Richard Tattersall did far more than open up an auction house for horses in 1766; he also enabled the invention of bookmaking. All around the world, and on a variety of sports, people lay down their money every single day on sporting events ranging from football and cricket to dog and horse races. The art has been popular for millennia and shows no signs of slowing down.

At Hyde Park Corner on the outskirts of London, Richard Tattersall set up shop for various horse auctions. On the premises also were two subscription rooms, supposedly reserved to only members of the Jockey Club. However, these rooms would become famous for something else entirely, despite Tattersalls original intentions.

Around 1780, a different type of member started to frequent these subscription rooms. Instead of jockeys filling the ranks, Tattersalls was inundated with men wishing to bet on a variety of horse activities. The bets would cover everything from popular horse races of the day to even which lucky stallion would be studded out and for how much.

The exact date and the exact types of bets are all up for debate. In the 1700s, records of these types of activities werent kept. The only reliable records of such events come from the tales of those who frequented the rooms, and thus passed them down through the generations. However, Tattersalls being the birthplace of bookmaking in general is not disputed.

It was the first place on record to have actual bookmakers setting wagers and collecting money on premises.

Tattersalls auction house existed on different levels of society. On one hand, the intended jockey rooms had become more of a gathering club for the middling to aristocratic types, whereas with the auction house itself, horse owners could almost rub elbows with outright royalty such as the Prince of Wales, who often visited Tattersalls.

Richard Tattersall was succeeded by his son Edmund, and the younger subsequently grew the business exponentially by expanding to other areas like France. After Edmund Tattersalls death, his oldest son, Richard, became head of the auction house and made it even more famous by name recognition.

Edmunds son Richard was widely known as one of the best sporting men of his time, and he certainly wasnt afraid to mix it up with the commons and place his bets alongside everyone else. This Richard had a son named Richard who took control of the business yet again, and he would move the location of the auction house to Knightsbridge due to an expired lease.

Over the years, Tattersalls remained a family-operated business well into the 20th century. Tattersalls of today can be found in various locations around Europe, including Newmarket, where it is located today, County Meath, and other locations.

The auction house is still extremely successful. Tattersalls claims to be the most successful in all of Europe, in fact, with an estimated 10,000 horses sold from their blocks every year.