox Inn in Great Bradley, Suffolk where the family had lived happily since 1889. In 1904 Fred was ready to pursue his dream of becoming a jockey and became apprentice to big John Hallick at Waltham House, Upper Lambourn. His elder brother Arthur had already begun his apprenticeship with William Grey, but he also moved to Hallick's and was riding regularly, having had his first ride in the Epsom Derby as early as 1906 on Beppo. Fred had his first ride in public aboard Alice Maud (100/8) in the Park Selling Plate at Windsor on 22nd September 1905 aged just 13. Fred had his first ride in the Epsom Derby in 1910, guiding Lord Villier's Greenback (100/8) to runner-up spot behind Lemberg (SR 2076) beaten by a neck. In 1911 he was unplaced on Bannockburn (50/1) beaten a long way by Sunstar (SR 2059); in 1912 he was unplaced on Cylba (100/10 behind Tagalie (SR 1989); his next Derby ride was in 1914 when unplaced aboard Carrickfergus behind Durbar (SR 2030); in 1916 he was extremely unlucky again when a neck behind Fifinella (SR 2055) riding 3/1 fav Kwang-Su. In 1919 he finally cracked it aboard the Frank Barling trained Grand Parade 33/1 owned by 1st Baron Glanely, only after stable jockey Arthur Smith had rejected the horse in favour of better fancied stablemate Dominion (100/9), making it the first black horse to win the Derby for 106 years. In 1911 Fred moved from Lambourn to live at Marlborough House on the Station Road in Newmarket together with brother Arthur and his wife, as well as their younger sister Florence. He worked for a while at Frank Barling's Falmouth House stables, built by the great Fred Archer, and now known as Pegasus stables. In the early years of the War, after being rejected by the Army, Fred got married on 25th February 1915 at the age of 24 to Beatrice Maria Hervey Bathurst aged 19 who lived in Marylebone, London. By 1918, possibly a year earlier, Fred and Beatrice were living at Meridian House, possibly leasing it initially, but certainly owning it from at least 1920. In 1921 Fred had 20 stables built within the grounds of Meridian House, and also owned the property immediately opposite Meridian House known as Elmfield House where he had an additional 35 stables built. By 1916 John Hallick had died, which could have been one reason why Fred and Arthur relocated to Newmarket, but whatever the reason it was for the best. Amongst his other principal winners as a jockey, two of the most notable were in the 1919 Royal Hunt Cup at Royal Ascot aboard Irish Elegance, and at the same 1919 meeting he rode Knight of the Air to win the Jersey Stakes.
		When he won the Royal Hunt Cup, such was his delight at the win that its owner James White, a city of London financier, bought him 100 shares in the Beecham Trust which, at that time, owned valuable premises in Covent Garde, so the shares were highly likely to increase in value. However, Fred needed the money and sold the shares, possibly to help with his expenses in buying Meridian House and Elmfield. In 1921 he launched his training career at Meridian House and Elmfield, and enjoyed immediate success when Scamp won the 1921 New Stakes, now known as the Norfolk Stakes, following up in the Gimcrack Stakes at York. He chalked up 3 more Royal Ascot wins as a trainer. He won the 1929 Coventry Stakes with Diolite; the 1930 Churchill Stakes with Putney and the 1934 Hardwicke Stakes with Cotoneaster. Good jockey that he was, Fred achieved greater success as a trainer, and the undoubted highlights of his training career were his 3 Classic victories. He won the 1930 2000 Guineas with Diolite, and again in 1941 with Lambert Simnel, who had finished second in the Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket the previous year and was later made favourite for the Epsom Derby where he was unplaced. He also captured the 1933 Epsom Oaks with Chatelaine 25/1 for loyal owner Ernest Thornton-Smith. His Hardwicke Stakes winner Cotoneaster was certainly one of his more successful horses, winning 14 of his races, including the Great Jubilee Handicap at Kempton. Fred was equally effective at Glorious Goodwood as he was at Royal Ascot, notching up 7 wins, including back-to-back wins in the 1935 and 1936 Nassau Stakes with Coppelia and Barrowby Gem respectively. In 1930 he was so successful that he bought the Faringdon Road gallops and Lambourn Place, while in 1939 Fred purchased 400 acres of Land in Mildenhall, near Marlborough, Wilts. However, Fred did court controversy in his training career, for there was a stablelads strike for better pay. In 1938 as many as 300 stablelads opted to strike, and the terms of employment offered by Fred were not favourable. The usual going rate at that time was 40 shillings a week, and they were striking for a rise to 50 shillings a week. Fred's terms were 30 shilling a week to cover their board and lodgings, 5 shillings a week as pocket money, and a £12 a year clothing allowance. He managed to encourage outsiders, including a number of girls, to cover while the lads were on strike, negating the impact of their strike. Only after the Lambourn lads got support from their Epsom counterparts was any progress made and a compromise reached. Fred retired from training in 1956, but continued to reside at Meridian House. He died of cancer in Lambourn on Thursday 17th May 1973 aged 83 and left a fortune in his will, £416,062 worth £4 million in 2023, which included the Faringdon Road Gallops which were sold after his death.

