FAMOUS MASTERS 69 



MR. GEORGE OSBALDESTON 



Few men have done more towards making sporting 

 history than " Squire " George Osbaldeston, In regard 

 to the hunting-field, he was described in the Quarterly 

 Review as the " Hercules of Horsemen." " Nim " South 

 likens him to " two single gentlemen rolled into one." 

 " Nimrod," Brooksby, and nearly every writer who 

 has written about Leicestershire, have published their 

 opinions of the Squire, together with anecdotes and 

 personal reminiscences. Yet, with the exception of 

 obituary notices, no authentic history of the celebrated 

 sportsman has been published, though at the time of 

 his decease, in August 1866, it was announced that 

 his widow intended to write his biography. Probably 

 the stupendous nature of the task has deterred most 

 sporting writers from attempting it, since there is 

 plenty of authentic material for an exhaustive biography, 

 and there are many of the Squire's intimate associates 

 still alive who could depict those side-scenes, by the 

 help of which we can more readily understand the 

 real character of a man who has attained notoriety. 

 But the Squire was ubiquitous. He was a M.F.H. for 

 thirty-five seasons, during several of which he hunted 

 six days a week. He was an owner of racehorses, and 

 rode both on the flat and cross-country. He performed 

 one of the greatest feats of endurance in regard to 

 horsemanship on record, when he undertook to ride 

 two hundred miles in ten consecutive hours, and 



