JOHN E. FERNELEY l6l 



As was most natural in view of the place of 

 his birth and upbringing, fox-hunting pictures were 

 Ferneley's speciality. Mr. Thomas Assheton Smith 

 was one of his first patrons. That gentleman left 

 Northamptonshire to succeed Lord Foley as Master 

 of the Ouorn in 1806, collecting a first-rate pack 

 from various kennels, his best draft being purchased 

 for 1,000 guineas from Mr. Musters, of Colwick 

 Hall. For Mr. Assheton Smith, in the first year 

 of his mastership of the Quorn, Ferneley painted 

 some large hunting pictures. Afterwards he under- 

 took commissions for Lord Tamworth, at Stanton 

 Harold, near Ashby-de-la-Zouch. Having these 

 successes to remind him that there was no better 

 field for a painter of fox-hunting scenes than his 

 own county, it is not surprising that Ferneley, when 

 weary of vacillating between Ireland and England, 

 should have selected as his home the metropolis of 

 the sporting world, Melton Mowbray, not half a 

 dozen miles from Thrussington. Here he married 

 and settled down. 



Once established at Melton work flowed in upon 

 him ; his reputation grew apace, and soon was 

 almost unrivalled by that of any man in his own 

 line. His talent as a portrait-painter, combined 

 with his remarkable ability in catching the likeness 

 of horse and hound, rendered his position excep- 

 tionally strong ; and he numbered among his 

 II 