1919 Epsom Derby GRAND PARADE (SR 1968) 33/1 owned by 1st Baron Glanely, trained by Frank Barling and ridden by Fred Templeman 1919 Royal Hunt Cup at Royal Ascot IRISH ELEGANCE 7/1 co fav owned by J White, trained by Harry Cottrill and ridden by Fred Templeman 1919 Jersey Stakes at Royal Ascot KNIGHT OF THE AIR 4/1 owned by W Clark and A E Barton, trained by Atty Persse and ridden by Fred Templeman 1919 Liverpool Summer Cup at Aintree IRISH ELEGANCE owned by J White, trained by Harry Cottrill and ridden by Fred Templeman 1921 New Stakes (Norfolk Stakes) at Royal Ascot SCAMP 100/15 owned by Lord Jersey, trained by Fred Templeman and ridden by F Lane 1921 Gimcrack Stakes at York SCAMP 11/10 fav owned by Lord Jersey, trained by Fred Templeman and ridden by F Lane 1929 Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot DIOLITE 7/1 owned by Sir Hugo Hirst, trained by Fred Templeman and ridden by C Ray 1929 Molecomb Stakes at Glorious Goodwood DIOLITE 3/1 owned by Sir Hugo Hirst, trained by Fred Templeman and ridden by C Ray 1930 2000 Guineas at Newmarket DIOLITE (SR 1937) 10/1 owned by Sir Hugo Hirst, trained by Fred Templeman and ridden by Freddie Fox 1930 Churchill Stakes (Hampton Court Stakes) at Royal Ascot PUTNEY 100/7 owned by Ernest Thornton-Smith, trained by Fred Templeman and ridden by Freddie Fox 1932 Chesterfield Cup at Glorious Goodwood SERAPH BOY 25/1 owned by Sir Fred Eley, trained by Fred Templeman and ridden by T Barber 1932 Richmond Stakes at Glorious Goodwood SOLAR BOY 6/1 owned by Sir Fred Eley, trained by Fred Templeman and ridden by Freddie Fox 1933 Epsom Oaks CHATELAINE (SR 1940) 25/1 owned by Ernest Thornton-Smith, trained by Fred Templeman and ridden by Sam Wragg 1933 Scarborough Stakes at Doncaster CHATELAINE 7/4 owned by Ernest Thornton-Smith, trained by Fred Templeman and ridden by Gordon Richards 1933 Champion Stakes at Newmarket CHATELAINE 9/2 owned by Ernest Thornton-Smith, trained by Fred Templeman and ridden by Gordon Richards, dead-heated with Dastur 1934 Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot COTONEASTER 9/1 owned by Ernest Thornton-Smith, trained by Fred Templeman and ridden by George Nicoll 1934 Great Jubilee Handicap at Kempton COTONEASTER 10/1 owned by Ernest Thornton-Smith, trained by Fred Templeman and ridden by George Nicoll 1935 Chesterfield Cup at Glorious Goodwood IRONGREY 15/8 fav owned by Lord Hugo Hirst, trained by Fred Templeman and ridden by Gordon Richards 1935 Nassau Stakes at Glorious Goodwood COPPELIA 9/2 owned by Lord Hugo Hirst, trained by Fred Templeman and ridden by Gordon Richards 1936 Nassau Stakes at Glorious Goodwood BARROWBY GEM 6/5 fav owned by Sir Fred Eley, trained by Fred Templeman and ridden by Gordon Richards 1936 Gordon Stakes at Glorious Goodwood MAGNET 3/1 owned by Lord Hugo Hirst, trained by Fred Templeman and ridden by Gordon Richards 1941 2000 Guineas at Newmarket LAMBERT SIMNEL (SR 1940) 10/1 owned by 2nd Duke of Westminster, trained by Fred Templeman and ridden by Charlie Elliott 1946 Sussex Stakes at Glorious Goodwood RADIOTHERAPHY 7/4 owned by T Lilley, trained by Fred Templeman and ridden by Gordon Richards
1939-1942 Clark Templeman Clark Templeman, Fred's older brother who was born in 1886, spent a lot of time at Meridian House, often looking after the place when Fred went on one of his many cruises or extensive trips abroard. He gained his National Hunt training licence in 1939 and trained at Meridian House from 1940 until 1942. In 1941 he had just 4 horses in training, which decreased to 2 in 1942, after which he gave up training but continued to live at Meridian House. He appears to have trained just one winner in 3 years, which was Grecian Victory at Wetherby on 27th December 1941. He died at Prospect Park Hospital, Reading on 18th September 1953 aged 67, leaving just £237 in his will.

1973-1991 Mrs Olga Thurston When Fred died on 17th May 1973 the bulk of his will was left to Mrs Olga Thurston who had been a companion of Fred's even before he was married. He knew Olga and her husband Henry very well, they had been on holiday together and enjoyed many cruises, and when Henry died in 1971 Olga moved from her home in Wantage to Meridian House. The last time Fred's wife, Beatrice, was recoded residing at Meridian House was in 1934, and it is not known what happened to her between then and her death in 1983 at an old people's home, Heston House, Middlesex. Whatever had happened, Beatrice was not left anything in his will and it was Olga Thurston who continued to reside at Meridian House after his death. She enjoyed racing, owning many very useful horses, including North Lodge and 1977 Ascot Stakes winner Matinale. She died on 10th August 1991 and the property became Meridian Stud.
Top 5 Meridian House Stable horses of all time CHATELAINE (1933 Epsom Oaks, Champion Stakes) LAMBERT SIMNEL(1941 2000 Guineas) DIOLITE (1930 2000 Guineas, Coventry Stakes, Molecomb Stakes) COTONEASTER (1934 Hardiwcke Stakes) SCAMP (1921 New Stakes, Gimcrack Stakes)
© John Slusar 2023

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