5 Nov 1905 – 1 Jan 2007
“Well may we say” – “Don’t forget to remember the 5th November” because 300 years to the day before jockey William Lester Young was born, Guy Fawkes, was caught in the act of trying to blow up the Houses of Parliament with 36 barrels of gunpowder.
Personally, I will never forget 5th November, because that is the birthday of my beloved Uncle Bill (Lummy). From here on however, I might sometimes refer to him as P. O., a name he was always known by, to his grandchildren and me, his niece. (Begs the question, where is the P, as in POP? (I’m sure you know the answer there) or as others called him “Bill”.
Horse racing in Australia began in January 1788 when the first horses arrived with the First Fleet. The first official race meeting was organized in October 1810 at Hyde Park in Sydney and the iconic Melbourne Cup was inaugurated in 1861.
P.O. was born in Creswick near Ballarat in 1905 to William David Young (1880-1929) and Ethel Ann (nee Johns) (1882-1958). There were five boys and five girls, eight living to a ripe old age.
He was born with a cleft lip and perhaps because of this he was picked on by other schoolies, ending up in fights to the point that his total schooling only spanned 18 months. Father and family took on the role of teacher and he blossomed there.
In 1920 P.O. aged 15, was taken on as an apprentice jockey/stable hand by Elwood (Ted) Fisher at his Caulfield stables, it was common for apprentices to be taken on as young as 13 or 14. He had his first race at Flemington in 1920 (aged 15) and continued his apprenticeship in Melbourne until 1924 when Ted took Jockey Bill to Deniliquin “in a raid on” the Deniliquin Cup 2 day meet. Bill justified the faith Ted had in his apprentice and amazingly won 9 of the programs 12 races. Alas for Ted, Bill fell in love with Deniliquin and it’s community and stayed.
Landale’s had a huge property in Deniliquin and they were quick to snaffle him to break, train and ride their polo ponies and racehorses. Other properties also sought his services and having fallen in love with local identity Hazel Constance Perrin, daughter of the local newspaper owner and former mayor, set himself up to stay permanently in Deniliquin. In his first season there he rode 76 winners. He won the 1938 Deniliquin Cup, which still graces the Deniliquin Jockey Club, and finished second by a half head on “Star Demon” in another.
He married Hazel (the sweetest rose, my angel) in 1930 and two boys joined them. Sons William David (Billie) 1930-2010 left, named after P.O.’s father and Keith Lester (Keithy) 1935-2000 right named after P.O. his father.
Above. P.O.’s Father William David and P. O.’s sons William David (Billie) and Keith Lester.
The highlight of his first apprenticeship in the early 1920’s (aged just 15) was coming sixth in a field of 46 at Flemington’s Standish Handicap. The Standish was named after Captain Frederick Charles Standish 1824-1883 former Chief Commissioner of Police, Victoria and the Chairman of the Victoria Racing Club who was the creater of the first Melbourne Cup in 1861. In the 1920’s it was common to have up to 40-60 runners taking off at the drop of a rope. The Standish Handicap is still run at Flemington. In 2007 it was on New Year’s Day, coincidentally the same day, Deniliquin held it’s New Year’s race day (of course) and the day Bill died in Deniliquin.
Twice he won every race on the card at Booligal and Barham and again all at Wagga Wagga, alas to lose one of the latter on protest. He often served as “Clerk of the Course” on the same days he raced. (The Clerk of the Course, along with the starter, judge and stewards, are traditional horseracing officials. Their job is to maintain order among the runners before and after the race and to respond to any emergencies on the track. Therefore clerks have to be calm, daring and accomplished riders.) In the 1930’s when the depression made times tough, Bill toured the bush circuit racing, dispensing veterinary and dental care to horses, training gallopers and polo ponies and shearing sheep.
He rode nearly 2,000 winners over his 40 years in racing, competing in jumps and on the flat in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide as well as a huge smattering of country race events in several States. He also operated as a Trainer and Owner after relinquishing the stirrups. Three horses he owned that come to mind were:
Nelsons Pride, Pamela Joy, named after me, and Parumba (not the greyhound) from Pamela Joy .
