Richard Tattersall

Richard Tattersall (June 1724 – 21 February 1795) was an English horse auctioneer and the founder of the racehorse auctioneers Tattersalls.

Early life Tattersall was born in Hurstwood in Lancashire, and was educated at Burnley Grammar School. He left home in 1745, apparently because his father had thwarted his ardent desire to join the Jacobite rebels. He had an interest in horses from an early age, and entering the service of Evelyn Pierrepont, 2nd Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull, he soon rose to be his stud-groom.

Horse auctioneer Having put by a considerable sum of money, Tattersall purchased in 1766 from the Earl of Grosvenor the ninety-nine years' lease of premises at Hyde Park Corner (then an outlying part of London). There he set up as a horse auctioneer. His straightforward honesty and businesslike precision won him admiration. He soon numbered among his clients the chief members of the Jockey Club and the nobility, and he procured horses for the king of France and the dauphin.