James "Jem" Mason (1816 – 1866) was a champion English jockey. On 26 February 1839 he won the

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap st ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

on a brown-bay

racehorse 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 ...

called

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. Born in Stilton, Cambridgeshire to a horse-dealing family he started riding professionally in 1834, winning at

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major town on the old Roman ...

that year. He was known for his exquisite style of dress and for socialising with the peerage and continued riding through to 1848 though he was never able to repeat his early successes.

Harriet Howard Harriet Howard, born Elizabeth Ann Haryett (1823–1865) was a mistress and financial backer of Louis-Napoleon, later Napoleon III of France. London Elizabeth Ann Haryett was the daughter of a boot-maker and the granddaughter of the owner of t ...

(1823–1865) moved in with Mason when she was fifteen years old. Later she became the mistress of

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A neph ...

. Mason married twice: the first time in 1840 to Charlotte Mary Zoe Elmore,Register of Births Marriages & Deaths, Marylebone Office, Mar qtr 1840, vol 1, page 169 the daughter of the horse dealer

John Elmore John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

in whose blue colours and black cap Mason had won the National, but it ended in divorce. He died of

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in 1866.

References

* Death of Jem Mason at

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Cubone gambling blog

1816 births 1866 deaths English jockeys People from Stilton {{England-horseracing-bio-stub