THOMAS ASSHETON SMITH. 



When, after the Peace of Amiens in 1802, the subject 

 of my present sketch visited Paris and was presented 

 to the Emperor Napoleon, the latter, who had heard 

 of the Englishman's prowess, saluted him cordially, and 

 turning to his officers, said, ' Voici, messieurs, le premier 

 chasseur d' Angleterre' By common consent the sports- 

 men of Great Britain have for two generations endorsed 

 Napoleon's estimate of Thomas Assheton Smith, and 

 still hold him to be the greatest hunting man that 

 England has produced. Amongst a nation of fox- 

 hunters to have won such undisputed pre-eminence 

 points to the possession of remarkable qualities, and 

 not merely physical qualities either. What those 

 qualities were may be best ascertained by a brief 

 study of the man's life and character. 



Thomas Assheton Smith was a descendant of the 

 old family of Assheton of Ashley Hall, near Bowden in 

 Cheshire. His grandfather, Thomas Assheton, assumed 

 the name of Smith as heir to his uncle. Captain 

 William Smith. His father married the daughter of 

 Mr Watkin Wynn of Voelas, North Wales, and young 

 Thomas, the mighty hunter, was born in Queen Anne 

 Street, Cavendish Square, London, on the 2nd of 

 August 1776. 



