SPORT ANCIENT AND MODERN 



1891 Mr. Greene returned to Suffolk from 

 Worcestershire, where he had held the master- 

 ship of the Croome, and re-established the stag- 

 hounds, with which he hunted two days a week. 

 In 1900 Mr. F. Riley-Smith took over the pack 

 and the small herd of deer, and carried on the 

 hunt until 1904, in which year he gave place 

 to Mr. Eugene Wells, who hunted one day a 

 week. The country over which the staghounds 

 run has necessarily varied with the changes of 

 ownership. In 1906, Mr. W. P. Burton pur- 

 chased Mr. Eugene Wells's pack and transferred 

 the hounds to kennels at Edgehill, Ipswich, and 

 the deer to paddocks at Nether Hall, Bury St. 

 Edmunds. 



HARRIERS 



The oldest pack of harriers existing in the 

 county in 1906 is the Henham, of which the Earl 

 of Stradbroke is owner and master. These 

 harriers were originally established as the East 

 Suffolk in 1832 by Mr. Anthony George Free- 

 stone, who held the mastership from that date 

 until 1872. In the latter year Mr. Benjamin 

 Charles Chaston became master and altered the 

 name to the Waveney Harriers. Mr. Chaston 

 was succeeded in 1881 by Sir Savile Crossley, 

 bart., who held office until 1888, when the Earl 

 of Stradbroke purchased the pack and named it 

 after his seat. The harriers are kennelled at 

 Henham Hall, Wangford, and hunt two days a 

 week over a large area of country which extends 

 into Norfolk. Hounds were kept by Mr. 

 Freestone's family as far back as 1722. The father 

 of Mr. Anthony George Freestone hunted a pack 

 of 22-inch harriers over the country which has 

 since been hunted by the East Suffolk, Waveney, 

 and Henham in turn ; the 22-inch harriers re- 

 ferred to hunted hare until St. Valentine's day, 

 and thereafter fox till the close of each season. 



The Hamilton Harriers were originally estab- 

 lished about 1863 by the late Colonel Barlow 

 of Hasketon, Woodbridge. A few years later, 

 about 1868, they were taken over by the late 



Duke of Hamilton, who in 1872 bought Sir 

 Thomas Boughey's famous pack of harriers and 

 kennelled them at Easton Park. The duke 

 hunted them at his own cost until his death 

 in 1895, when they became a subscription pack 

 under the name by which they were subse- 

 quently known. Messrs. G. H. Goldfinch and 

 L. Digby held the joint mastership for the first 

 season (1895-6) of their existence as a subscrip- 

 tion pack. Mr. L. Digby then reigned alone 

 for one season, giving place in 1897 to his 

 former colleague, Mr. Goldfinch, who held office 

 till 1900. Mr. Goldfinch was succeeded by 

 one of the most active and energetic sports- 

 men in England, Mr. R. Carnaby Forster. 

 When this gentleman took the mastership of the 

 harriers he was already master and huntsman of 

 his own pack of otter-hounds with which he 

 hunted waters in various parts of England and 

 Scotland, and in 1901 he accepted the master- 

 ship of the Ledbury Foxhounds in Herefordshire, 

 thus achieving the unique feat of holding three 

 masterships concurrently, which he did until 

 1905. In that year the Lady Mary Hamilton 

 took over the mastership of the harriers and 

 hunted them at her own cost until 1906. On 

 Lady Mary Hamilton's resignation the pack was 

 taken over by Mr. S. Hill Wood of Oakley 

 Park, Eye, who hunts about one-half of the 

 Hamilton country, the hounds being known as 

 the Oakley Harriers. In the same year Mr. A. 

 Sowler of Stonham, near Stowmarket, established 

 a new pack of harriers to hunt the Woodbridge 

 and Ipswich side of the Hamilton country and 

 therewith the Stonham, Stowmarket, and Men- 

 dlesham districts, which had not been hunted by 

 harriers for some years. 



The otter-hounds referred to were established 

 by Mr. Carnaby Forster in 1895 as a private 

 pack at Easton Park ; the master's residence was 

 their head quarters, but as already said they 

 hunted wherever opportunity offered, going to 

 Scotland in August. The pack was given up 

 in 1906. 



COURSING 



Public coursing appears to have been neglected 

 in the county until comparatively recent times. 

 Only in 1868 does mention occur 1 of a small 

 meeting at Kirkley. Kedington in 1877 was the 

 scene of a two-day meeting, when Dr. Salter from 

 over the Essex border won the principal stake, run- 

 ning first and second with Polly and Madolina ; 

 the Duke of Hamilton, Sir R. Lacon, and Mr. T. 

 P. Hale were also represented at the meeting. 

 At a one-day meeting in the following year 

 Mr. H. P. Johnson won two stakes with 



'Thacker. 



Scrumptious and Bag o' Bones, and again at 

 Great Thurlow in 1879 won two of the four 

 events. In that year there was another two-day 

 meeting at Kedington over land occupied by 

 Messrs. Goodchild, Pearl and Johnson. The life 

 of the Kedington fixture, however, was brief, 

 for after an excellent and well-supported meet- 

 ing in 1880 it was discontinued. For ten years 

 after this Suffolk coursing men had to look 

 beyond the county borders for opportunities to 

 run at public meetings, though private gatherings 

 were brought off in many districts. In 1890 

 the Orford meeting was established under the 



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