MR JOHN LA TOUCHE, 1841-1846 



brother, Robert La Touche, was a brilliant horse- 

 man and one of the keenest sportsmen who ever 

 rode in Kildare; while the younger brother, 

 William La Touche, was perhaps the greatest 

 authority on the breeding and management of 

 hounds who ever lived in Kildare or elsewhere. 

 It is a curious fact that he cared little for the 

 actual sport in the field, and scarcely rode at all 

 after the year 1846. His nephew, Mr Percy La 

 Touche, remembers him a few years later, it is 

 true, when he sometimes took him out as a small 

 boy and watched over his performances on a pony. 

 But Wm La Touche had at that time long given 

 up regular hunting, and would ride a carriage 

 horse to be with his nephew. Hounds, however, 

 and everything to do with them, were the passion 

 of his life. For the best part of his life he spent one 

 whole day of the week, Wednesday, in the kennels, 

 and I shall have frequently to notice the beneficent 

 effect of his care of all that concerned the pack 

 during the reigns of several successive Masters of 

 the Hunt. Here I only note that a new era in the 

 history of the Kildare pack was inaugurated by the 

 assistance he gave his brother in that all-important 

 branch of the management. 



From what Mr Percy La Touche tells me, his 

 father's opening season was marked by a serious 

 accident. Mr John La Touche was exercising 



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