MEMOIR OF WILLIAM YARRELL. IX 



being his cousin, the son of his father's partner, and his 

 own future associate in the business carried on in Ryder 

 Street. He had also for playmates his relatives, Mr. 

 Bird and Mr. Goldsmith. 



In 1802, being then in the eighteenth year of his age, 

 he entered the banking-house of Herries, Farquhar and 

 Co., as a clerk, but shortly afterwards left that employ, 

 and returned to his father's business. Previous to this 

 event his love of angling had made him acquainted with 

 the streams in the vicinity of London, and the perusal 

 of Izaac Walton's fascinating colloquies had taught him 

 to combine practical philosophy with that pastime. In 

 the course of this pursuit he afterwards often associated 

 with a Londoner of maturer years, an old sportsman 

 named Adams, with whom he was wont to angle under 

 Putney bridge and in other parts of the Thames when 

 the calls of business did not press. Under the guidance 

 of this early friend he acquired the art of shooting, and 

 as it was his custom throughout life to pursue zealously 

 whatever he undertook, he became a proficient in the 

 management of the gun. This led to an intimacy with 

 George Manton, the well-known gun-maker of Bond 

 Street, and with Shoobridge, the hatter of Bond Street, 

 known among sporting men as an unerring shot. Yar- 

 rell, who was thought by some to be the better shot of 

 the two, became a member of the Old Hats Club, and 

 was a successful competitor at shooting matches near 

 London. He was constantly in friendly consultation 

 with George Manton when any new form of breech or 

 lock in a fowling-piece was to be tried. At a later time 

 he shot game in Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire over 

 different manors which he rented in conjunction with 

 his friend Wortham. His exploits with the gun are still 

 remembered in the neighbourhood of Royston, and the 



