"Ancestral Chains, Allden Bloodline: Dna Part 3 of 8"

William Henry Allden, my great-grandfather on my father’s mother’s side, was a bookmaker, or turf accountant (‘A person who takes bets, esp. on horse-races, calculates odds, and pays out winnings’). He is also described as being a ‘Commission Agent’, which is a more polite way of putting it. However, he was also a very successful racehorse owner, so I shall refer to him as such; his popular pet-name being ‘Billy Allden’. Actually though William Henry Allden the Racehorse Owner had been a very wealthy man and was the top bookmaker in Tattersall’s, which meant he could take bets both from commoners and the well-to-do. He is certainly remembered by my father as having been a generous man and would “dispense money like water”, often giving a golden sovereign coin to a down-and-out on the street. His sons became winning jockeys, often riding on his thoroughbreds and he made enough money to buy a hotel near Brighton seafront. A gentleman to the last, unfortunately his end was premature, but at least it was swift.