140 Squire J. S. Sutton. 



the South DurJiam Country, there are frequent allusions to him. 

 In January, 1878, no fox being found at Oxeye, — 

 " the master then gave the word to go over and give Squire 

 Sutton a call at Elton, and see if that magnificent specimen of 

 the old English sportsman had a fox in his preserves. We had 

 hardly entered the genial Squire's park when a welcome halloa 

 was heard. In 1881 he was appointed one of the managers of 

 the South Durham Hunt. When at Elton he preserved foxes 

 for both the Hurworth and South Durham, both Hunts having 

 a covert thereon, and not only did he hunt with these two packs 

 but he also had an occasional day with the Bedale, apropos of 

 one of which Mr. Park told me a story. The Squire had two 

 very good bay mares, on which he was invariably to the fore. 

 One day he went to have a look at the Bedale. He didn't 

 know a yard of the country, so elected to follow Mr. Jack 

 Booth, the Bedale M.F.H. Each fence Mr. Booth jumped 

 the Squire of Elton followed him, and at last the welter Bedale 

 Master determined to shake him off, and took some fast posts 

 and rails which took a bit of doing. Squire Jack, however, was 

 not to be out-jumped and followed him, and Mr. Booth so 

 admired his horsemanship he went up and enquired to whom 

 he had had the honour of being pilot, and when he heard it 

 was " Jack Sutton " he said "If I'd known I shouldn't have 

 tried to have shaken you off." 



Fond of shooting, and a prominent promoter of the 

 Stockton Race Meeting in the early days, Squire Sutton was an 

 all round sportsman and one of the most popular of men. He 

 was ever ready to help a lame dog over a style and probably 

 has not an enemy in the world to counter-balance the host of 

 friends, whose ranks become smaller and smaller as the Pale 

 White Horseman year by year beckons with relentless hand. 

 The Squire still takes a deep interest in everything sporting, 



