Why ‘Bagotville’? Timing is everything. Robert Cooper Bagot died in April 1881 aged 53, just before this land went on the market. The name was invented as a tribute – and as a piece of shrewd marketing.
‘R.C. Bagot deserves his place in the Australian Racing Hall of Fame: he made Flemington famous.’
R.C. Bagot deserves his place in the Australian Racing Hall of Fame: he made Flemington famous. He was the VRC’s first Secretary (CEO) when the Club was formed in 1864. He did not invent the Melbourne Cup. That was already up and running. But Bagot can take the credit for turning The Cup into the greatest race in Australia, for establishing the Melbourne Cup Carnival in its enduring pattern and securing Cup Day as a public holiday. By 1880, Grand Flaneur’s year, a crowd exceeding 100,000 came to the Cup. Bagot had made Flemington an internationally renowned showpiece – all in the space of 17 years.
Birds eye view of Flemington, 1877. Source: State Library Victoria
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