St. Leger family historical importance was Gen. Anthony St. Leger. He was born in 1731, probably in Kildare, Ireland. He was one of a group of noblemen and gentlemen who in 1778 gathered for a private dinner party in an upper room of the Red Lion Inn, which stands in the market square in Doncaster. A horse race, which was to set the pattern for classic racing throughout the world, had been christened the St. Leger at the suggestion of Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham. The race, a sweepstake for three-year-olds, had been born two years earlier in 1776, at the suggestion
St. Leger family St. Leger family The St. Leger family ( ; Latinized to "De Sancto Leodegario") is an old Anglo-Irish family with Norman roots, that in some cases transformed into Selinger or Sellinger. It is first recorded in England as lord of the manor of Ulcombe in Kent. John St. Leger (died 1441) of Ulcombe was Sheriff of Kent in 1430. The surname of St. Leger is recorded in several forms. This surname is originally toponymic in origin, indicating that the individual was from a location that had been dedicated to St. Leger. The name ultimately derives from the pre-7th-century Old German