A HISTORY OF GLOUCESTERSHIRE 



1830. Mr. Moreton's term of office marks an 

 epoch in the history of the hunt, as it was at his 

 instance in 1832 that the original Old Berkshire 

 was divided and the V. W. H. became a separate 

 hunt. Mr. Moreton, who till this time had 

 hunted from The Elms near Faringdon, moved to 

 Cricklade, and in 1833 to Cirencester, where 

 Lord Bathurst built kennels for the new V. W. H. 

 in 1835. In this second move we find the first 

 step towards the ultimate subdivision of the 

 V. W. H. country into two parts. Mr. More- 

 ton had as his huntsman Jem Hills, a famous 

 servant in his day ; he was somewhat excitable, 

 and used frequently to quarrel with Hills in the 

 field. Mr. Moreton, who became Lord Ducie 

 in 1835, continued to hunt the country until 

 1842 ; his resignation, according to the Sporting 

 Magazine of 1 843, was due to ' the lukewarm- 

 ness of the resident gentlemen and the scarcity 

 of foxes.' He was succeeded by Lord Gifford, 

 whose mastership was rendered memorable by 

 the prolonged dispute with Mr. Morland, master 

 of the Old Berkshire, concerning the boundary 

 between the two countries. The right to draw 

 certain coverts was hotly contested on either 

 side, and feeling ran high ; eventually in Sep- 

 tember, 1845, after more than two years of 

 friction, it was agreed that the Rivers Thames 

 and Cole should form the boundary, and that 

 certain specified coverts should be neutral to both 

 hunts. Lord GifFord resigned in 1847, and no 

 master coming forward, the hunt was carried on 

 until 1850 by a committee consisting of Lords 

 Andover and Bathurst and Mr. Cripps (known 

 as the 'A.B.C.' committee) with first Mr. 

 Cripps and afterwards Mr. Barker as field master. 

 In 1850 Mr. Villebois took office and ruled 

 successfully until 1854 when Lord GifFord ac- 

 cepted the mastership for the second time and 

 continued till 1857, when Mr. W. Fielder 

 Croome succeeded him. This gentleman was a 

 celebrated horseman, and kept his place in 

 the wake of hounds on horses which no 

 other man could ride ; he met his death in 

 the hunting-field, his horse falling over a little 

 stone wall. 



Mr. Henley Greaves, who succeeded Mr. 

 Fielder Croome in 1861, only remained until 

 1863, when he gave place to Mr., afterwards 

 Sir, M. Wharton Wilson. Mr. M. Wharton 

 Wilson bought Mr. Duffield's pack of hounds 

 for 800 guineas, and also engaged the Old Berk- 

 shire huntsman, Dale. Sir Wm. Throckmor- 

 ton, who followed Mr. Wharton Wilson in 

 1869, first hunted the V. W. H. country from 

 Buckland, Faringdon, but finding this incon- 

 venient he moved to Cecily Hill, Cirencester. 

 Sir William was well known as an owner of 

 race horses, at one time was a member of the 

 Jockey Club and the National Hunt Committee. 

 His term of mastership, which closed in 1875, 

 was particularly successful from every point of 

 view. During the mastership of his successor, 



the Earl of Shannon (18759), our present king 

 paid two visits to him at Cecily Hill. 



Mr. C. A. R. Hoare (1879-86) carried on the 

 hunt in great style, hunting four or five days a 

 week. Difficulties, however, arose between the 

 master and his supporters. As the matter was 

 in no way connected with hunting, but related 

 to a scandal affecting Mr. Hoare's private life, 

 we need only say that it served to alienate all 

 the influential members of the hunt, and as he 

 refused to resign the mastership, the trouble 

 culminated in the division of the country. Dur- 

 ing Mr. Hoare's last season he hunted the 

 Cricklade division of the country with the 

 original pack of hounds, which afterwards passed 

 to Mr. Butt Miller. Lord Bathurst, who took 

 the Cirencester division, then formed a new pack, 

 and from that date the old V. W. H. ceased to 

 exist in its entirety. 



With the accession to office of the late Earl 

 Bathurst in 1886 begins the roll of masters of 

 the V. W. H. (Cirencester) Hunt as it now 

 exists. Lord Bathurst held the mastership until 

 his death in 1897, when he was succeeded by 

 his son the present master. Excellent sport has 

 been the rule since the creation of the V. W. H. 

 (Cirencester) as a separate country. Mr. Erie 

 Drax of Cheltenham, who has hunted with the 

 pack since Sir William Throckmorton's time, 

 can recall several runs of nearly thirty miles. 

 On a Saturday in March, 1885, the hounds had 

 a wonderful run of three hours including checks, 

 the distance being about 25 miles. Finding at 

 Alvescot they ran towards Bampton, and leaving 

 it on the right passed Witney on the left, and 

 then Tar Wood, ending at Yarnton Junction, 

 four miles from Oxford. Mr. H. Owen, Mr. 

 C. Hoare, the master, and Mr. J. Adamthwaite 

 of Siddington Lodge, Cirencester, were up at the 

 end, and took the hounds back to Cirencester, 

 arriving there at 12.15 on Sunday morning. 



In March, 1886, they had a great run from 

 Water Eaton by Red Lodge and Somerford 

 Common to Cleverton near Charlton Park, 

 where the fox was dug out from a drain under 

 the road at 8.30 p.m. Distance over 15 miles, 

 time about 80 minutes. Gibbs (Cotswold 

 Pillage) describes a run on I January, 1897, 

 from Stonehill Wood by Charlton Park and 

 Gorston to Rodbourne in the Duke of Beaufort's 

 country, in which hounds covered ten miles 

 within the hour. 



Among well-known covert owners and fol- 

 lowers within the last thirty years, mention may 

 be made of Mr. T. Chester Masters and Col. 

 Chester Masters, Messrs. W. Musgrave of Barns- 

 ley, P. Barker of Fairford Park, Sir M. Hicks- 

 Beach, Sir T. Bazeley, Mr. and Mrs. Van 

 Notten Pole of Watermoor, the Hon. Mr. and 

 Mrs. Agar Ellis of Highworth, Col. Arthur 

 Archer of Lush Hill, Mr. T. and the Hon. 

 Mrs. Kingscote, Mr. ' Eddie ' Williams, then of 

 Bibury Court, B. B. Cooper, now of Bibury 



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