138 Sir Walter Gilhe?/, Bart. 



their ingenuity ; at that time the railway system of the country 

 was in its robust infancy, new lines were under construction 

 all over the country, new stations were coming into existence, 

 and the network of railways suggested an idea to the fertile 

 mind of Walter Gilbey. In the station-masters he saw agents 

 ready-made. Whether the railway companies saw in this 

 enterprise means of economising in the matter of pay, or 

 whether they thought fit to sufi:er this use of their servants 

 with an eye to their own advantage cannot be said, but the 

 fact remains that for some years station-masters in many parts 

 of England acted as local agents for Gilbey's wines. In course 

 of time the companies saw reason to confine their station- 

 masters to their legitimate duties, but ere then the services of 

 local tradesmen had been extensively enlisted, and the grocer 

 took the place of the railway functionary. It was the agency 

 system that enabled the brothers to extend their operations 

 and bring their wares within reach of innumerable new 

 consumers. 



On the other side of their business, too, they assumed the 

 role of pioneers, establishing direct relations with wine growers 

 in France and Spain, and thus placing their trade on a more 

 profitable footing than is possible with the intervention of 

 middlemen. It was in 1867, only ten years after they began 

 on the modest scale described, that the firm, now strengthened 

 by the admission of Henry as partner, took the Pantheon and 

 reconstructed the interior for their increasing needs. 



It is unnecessary to trace the history of the firm beyond 

 this point. The story of Sir Walter Gilbey's mercantile career 

 is one that deserves detailed record as an object lesson ; here 

 it requires only such mention as shall show the man fairly 

 embarked upon the road to the wealth he employed to further 

 movements that come within the purview of readers of the 

 Journal. He was thirty-three years of age when, in 1864, he 

 found himself in a position to leave London and make a home in 

 the country. It is not to be understood that he relaxed interest 

 in his business — on the contrary he continued direction of his 

 firm's aff'airs for the ensuing forty years — but money-making 

 with him, from the first, was a means, not an end, and he used 

 his independence to engage in those pursuits which most 

 appealed to him. Moreover, he had now sound reason for 

 seeking the country, for in 1858, while still at the beginning 

 of his mercantile struggle, he had married, and he disliked 

 the thought of rearing his children in town. He was a man 

 who felt strongly the ties of family, and chose Hargrave 

 Park, a few miles from his native place, as residence. Hei-e 

 he settled for a time and began to enjoy life : he bred his own 

 pointers and indulged in the only form of sport with the gun 