Photo 1 Nelsons Pride, with his sister-in-law Ena, (my mum). Photo 2 Bill Young on horseback at Monroe’s Braidwood farm. Photo 3 Bill and the real Pamela Joy outside 427 Henry St, Deniliquin, 1950’s. (Bill was the first male to hold me, my father was terrified he’d drop me.)
The 50’s, 60’s were a wonderful time for the grandkids and myself. Sputnik, the world’s first artificial Earth satellite, launched by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957 orbited the Earth every 96 minutes, marking the start of the Space Age and the U.S.–Soviet Space Race. We kids of the 50’s Charles, young Bill/Billy, Christine and myself just loved watching it appear and disappear multiple times, sitting under the pepper tree, at the wood heap or sitting close to Aunty Hazel’s beloved Stocks.
As a city kid, living in Deni for a time, I used to stand beside Aunty Hazel at the trough and watch her plucking chooks for tea, feeling very sorry for the chooks, I may have befriended.
Bill retired from the saddle in 1954 and went to work for the N. S. W. Water and Irrigation Commission on weekdays. This job required early starts and allowed him home early to do what we might now call “after school care”. Sleepovers were more common than not.
The stable of grandkids, courtesy of Billie and Betty, extended by one in 1970 when Leigh Young came into the world. Alas within a year Grandma/Aunty Hazel died in 1971.
Bill didn’t really get over the loss of his darling Hazel (Haze) however his loneliness was eased somewhat in 1975 when Betty Young’s mother, Alma Wren, moved to Deniliquin after the loss of her husband to be nearer her daughter. Alma and P.O. spent the next decade travelling and playing cards together until her death in 1985.
In that same year Bill was made “Guest of Honour” at the Deniliquin racecourse for the N. S. W Grand National, the first hurdle race in the town for 15 years.
Aged 98, Bill decided it was time to move into care and chose the Orana hostel, enjoying his next three and a half years there. His son Keith had died in 2000 but his son Billie and 4 grandchildren were always at hand to keep him company.
When he turned 100 Orana threw a party to celebrate with family, staff and residents. One birthday card received (of 200) and dear to his heart was from former Deni boy and champion jockey Roy Higgins. They had enjoyed a long association and when Roy was young…. my mum was his babysitter.
Friendship and respect with the Landale family remained until his death. Hunter Landale (son) spent many afternoons visiting with him sitting in the front room, reminiscing about all the horses that they were associated with.
When P.O. died on 1st Jan 2007 he had been, till then, “Australia’s oldest living jockey“.
He had 2 sons, six grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren and several great great-grandchildren.
A lesson we all take away from our beloved P.O. (Bill) was that if Oats, Bran and Molasses was good enough for a horse it was good enough for him and us. I still swear by it!
(However, I’ve never been one to put 3 plus sugars in a small cup of tea!)
Deniliquin Jockey Club – Bill Young fourth from right backrow.
Back row. Young Bill (Billy), Charles & Billie. Centre row. Christine, P.O./BILL, Betty. Front row. Leigh Young.
Deniliquin Graves of P.O., and wife Hazel, son Keith, son Billie and wife Betty. Grandchildren of Billie at rear Billy, Christine & Charles. (Click on photos to enlarge.)
- William Lester Young – Jockey5 Nov 1905 – 1 Jan 2007 “Well may we say” – “Don’t forget to remember the 5th November” because 300 years to the day before jockey William Lester Young was born, Guy Fawkes, was caught in the act of trying to blow up the Houses of Parliament with 36 barrels of gunpowder. Personally, I … Continue reading William Lester Young – Jockey
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- The Passing of George Henry PerrinThe Independent Fri 17 Apr 1936 Page 3 MR. G. H. PERRIN, SENR. With tragic suddenness the death occurred on Tuesday night last of one of Deniliquin’s oldest and most highly respected residents in Mr. George Henry Perrin, senr., aged 78 years proprietor of the Chronicle newspaper. Following his usual custom Mr. Perrin set out … Continue reading The Passing of George Henry Perrin
Bryan. Halbert. McMillan. Perrin. 