Henry Dorling (died 20 March 1873) was the first

Clerk of the course A clerk of the course is an official in various types of racing. Horse racing In horse racing, the clerk of the course is the person responsible for track management and raceday preparation at a racecourse. Important tasks of the role include: ...

Epsom Downs Racecourse Epsom Downs is a Grade 1 racecourse in a hilly area near Epsom in Surrey, England which is used for thoroughbred horse racing. The "Downs" referred to in the name are part of the North Downs. The course has a crowd capacity of 130,000 including ...

and cookery writer

Mrs Beeton Isabella Mary Beeton ( Mayson; 14 March 1836 – 6 February 1865), known as Mrs Beeton, was an English journalist, editor and writer. Her name is particularly associated with her first book, the 1861 work ''Mrs Beeton's Book of Household ...

's stepfather. Dorling's father was a bookseller in Epsom, and Henry was apprenticed to a printer, returning to Epsom in 1834 to join his father's business, where he printed race cards for the course before becoming the first Clerk of the Course in 1840. In 1845 he leased the Grandstand for £1,000 per annum from the Epsom Grand Stand Association, which had been running it at a loss. He moved his printing operation into the basement of the stand, laid out a new racecourse in 1847, and extended the stand. Dorling married his first wife, Emily, before returning to Epsom in 1834, and after her death he married widow Elizabeth Mayson (née Jerram) in 1843. He had two sons and two daughters by his late wife Emily, and she had three daughters (the eldest being Isabella, the future

) and a son by her late husband Benjamin Mayson. They went on to have a further thirteen children. At one stage this large family lived most of the year in the Grandstand at

Epsom Racecourse Epsom Downs is a Grade 1 racecourse in a hilly area near Epsom in Surrey, England which is used for thoroughbred horse racing. The "Downs" referred to in the name are part of the North Downs. The course has a crowd capacity of 130,000 includin ...

, along with Elizabeth's mother, Dorling's mother-in-law, "Granny Jerram" to the children, the children being sent away to

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

on race days. Elizabeth died in 1871 and was the first person to be buried in the new municipal cemetery in Epsom: while an ordinary grave space would have cost one pound eleven shillings and six pence, Dorling paid seven pounds, seven shillings and six pence for his wife's burial space. The

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...

has a watercolour painting ''The children of Benjamin and Elizabeth Mayson'', 1848, which is "attributed to Henry Dorling"; these children would have been his stepchildren, the future Mrs Beeton and her siblings. By 1851 Dorling's father William had retired and Dorling moved his household to Ormonde House in the High Street, Epsom, where he ran a bookshop and lending library. At the time of his death in 1873 Dorling's home was Stroud Green House in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

, the site of which is now Ashburton Park. In his will, Dorling left "20 fully paid-up £20 shares in the Epsom Grand Stand Association" to each of his sons, Henry Mayson Dorling and Edward Jonathan Dorling, and money to these sons, his other children, his daughters-in-law and his stepdaughter, and divided the rest of his property between all his children. The estate was noted as "below £80,000". Reporting on the proving of the will,

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

noted that ''The deceased was the well-known clerk of the course at the Epsom race meetings''. In the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

drama ''The Secret Life of Mrs Beeton'', broadcast in 2006, Henry Dorling was played by Jim Carter. Dorling Drive, a street built in 1961 in

Ewell Ewell ( , ) is a town in Surrey, England, south of Centre of London, central London and northeast of Epsom. At the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 Census, it had a population of 34,872. The majority (73%) was in the NRS social grade, ABC1 ...

, near

Epsom Epsom is a town in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain ...

, was named to commemorate Dorling.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dorling, Henry People from Epsom People in horse racing 1873 deaths Year of birth missing Horse racing administrators