Dennis O'Kelly

Dennis O'Kelly (1725–1787), born in Connacht, Ireland, was a prominent 18th-century owner and breeder of thoroughbred racehorses. He owned Eclipse, the pre-eminent sire of the breed and ancestor of 95% of modern thoroughbreds, and from him bred horses including the Derby winners, Young Eclipse and Serjeant.

Early years

Born to an impoverished Irish smallholder in 1725, O'Kelly moved to London as a young man, where he worked as a sedan chair carrier.

There he is reputed to have duped a wealthy heiress into marrying him, and absconded with her inheritance of £1,000; elsewhere this tale is dismissed as hearsay and the source of his initial wealth attributed to gambling. Either way, his money was soon frittered away on drink and gambling. This led in 1756 to a stay in the Fleet debtors' prison, where he met prostitute Charlotte Hayes. O'Kelly and Hayes formed a business, if not romantic, partnership which persisted for the rest of their lives. Both were freed in 1760 as part of George III's amnesty for those in debtor's jails.

O'Kelly plied his trade as a conman in London's coffee-houses and, through his gambling contacts, introduced clients to Hayes. It is reported that O'Kelly himself took in female clients. Within eight years, they had amassed a total of £40,000, enough to branch out into racehorse ownership. They also came to own a significant property portfolio, including Clay Hill estate outside of Epsom, Canons Park, a substantial villa built by William Hallett Esq, and former estate of the Duke of Chandos in Stanmore, Middlesex also property in Piccadilly and Half Moon Street in London.