THE MEMBERS. gl 



IF^emi? Malfoi^. 



" I can keep honest counsel, ride, run, mar a curious talc in telling it, and deliver a plain message 

 bluntly." — Kitig Lear, net /, scene 4. 



This devoted beagler was one of the first members of the R.R.B., being 



the eighteenth on the register. At the time of the formation of the pack 



he resided in Rock I'eiry, and interested himself most heartily in all the 



arrangements. In 1846, the second year of the Hunt, H. Walford was 



appointed Secretary, 77<v J. T. Raynes resigned, retaining the office till 1855. 



His services were much appreciated by the members, so much so, that in 



1850, at one of the Beeston meets, he received a testimonial. The Sport 



Book records this event as follows : — 



At 5 p.m. we sat (.lown ;it the Tollcniache Arms, to the number of forty, 

 with our kind friends, Bird, Cawley, and Davenport as our guests. After 

 dinner, a silver coffee pot, cream jug, and sugar basin, were presented to our most 

 excellent and worthy honorary secretary, Henry Walford, from a number of 

 the members, as a token of their regard for him, and a mark of their sense 

 of his services. 



H. Walford was a great favourite with the beaglers, always having a 

 large following in the field, attracted by his wit and funny stories. By his 

 cronies he was nicknamed "Oliver Cromwell" or "Old Noll," as he 

 claimed descent from Oliver Cromwell, the latter's daughter having married 

 one of his ancesters, Colonel Desborough. The names, Oliver and 

 Desborough, are retained as family names in the present generation of 

 Walfords. "Walford's portrait is in the Beeston group, distinguished by 

 his long boots. Whenever C. Rawson perpetrated poetry, H. Walford was 

 remembered. 



What can e'er efface midst life's future pursuits, 



Our By-gum's good legs, and our Cromwell's black boots. 



Behold " Old Noll " ! the painter could not draw him, 



He said he seemed so like a midnight rake ; 

 But I, and these green coats, that better know him, 



Declare in him there can be "no mistake." 



Last in the group, but first in every heart. 



On thee the pen and pencil strive in vain. 

 Thy perfect picture is beyond their art, 



We'll never, never see thy like again. 



H. Walford remained an enthusiastic beagler to the day of his death 

 in 1859. He was buried in Wallasey Churchyard. On his death-bed, he 

 asked the Master, Colonel King, to have an annual meet of the hounds at 

 AVallasey, and to have the hounds " whipped " over his grave, saying, " the 

 "hounds will cry over me if no one else does." The "whipping" here 

 desired was in the sporting sense, not meaning flogging. The members of 

 the R.R.B. subscribed for a stained glass window, v.hich was put up in 

 Wallasey Churcii to his memory. 



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