Sir Walter Gilhei/, Bart. liU) 



for which he ever cared-^shooting over dogs — whilst he nuide 

 a point of hunting at least once a week with the Essex or 

 Puckeridge Hounds. With Captain Fairman he took the 

 mastership of a pack of harriers, with which they hunted the 

 country round. An advocate of hard work, he was also a 

 believer in timely relaxation ; even in the days of hardest 

 struggle he used to spend Saturday fishing in the Stort as the 

 only amusement he could then afford. 



Few men have climbed to success more rapidly, but few 

 have been endowed in equal degree with the qualities that 

 make for success. His was a personality that made itself felt 

 at first meeting, and it was impossible long to know him with- 

 out falling under the spell of his influence. With rare force 

 of character he combined shrewd penetration and unerring 

 judgment ; he had not only immense powers of work in 

 himself, but the gift of bringing out the best powers of those 

 associated with him. He had great organising talent, and with 

 it alertness in marking opportunity and promptness to seize 

 it : while above all things practical he possessed unfailing 

 tact. That he was able at so early an age to delegate a great 

 share of the responsibilities of his far-reaching business was 

 the outcome of his ability to judge men ; he might be slow 

 to accord his confidence, but once given it was never withdrawn. 

 He had in fullest measure the gift that above all makes the 

 leader : he tried his man before he trusted him, and when he 

 gave responsibility he displayed a Napoleonic indulgence 

 towards errors of judgment. Hence no man was better 

 served ; hence his aliility while still a young man to devote 

 himself to those interests with which his name was so long 

 identified. 



A man whose love of horseflesh was so strong would, 

 it might have been expected, begin by founding a stud, but 

 Gilbey was first, and above all things, practical, and horse- 

 breeding would have been a luxury. He could well have 

 afforded it, but he was surrounded now with a growing 

 family, and he combined their best interests with his own 

 taste by establishing the herd of Jerseys he maintained for 

 a number of years. 



In 1874 he left Hai'grave Park, and after a few years at 

 Brighton took up his quarters at Elsenham Hall, in Essex, 

 where he continued to reside until his death, and about this 

 time embarked upon the first of the numerous schemes of 

 horse-breeding in which he engaged. He had been impressed 

 by the difficulty encountered by the farmers of the district in 

 obtaining draught horses of reasonably good stamp at moderate 

 prices ; to solve the problem he established the Bishop's 

 Stortford Horse Company, Ltd., in which farmers were the 



