290 MnQB of tbe 1bunting*jftel^ 



East India merchant, who in 1728 bought the Manor 

 of Littleton and the adjoining estate. Born in 1784, 

 James John was educated at Eton, and Christ Church, 

 Oxford. Before he had attained his majority, he purchased 

 a pack of hounds from Mr Windham, of Dunton, Wilts, 

 and from that time till his death never wavered in his 

 devotion to the ' Noble Science,' nor ceased to lavish 

 his wealth on the pursuit of it. His immense fortune 

 enabled him to maintain his hunting establishment in 

 magnificent style. The country he hunted was of great 

 extent, embracing all Dorsetshire and part of Somer- 

 setshire — the district, in fact, which is now divided 

 between Lord Portman and the Blackmoor Vale. 

 He kept two packs, one at his beautiful seat, Langton, 

 on the banks of the Stour, as fine a park as there is in 

 England, the other at Eastbury. The stables at 

 Langton contained stalls for thirty-four hunters, and 

 were among the most notable in England. Besides 

 the mounts for himself and the servants, there were 

 always a score of first-class hunters at the service of his 

 friends or of his tenants. At the Eastbury kennels 

 there were seventy-five couples of hounds, and stabling 

 for fifty more horses. One pack consisted entirely of 

 large, the other of small hounds. He himself preferred 

 the former, which he always took with him into the 

 Vale of Blackmoor, because he thought they gave a 

 better account of their foxes. Of the kind of sport he 

 showed, some idea may be formed from the fact that 

 during the twenty-one seasons Jem Treadwell was 

 with him as huntsman they brought to hand no less 

 than 1 344 brace of foxes. 



There was certainly not a more popular Master of 

 Hounds in England than ' The Old Squire of Dorset' 



