146 . Tlie Earl of Fever sham. 



hand. It is characteristic of him in a double sense that the 

 first public body he supported was the Royal Agricultural 

 Benevolent Institution. He became a subscriber in 1869, and 

 remained a pillar of strength to the charity till his last days. 



The death of his wife in 1897 cast a great cloud over the 

 lives of Sir Walter and his children. Lady Gilbey's place was 

 taken, so far as it might be taken, by Sir Walter's eldest 

 daughter, Mrs. Hine, the capable and enthusiastic helper of 

 her father in his numerous undertakings in his latter years. 



His industry was the more remarkable having regard to 

 the fact that he was by no means a robust man. During his 

 seventh decade and the earlier years of the eighth he was fre- 

 quently confined to his bedroom by lironchitis and kindred 

 maladies. With a bodily temperature one degree below the 

 normal he suffered greatly from cold, and it was the exception, 

 even on the hottest of summer days, to find him without a fire 

 in the library. 



He grew old gracefully ; he never lost the dignity and 

 self-mastery that lent him distinction. He had fought his 

 way up from the bottom of the ladder, and made his name by 

 works beneficial to his kind, and he was content. One by one 

 the pursuits and interests which had made life so well worth 

 living passed from him. When life ceases to be comedy death 

 ceases to wear the face of tragedy, and in tranquil patience he 

 waited for the end. He might have said with Landor : — 



•' I warmed both hands before the tire of life ; 

 It sinks, and I am ready to depart." 



THE EARL OF FEVERSHAM. 



By the death of the Earl of Feversham, which occurred on 

 January 13, 1915, the Society has, with one exception, lost 

 its oldest member of Council. Lord Feversham was born in 

 1829. He succeeded as third Baron in 1867, and was created 

 first Earl of Feversham in 1868. His interest in agriculture 

 was always keen, and he did much useful work in this 

 connection. Buncombe Park, the late Earl's seat in Yorkshire, 

 and at which place he passed away, has long been famous for 

 its herd of Shorthorns, and in this he took a lively interest, 

 never sparing expense in obtaining blood from the best strains, 

 as for example when he purchased such valuable animals as 

 the Duke of Oxford 20th, for which he gave one thousand 

 guineas at the Holker Sale in 1871, and New Year's Gift, 

 for which he paid the same amount, in 1892, at the Windsor 

 Sal(\ The original herd was founded l)y pui-chases, amongst 



