Whilst we were all enjoying ourselves on the Forbury, one of the men who helped to convert the swamp into a racecourse and to institute racing as a permanent sport in Otago was lying on his bed, stricken with the complaint that caused his death the next day. I refer to Mr George Dowse. Let us remember him by his good professional work arid by his many high personal qualities. When I knew him first, over thirty years ago, he was a fine specimen of a man, and those who remember him in Victoria shortly after his arrival in 1850 or 1853 describe him as one of the smartest young fellows in the colony. He then scaled about l0st, and in addition to being a fast runner he was quite a champion at the standing jump. Even in middle age he could jump well. For amusement he would put his feet together in the Rattray street shop and without weights jump 9ft on the boarded floor, then turn round and leap the 9ft back to his starting spot His first knowledge of horse racing was acquired through acquaintenship in Melbourne and Geelong with Joe Morrison, a towney whom he picked up in the colony. Now and again, after coming to Otago in 1862, before starting as a handicapper, he held an interest in racehorses. One of these was Verbena, a mare jointly owned by Mr Goodman and Mr Dowse. After taking office as handicapper, however, he stood out of all such interests. Mr Dowse was one of the founders of the Dunedin Jockey Club, and attended the meeting in the Empire called to form the club. Of those old sportsmen, James Marshall Henry Driver, Sydney James, John Stephenson, Frank Meenan, and now George Dowse are gone, and the Otago racing men of the sixties are represented only by Hugh Gourley, Arthur Smith, Charles Bird, and W. H. Taggart, so far as I know. The first handicappers to the D.J.C. were Messrs G. Dowse, A. Smith, and W. H. Taggart. They were succeeded by Mr Caleb Moore, after him Messrs G. Dowse, H. Gourley, and W. L. Philp had a turn; and eighteen years ago Mr Dowse was appointed alone, holding office until his resignation quite recently. He was a good handicapper, but one who found his work worrying. The truth is that he was extremely sensitive, and fretted in secret over criticisms that he outwardly affected to despise. He was, in fact, a warm-hearted man, readily moved by any appeal for sympathy, and this temperament not only kept him from saving money, but made handicapping hard work for him, he being particularly anxious over it. Above all he was an honorable man. Some of his handicapping has been criticised, but no one ever dared accuse him of wilful unfairness. In his last illness he was visited by Mr Harry James and the Hon. H. Gourley, but he did not know them or anybody else after the stroke on Friday. -Evening Star, 25/2/1903.
Obituary
After a brief illness Mr George Dowse, a well-known and much-respected resident of Dunedin. died at his home in the NorthEast Valley on Sunday night, at the age of 71years. Mr Dowse was an Edinburgh man, and in his youth served his time as a saddler in Fulton's famous establishment there. He spent some years in Victoria before coming to Dunedin in the early sixties. Shortly after his arrival here he opened a saddler's shop in Rattray street, where he carried on an extensive business until 1886, when he deposed of it to Mr Peter Miller. In his younger days Mr Dowse was an athlete of some repute, and always took a deep interest in sports of all kinds. For many years he acted as one of a committee of three who handicapped for the Dunedin Jockey Club's races, and about 16 years ago he was entrusted with the duty of sole handicapper — a position he occupied with great credit up to the time of his death. He was also handicapper for nearly every other racing club in the provincial district of Otago. Mr Dowse was a warm-hearted, generous man, and at all times was ready to assist those in need of help. He leaves a wife to mourn her loss: he had no family. -NZ Mail, 25/2/1903.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS
The fund that was being raised for the late Mr George Dowse, for so many years handicapper to the Dunedin Jockey Club, is to be given to that gentleman's widow. -Auckland Star, 11/3/1903.
WANTED, young Girl (16) as general, to assist in the house. Mrs George Dowse, North-east Valley. -Evening Star, 7/5/1903.
FRIDAY, 19th JUNE,
At 2 o'clock. Sale by Auction of
SUPERIOR HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE, PIANO, Etc.
On the Premises, near Tram Terminus, at Gardens.
JAMES SAMSON AND CO.
have been favored with instructions from Mrs George Dowse to sell by auction,
Her Household Furniture, Goods, and Chattels, comprising —
Hair suite, English sofa (mahogany frame), fancy walnut oval tables, superior mahogany sideboard, gilt-frame mantlepiece mirror, rosewood piano (by Kelly, London), handsome bookcase and escritoire combined, lace and tapestry window curtains, pictures, ornaments, fenders, irons, ashpan, carpets, hearth rugs, marble clock, cabinet sewing machines, coal vase, heavy cut-glass decanters, books by the best authors, English dictionary, and about 50 volumes racing, hunting, and sporting magazines, superior cutlery, case of ivory-handle fruit knives and forks, china dessert and tea sets, e.p. egg cruet and ware, halftester double bedstead and hangings, feather and hair beds, marble-top washstands, mirror, commode, hair couch, office table and desk with 13 drawers, linen press, cedar chest drawers, hall table and chairs, dining and other tables, washstand and ware, wardrobe, kitchen and cooking utensils, plunge bath, dog kennels, copper boiler, and a large lot of sundries, etc., etc., etc.
SATURDAY, 20th JUNE, 1903,
At half-past twelve. -Evening Star, 16/6/1903.
A LIBRARICAL ACQUISITION.
At a sale of some of the effects of the date Mr George Dowse, the well-known handicapper, held last week, the library of this journal secured a valuable and interesting addition in the shape of 44 volumes of the English Sporting Magazine, dating from 1839 to 1866. The books, which are in an excellent state of preservation, contain many splendid steel engravings, together witth the history of bygone cracks of the turf. Articles on general sporting matters from the pens of such famous writers as "The Druid," "Castor,"' "Craven," and others well known in the world of sport abound in the pages, and furnish a fund of interesting and instructive information, of which readers may expect to derive benefit from time to time. -Otago Witness, 24/6/1903.
Accidents and Fatalities.
United Press Association — Per Electric Telegraph. Dunedin, Oct 15. Mrs Dowse, relict of Mr George Dowse, for many years handicapper of the Dunedin Jockey Club, was found dead in bed this morning, from, it is supposed, heart disease. -Ashburton Guardian, 16/10/1905.
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