Horseracing and liberal governance in nineteenth century Leicester

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe old Leicester racecourse, which in 1866 was renamed Victoria Park, was a location in which opposing views of the proper use of public space played out. The reformers who took power in Leicester in 1836 aimed to advance liberal governance by abolishing the races and creating a place for rational recreation. For the aristocratic supporters of the races, led by the Rutland and Howe interests, the racecourse was a place for the display of symbolic power, and for exercising the military force of the county yeomanry. In an open political confrontation in 1850, the county interest, supported by people of all classes in the town, won. In the following decades, the Liberal council was reluctantly drawn into direct management of the racecourse and in doing so was reliant on the symbolic authority of the institutions of the county. This article is further demonstration of the popularity of race meetings with all classes in nineteenth-century society, and evidence of the contested nature of the project of liberal governance. It argues that aristocratic interest in urban race meetings as opportunities for the exercise of political and social influence extended well beyond the reforms of the 1830s and points to the need for broader consideration of the role of landed society in the shaping of urban popular culture.