I04 CENTURY OF ENGLISH FOX-HUNTING 



Thomas Assheton, of Ashley Hall, in Cheshire, 

 had assumed the name of Smith on the death of 

 his uncle, Captain William Smith, who died without 

 issue. His mother was Elizabeth, daughter of Sir 

 Watkin Wynne. Before he had completed his eighth 

 year he was sent to Eton, being at the time the 

 youngest boy in the school. Here he remained for 

 eleven years, and was chiefly noted for the number of 

 fights in which he was engaged. On one occasion he 

 had a set-to with Mr. "Jack" Musters, which lasted 

 for an hour and a half, by which time the two boys 

 were so knocked about that they could not distinguish 

 each other. But the fight made no difference to their 

 friendship in manhood. Indeed, Smith, not only at 

 Eton, but in after life, enjoyed fighting for the mere 

 love of the thing, and used to declare that if a boy 

 were not well thrashed when he was young he would 

 most probably need it when he became a man. For 

 this reason some writers have portrayed him as an 

 irascible, obstinate man, who was never happy unless 

 he was engaged in a quarrel. This, however, I con- 

 sider to be a libel, for he was a typical country squire, 

 liberal with his purse, and popular with all classes of 

 society. Certainly he possessed a dogged determina- 

 tion, which prevented him from understanding the 

 meaning of the word failure. His obstinacy, if such 

 it can be termed, was the result of his faith in his 

 own convictions. His foundation of the Tedworth 

 Hunt amongst difficulties which appeared, even to 

 his own father, to be insurmountable is an example 



