Gentlemen Riders 



The eldest son of the venerable R. W. Browne, Archdeacon 

 of Bath, Canon of Wells, and Rector of Weston-super-Mare, 

 by the daughter of the Rev. Sir Charles Hardinge, Bart., of 

 Bounds Park, Kent, a brother of the first Viscount Hardinge, 

 formerly Governor-General of India and Commander-in-Chief 

 of the British Army, the subject of our memoir, familiarly 

 known throughout the Service and out of it as " The Driver," 

 to distinguish him from his younger brother, " The Gunner," 

 who, like himself, held a commission in the Royal Horse 

 Artillery, was born in 1841, and received his education at 

 Sandhurst and Woolwich, afterwards joining the distinguished 

 corps just named, in which he soon made his mark, not 

 only as a most efficient officer, but as a horseman of more 

 than ordinary ability. 



Though probably the lightest gentleman rider of his day, 

 scaling as he did under 8 st. 10 lbs., saddle and all, in full 

 hunting dress, Captain Browne was a genuine " multum in 

 parvo " on a horse, and a most powerful rider, in spite of his 

 feather weight. 



Conjuror, on whom, besides other races, he twice won the 

 Royal Artillery Gold Cup, was sold to him as an incorrigible 

 puller, unable to jump a stick, but in " The Driver's " hands he 

 soon became known in the first flight with the Pytchley and 

 the Duke of Grafton's hounds, with which packs his owner 

 usually hunted, making Weedon his headquarters. 



He won the Artillery Gold Cup five times in all, namely, 

 twice on Conjuror, the horse just mentioned ; twice on Jerome, 

 the property of Colonel Byrne ; and once on Charleville, 

 belonging to the same officer. On Charleville by Tonnerre 

 des Indes-Czarina, a French bred horse, with whom his name 

 will always be coupled, " The Driver," besides other races of 

 minor importance, won the Croydon Grand Military in 1871, 



254 



