Gusztáv, 5th Prince Batthyány-Strattmann (8 December 1803 – 25 April 1883) was a Hungarian nobleman who bred horses in England where he was commonly known as ''Count Gustavus Batthyány''.

Biography

Batthyány was the son of Count Antal Batthyány de Németújvár and of his wife, Countess Mária Anna Festetics von Tolna. His family seat was Németújvár in western Hungary (now

Güssing Güssing (; , ) is a town in Burgenland, Austria. It is located at , with a population of 3,610 (2023), and is the administrative center of the Güssing (district), Güssing district. For centuries the town occupied an important position on the we ...

in Austria). The

Batthyány family The House of Batthyány () is an ancient and distinguished Hungarian noble magnate family. The Head of the family bears the title Prince (Fürst) of Batthyány-Strattmann, while other members of this family bear the title Count/Countess ( Graf ...

traces its roots as far back as the founding of Hungary by

Árpád Árpád (; 845 – 907) was the head of the confederation of the Magyar tribes at the turn of the 9th and 10th centuries. He might have been either the sacred ruler or '' kende'' of the Hungarians, or their military leader or '' g ...

in the year 896, its ancestor being one of seven princes called

Urs Urs (from ''‘Urs'') or Urus (literal meaning wedding), is the death anniversary of a Sufi saint, usually held at the saint's dargah (shrine or tomb). In most Sufi orders such as Naqshbandiyyah, Suhrawardiyya, Chishtiyya, Qadiriyya, etc. ...

. On 14 December 1828 Batthyány married Baroness Wilhelmine von Ahrenfeld, widow of Ferdinand, Graf Bubna von Littitz (died 1825), and some twelve years older than Batthyány. This came two years after the birth of their first son,

Edmund Edmund is a masculine given name in the English language. The name is derived from the Old English elements ''ēad'', meaning "prosperity" or "riches", and ''mund'', meaning "protector". Persons named Edmund include: People Kings and nobles *Ed ...

, and two months after the birth of their second Gustav Emilian (1828-1906), but it had the effect of legitimating them both. His wife died in 1840.Almanach de Gotha (1877), p. 216 In 1838 Batthyány donated his entire library, including the mysterious Rohonc Codex, to the

Hungarian Academy of Sciences The Hungarian Academy of Sciences ( , MTA) is Hungary’s foremost and most prestigious learned society. Its headquarters are located along the banks of the Danube in Budapest, between Széchenyi rakpart and Akadémia utca. The Academy's primar ...

. While still a young man Batthyány emigrated to England, where he became well known as an owner and

breeder A breeder is a person who selectively breeds carefully selected mates, normally of the same breed, to sexually reproduce offspring with specific, consistently replicable qualities and characteristics. This might be as a farmer, agriculturalist ...

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

racehorses. In 1843 he established his own stud. Batthyány was involved in the Magyar national movement as a member of the constitutional Hungarian Ministry of 1848 led by his cousin

Lajos Batthyány Count Lajos Batthyány de Németújvár (; ; 10 February 1807 – 6 October 1849) was the first Prime Minister of Hungary. He was born in Pozsony (modern-day Bratislava) on 10 February 1807, and was executed by firing squad in Pest, Hungary, Pe ...

. In 1851 he signed a letter together with his brother Count Kázmér Batthyány,

Bertalan Szemere Bertalan Szemere (also referred to as Bartholomew Szemere, 27 August 1812 – 18 January 1869) was a Hungary, Hungarian poet and nationalist who became the third List of Prime Ministers of Hungary, Prime Minister of Hungary during the short peri ...

, and Prince Paul Esterházy to his old friends, the

Duke of Wellington Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they ar ...

and

Lord Melbourne Henry William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne (15 March 177924 November 1848) was a British Whig politician who served as the Home Secretary and twice as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. His first premiership ended when he was dismissed ...

