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 (; hu, Németújvár, Német-Újvár, hr, Novi Grad) is a town in Burgenland, Austria. It is located at , with a population of 3,578 (2022), and is the administrative center of the Güssing district. For centuries the town occupied an i ...

in Austria). The

Batthyány family The House of Batthyány () is the name of an ancient and distinguished Hungarian Magnate family. Members of this family bear the title Count/Countess ( Graf/Gräfin) Batthyány von Német-Ujvar respectively, while the title of Prince (Fürst) vo ...

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 or surname 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 ...

, 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. 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 horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...

racehorses Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...

. 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 (; hu, gróf németújvári Batthyány Lajos; 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 e ...

. In 1851 he signed a letter together with Count

Kázmér Batthyány Count Kázmér Antal Ferenc Batthyány de Németújvár (3 June 1807 – 13 July 1854) was a Hungarian politician, who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. At the beginning he was a conservative aristoc ...

Bertalan Szemere Bertalan Szemere (27 August 1812 – 18 January 1869) was a Hungarian poet and nationalist who became the third Prime Minister of Hungary during the short period of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 when Hungary was independent of rule by the Aus ...

, and Prince Paul Esterházy to his old friends, the

Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish people, Anglo-Irish soldier and Tories (British political party), Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of Uni ...

and

Lord Melbourne William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, (15 March 177924 November 1848), in some sources called Henry William Lamb, was a British Whig politician who served as Home Secretary (1830–1834) and Prime Minister (1834 and 1835–1841). His first pre ...

, accusing Lajos Kossuth of

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 diplo ...

and

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

. This letter exposed the divisions in the Magyar national movement to English supporters. In 1859 Batthyány was elected to the Jockey Club. He hired the trainer John Dawson to condition his horses at Newmarket. In 1875 his horse

Galopin Galopin (1872–1899) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and 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 the best British two-year-olds of 1874, winning his fir ...

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 is a coastal town and a civil parish on the Holderness Coast of the North Sea in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is about north of Hull and east of York. The Gypsey Race enters the North Sea at its harbour. The 2011 ...

. 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."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. T ...

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 , literally "free lord" or "free lady") and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire ...

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 ( sl, Kermendin, Prekmurje Slovene: ''Karmadén,'' ger, Kirment) 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 mo ...

. *Count Gustav Batthyány was born at

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

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 Hungarian emigrants to the United Kingdom Gusztav