112 CENTURY OF ENGLISH FOX-HUNTING 



pigeon-shot in England in the palmy days of " The 

 Red House," when Lord Kennedy, General Anson, 

 and Captain Ross were in the zenith of their shoot- 

 ing fame. He was a devoted patron of the P.R., 

 and acted as referee in the big fight between 

 Bendigo and Gaunt at Newport Pagnell. Till within 

 a short time of his death he was a regular player 

 in the billiard-room of the Portland Club. In his 

 younger days he had the reputation of being, with 

 the exception of Lord Frederick Beauclerk, the best 

 all-round cricketer of the time. Nor was his career 

 confined to sport, for he was a J. P. for the East 

 Riding of Yorkshire, represented East Retford in 

 the House of Commons from 1812 to 1818, and was 

 High Sheriff in 1829. According to " Nimrod," who 

 was far from being a lenient critic, " in society he 

 is affable and communicative, perfectly free from the 

 absurdity of affectation, and just what an English 

 country gentleman should be." 



The Squire was born in 1787, and was the son of 

 George Osbaldeston, of Hutton Bushell, in York- 

 shire, by Jane, the only daughter of Sir Thomas 

 Head, Bart. Unfortunately, his father died in 1794, 

 when he was in his seventh year, so that in his boy- 

 hood he did not experience the paternal correction 

 which he certainly needed. At Eton he was con- 

 tinually getting into scrapes, but for him flogging 

 had no terrors. Not that he appears to have been 

 a bad boy. His delinquencies were mainly the result 

 of high spirits, an utter disregard for school disci- 



