The Grand Order of Water Rats - 1889 - April 11th 1890

In 1880 when Britain’s Music Hall circuit was in full flow. Hundreds of theatres were being built throughout the four nations and the resulting range of venues led to an even greater range of playbills. Audiences were offered diverse line-ups that included some strange and unusual acts. One such act was Professor James Finney and his sister Marie, performing their exhibition of so-called ‘scientific swimming’. With a full tank of water on stage, James would present such feats as holding his breath for four and a half minutes while diving down and picking up sixty-one coins with his mouth. If there was sufficient stage height, Marie would dive sixty feet into four feet of water.
During an engagement in early 1889 at the Empire, South Shields, Finney met the theatre manager, Mr Richard Thornton. ‘Dick’ Thornton was a plain-spoken Northumbrian with a stronger liking for sporting activities than for music hall. He was one of the biggest patrons of the ‘Turf and Ring’, a late nineteenth-century sporting association. One afternoon, Finney and Thornton went to the race track at Newcastle where Finney saw one of Thornton’s trotting ponies, The Magpie, in action. Thornton suggested Finney take him to race in London, an idea which Finney shared with two fellow entertainers, Joe Elvin and Jack Lotto.
Elvin suggested the pony could be transported to London and raced on a 50:50 basis - any winnings would be divvied out between Thornton and a syndicate managed by Elvin and Lotto. The scheme was agreed and The Magpie brought to London to be stabled at DeLaune Street, Kennington. South-east London had become THE area for pony trotting races - one in Blackheath, another in Streatham - after Frederick, the Prince of Wales, had begun to regularly race horses and traps from Kennington Cross to the top of Brixton Hill, a century earlier. This route had become a Sunday morning event and many public houses sprang up along the way to service spectators.
Joe Elvin had worked with animals in a circus and knew how to coerce them. He lived in Effra Road in Brixton, not far from the stables in Kennington and had by now become the racing venture’s executive. Elvin purchased a racing buggy and began to devise a strict regime of training. First, the pony’s transportation from Delaune Street to the finish line outside a Streatham public house, at which point the animal was given a nosebag of corn. As soon as it began to eat, the nosebag was removed and the pony taken to the start line at Thornton Heath Ponds after which it was raced back to the pub again. Here, the nosebag was immediately clapped on and the pony allowed to feed to his heart’s content. This conditioning by reward technique proved so successful that The Magpie became virtually unbeatable over the course, reaping substantial profits for the syndicate.
Those participating in this little gambling gang had grown and included local acts. At the time, many performers lived in the stretch between Kennington and Streatham, taking advantage of the only late night public transport - the 730 tram - to run from the centre of London all the way to Streatham Hill. “The Friends of The Magpie” were a varied bunch and included comedy sketch writer, Wal Pink, and acrobats Fred and Joe Griffiths. The group met on Sundays at Brixton’s White Horse pub, where the landlord, George Harris provided a private table where they could eat and drink when the bar was crammed with race goers.
The pony soon picked up a nickname. While driving it home one day in the rain, Joe Elvin was hailed by a bus driver in Brixton Road. “Hullo, Joe, what have you got there?” “A trotter” replied Joe. “Trotter?" said the bus driver, “Blimey, it looks more like a bleedin’ water rat!” Elvin began referring to the animal as The Water Rat and in a short time it was picked up by the others. Eventually, a horse clipper was entrusted with the task of cutting the letters ‘R-A-T’ in the thick black coat on the pony's flanks, adding to its recognition in the neighbourhood.
After yet another win, Joe Elvin suggested an up-river outing of Magpie/Water Rat supporters to celebrate their good fortune. So, on a Sunday morning in the summer of 1889 a party of twelve left the Canterbury Music Hall in Westminster Bridge Road by coach-and-four and were driven to Sunbury-on-Thames for dinner at…The Magpie Hotel! It was there that Elvin, driven by the spirit of camaraderie, suggested the formation of a fellowship, ‘Pals of the Water Rat’. The proposal was enthusiastically endorsed and The Order - as we know it now - came into being.
This 12-strong group continued to meet regularly at The White Horse in Brixton Road. Methods of procedure were discussed and rules were formulated, all committed to paper by Wal Pink, and on 11th April 1890, the first official meeting of the fraternity of ‘The Select Order of Water Rats,’ (later ‘The Grand Order of Water Rats’) was convened. ‘Philanthropy, Conviviality and Social Intercourse’ was its motto.

[@jnuttso1]

Hi 👋 my uncle was in the water rats. he was water rat number 408. he also made Prince Rat on three occasions 1961-1963 and 1968. 👍

[@grandorderofwaterrats5431]

Was your Uncle, comedian, Harry Seltzer?