Elizabeth Williams Berry (June 21, 1854 – March 26, 1969), who became known as Mother Berry some time after 1900, was an Australian-born

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used ...

who rode in multiple nations disguised as a man, using the name Jack Williams. After moving to the United States about 1900, she married, and gained the nickname "Mother" after being granted custody of a runaway boy. She retired from jockeying to become a

horse trainer A horse trainer is a person who tends to horses and teaches them different disciplines. Some responsibilities trainers have are caring for the animals' physical needs, as well as teaching them good behaviors and/or coaching them for events, which ...

. Berry and her husband settled in

Helena, Montana Helena (; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Montana and the county seat, seat of Lewis and Clark County, Montana, Lewis and Clark County. Helena was founded as a gold camp during the Montana gold ...

, where, at age 111, she was declared the oldest person in Montana at the time. She lived to see women ride as licensed jockeys in 1969 and died at age 114.

Biography

Berry's family were Welsh and had settled in

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. She was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

on 21 June 1854. Berry started racing horses at age six. Her father provided tutors to come to her home twice a week to provide for Berry's education. Her first racing win was at age 10, when she placed first on the Moonee Valley Racecourse. She started racing professionally under the name of Jack Williams when she was 13 years old. and In order to look the part of a boy, she wore traditional racing silks on the track, and off the track donned a Bowler derby and smoked

cigar A cigar is a rolled bundle of dried and Fermentation, fermented tobacco leaves made to be Tobacco smoking, smoked. Cigars are produced in a variety of sizes and shapes. Since the 20th century, almost all cigars are made of three distinct comp ...

s. and She went on to race, disguised as a man, for more than 24 years as a

in Australia,

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and

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. and During her jockeying career, she was and weighed . She told the '' Independent-Record'' that she won around 4,200 races during her career.

American career

Berry arrived in the United States about 1900, and initially rode races in

Northern California Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...

. She met her future husband,

veterinarian A veterinarian (vet) or veterinary surgeon is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, veterinarians also play a role in animal r ...

J.B. "Doc" Berry, in

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, and they married six weeks later on 21 June 1903. A judge in Colorado gave her the nickname "Mother" when awarding her legal custody of a runaway boy she had taken in and taught horse racing skills. Berry retired from riding horses in 1911. After her jockeying career was over, she continued to work with racehorses as a trainer. The Berrys moved to

, in 1913 and made the town their permanent residence. Berry raced horses on the Montana racing circuit and named several of them after her husband. Doc Berry died in 1927. In Helena, Mother Berry lived in a house at the Montana State Fairgrounds until 27 April 1937, when her home was destroyed by a fire. After the fire, she lived in a house on the local cemetery grounds for a few years. In 1956, she moved into the Stewart Homes project in Helena, where she lived for the remainder of her life, remaining independent well after her 100th birthday. In 1965, at age 111, she was declared the oldest person in Montana. In 1966, she was made an honorary member of the Capital City Horse Racing Association. In February 1969, a few days before the groundbreaking ride of Diane Crump as the first woman in America to ride openly as a licensed female jockey in a parimutuel race, the ''

Lexington Herald-Leader The ''Lexington Herald-Leader'' is a newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and based in Lexington, Kentucky. According to the ''1999 Editor & Publisher International Yearbook'', the paid circulation of the ''Herald-Leader'' is the second larg ...

'' reviewed the history of women riding as jockeys, describing Berry as "probably the only lady jockey to compete successfully against men for any length of time." Berry died in her home in Helena on 26 March 1969. She was buried in Resurrection Cemetery. In Helena, a horse race named in her honor, The Mother Berry Memorial, ran during the 1970s.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berry, Elizabeth Williams 1854 births 1969 deaths American female jockeys American racehorse trainers American jockeys American people of Welsh descent American supercentenarians Australian emigrants to the United States Australian female jockeys Australian jockeys Australian people of Welsh descent Australian supercentenarians Australian women centenarians Female-to-male cross-dressers Jockeys from Melbourne Sportspeople from Helena, Montana Women supercentenarians 19th-century Australian sportswomen