Henry Dorling (died 20 March 1873) was the first Clerk of the course at

Epsom Downs Racecourse Epsom Downs is a Grade 1 racecourse on the hills associated with 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, which has a crowd capacity of ...

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 on the hills associated with 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, which has a crowd capacity of 13 ...

, 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 and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

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 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 local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an exten ...

, the site of which is now

Ashburton Park Ashburton Park is a park located in Woodside, in the London Borough of Croydon, and takes its name from nearby Ashburton. The park is located close to Woodside tram stop, where Tramlink services the park. It is on the junction of Lower Addisco ...

. 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 daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

noted that ''The deceased was the well-known clerk of the course at the Epsom race meetings''. In the BBC 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 suburban area with a village centre in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, approximately south of central London and northeast of Epsom. In the 2011 Census, the settlement had a population of 34,872, a majority of wh ...

, near

Epsom Epsom is the principal town of 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 Saxon landowner. The ...

, 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