, accusing

Lajos Kossuth Lajos Kossuth de Udvard et Kossuthfalva (; ; ; ; 19 September 1802 – 20 March 1894) was a Hungarian nobleman, lawyer, journalist, politician, statesman and governor-president of the Kingdom of Hungary during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, r ...

high treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its d ...

and

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

. This letter exposed the divisions in the Magyar national movement to English supporters. In 1859 Batthyány was elected to the

Jockey Club The Jockey Club is the largest commercial horse racing organisation in the United Kingdom. It owns 15 of Britain's famous racecourses, including Aintree Racecourse, Aintree, Cheltenham Racecourse, Cheltenham, Epsom Downs Racecourse, Epsom ...

. He hired the trainer John Dawson to condition his horses at Newmarket. In 1875 his horse

Galopin Galopin (1872–1899) was a Great Britain, British Thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse and Horse breeding#Terminology, sire. In a racing career which lasted from June 1874 until October 1875 he ran nine times and won eight races. He was one of ...

won The Derby and went on to be the Leading sire in Great Britain and Ireland in 1888, 1889 and 1898. Galopin was the damsire of Bayardo and of the 1886 U.K. Triple Crown Champion,

Flying Fox ''Pteropus'' (suborder Yinpterochiroptera) is a genus of megabats which are among the largest bats in the world. They are commonly known as fruit bats or flying foxes, among other colloquial names. They live in South Asia, Southeast Asia, Aust ...

In 1870 Batthyány's second cousin Philipp, 4th Prince Batthyány-Strattmann, died without children, and Batthyány succeeded as the 5th Prince Batthyány-Strattmann. At about this time he presented a small life-boat called ''Harbinger'' to the boatmen of

Bridlington Bridlington (previously known as Burlington) is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is on the Holderness part (Flamborough Head to the Humber estuary) of the Yorkshire Coast by the North Sea. The town is ...

. Batthyany had a heart condition that enforced the early retirement of his horse Galopin at the end of the 1875 season, as it was feared that the excitement of watching him race again could put the Prince's life at risk.Ahnert, Rainer L. Ahnert (editor in chief), ''Thoroughbred Breeding of the World'', Pozdun Publishing, Germany, 1970 He died on 25 April 1883 after suffering a heart attack while attending a luncheon at the Jockey Club. Probate was granted on 23 May 1883 to Annie Smith, wife of John Graham Smith, one of the Executors, in the amount of £49,612, 8s. His address at death was stated as 3 Park Street,

Grosvenor Square Grosvenor Square ( ) is a large garden square in the Mayfair district of Westminster, Greater London. It is the centrepiece of the Mayfair property of the Duke of Westminster, and takes its name from the duke's surname "Grosvenor". It was deve ...

."Gustavus Prince BATTHYANY STRATTMANN" in Probate Index for 1883 at probatesearch.service.gov.uk, accessed 11 February 2018 His executors sold off his bloodstock at the

Tattersalls Tattersalls (formerly Tattersall's) is the main auctioneer of race horses in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Founding It was founded in 1766 by Richard Tattersall (1724–1795), who had been stud groom to the second Duke of Kingston. ...

July Sale at Newmarket, and a legal action was brought against them by his eldest son.

Marriage and family

On 14 December 1828 Batthyány married

Freiin (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , ) and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and in ...

Wilhelmine von Ahrenfeld. They had two sons: * Edmund Gustavus, 6th Prince Batthyány-Strattmann, born 20 November 1826, died on 29 October 1914 at the family castle of

Körmend Körmend ( Prekmurje Slovene: ''Karmadén,'' ) is a town in Vas County, Western Hungary. Places of interest The town is especially well known for its castle which used to belong to the Batthyány family, one of the most important aristocrat famili ...

. *Count Gustav Batthyány was born at

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

on 3 September 1828 and died unmarried on 27 August 1906.

Gallery

File:Harry Hall Prince Plausible mit G. Fordham.jpg, George Fordham in Batthyány's new colours on Prince Plausible (foaled 1858), painted by Harry Hall File:Galopin 2.jpg, Galopin (1872–1899) File:Stsimon01.JPG, St. Simon (1881–1908) File:Gustavus Batthyány spät.PNG, Batthyány in his later years

Notes

References

*"Obituary", ''The Times'' (April 26, 1883), 6 {{DEFAULTSORT:Batthyany, Gusztav 1803 births 1883 deaths Owners of Epsom Derby winners Immigrants to the United Kingdom Gusztav