Only two trophies are known to have been bestowed by Lord Stanley of Preston, the Governor General of Canada from 1888 to 1893. The first was this cup, dated September 3, 1891, presented to William Hendrie as a member of the Quebec Turf Club for his horse B.C. Bullfinch.
The second, a cup for the 1892 -1893 amateur hockey season, initially
called the Dominion Challenge Cup, and eventually taking on the name of its
donor, the “Stanley Cup”.
The cup that is the subject of this post represents the close relationship between the Stanley and Hendrie families and although
equestrian, in fact, has as much to do with hockey.
At the time that this trophy was awarded (pre "Stanley Cup"),
the important hockey relationship between the Stanleys and the Hendries was already
well established. The families began their relationship by the 1880s, possibly earlier,
travelling in similar social circles, sharing interests in horse breeding and
racing and with strong interest in hockey and with formalizing the development and rules of the game.
William Hendrie Sr., the recipient of this trophy was best known
for breeding (Valley Farm) and racing thoroughbred horses. He also was involved
for many years with improving the physicality of heavy draught horses using
Shire and Clydesdales that he had brought in from abroad towards that end.
Hendrie was the President of the Ontario Jockey Club at the time of his passing
and was the first Canadian to be elected an honorary member of the English
Jockey Club. His considerable wealth was the result of vast business
enterprises and investments.
It was William Hendrie Jr., who first brought then Earl Stanley to Hamilton on business, and the two of them were known to have developed a very close personal relationship. Both men, as well as Stanley’s two sons shared a significant interest in the relatively new game of hockey that already was gaining traction in Montreal, Ottawa and Kingston. It was the November 27, 1890 meeting at the Queen’s Hotel that led to the formation of the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA). When the OHA was formed it was the first association dealing with the administration and development of the sport of hockey. The attendees at this meeting included Arthur Stanley, William Hendrie Jr, and a number of athletes, barristers, and politicians* from across Ontario. Lord Stanley was considered its patron and his two sons were among the association’s first executives along with William Hendrie Jr., who also wrote the first rules and regulations of the game. William Hendrie Jr. was a leading financier, had an exemplary military career, was an acknowledged sportsman and played an integral part in the management of his family's stables and the Ontario Jockey Club.
*There is frequent mention in sources of an early hockey game (1890) involving Lord Stanley's sons, Algernon and Arthur, playing for the Rideau Rebels against a team of parliamentarians.
The significance of the Stanley and Hendrie families' hockey
partnership is notable with the inclusion in the impossibly hard to
find first edition "Classic Hamilton Hockey" card set, with photographs
of Lord Stanley and William Hendrie Jr., featured side by side on the first
card of the series (card #1 of 150).
To take a step back and put some context to the awarding of such equestrian trophies, there was a tradition of silver cups awarded by Vice-regal representatives in Quebec dating back to the early 19th century. An article written by Ross Fox ”Early Turf and Field Silver from Trois-Rivieres” discusses early equestrian pieces in Quebec. The Quebec Turf Club was the first such club in Canada, founded in 1789. Such silver cups were awarded by Lord Aylmer (Governor-in-Chief) to the Three Rivers Turf Club in honor of races in 1833, 1834 and 1835. The earliest record of such a trophy given to the QTC was in 1818 when the 4th Duke of Richmond as Governor-in Chief gifted a silver cup to the Quebec Turf Club appropriately called the Governor’s Cup. Vice regal representatives of the Crown, whether governors general, governors or lieutenant governors were often key patrons of horse racing. Richmond’s successor, the 9th Earl of Dalhousie, provided a silver cup for a sweepstakes run by the Quebec Turf Club in the spring of 1822. He provided a second cup the following year.
It is a small world. I first met Ross Fox in the early 1990s when he was a
curator of the Mead Art Museum at Amherst College. At the time I was finishing
up my research on likenesses of Jeffrey Amherst, including painted portraits
and engravings. I like to think that I was the subject matter expert on Amherst at that time and still retain one of the more important documented portraits of him.
We were quite excited to find this exceptional rarity. Trophy measures 10 ¾” x 5”. Provenance: descent through the Hendrie family.
Card #1 from the Classic Hamilton Hockey card set. Lord Stanley on the left, William Hendrie Jr. on the right.
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