12 THE NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE HOUNDS. 



4 til of that year. There arc also several entries in these 

 diaries mentioning AVicksted's hounds as having met at 

 Swynnerton or its neighbourhood, which shows that his 

 hunting country extended over a great part of North 

 Staflbrdshire. In the year Mr. Wicksted retired Mr. 

 Walter Giffard also gave up the Albrighton ; and Sir 

 Thomas Boughey, who succeeded the latter and had his 

 kennels at Aqualate, undertook to hunt the following 

 portions of Mr. Wicksted's late country : Aqualate and 

 Ranton, now in the Albrighton country, and Seighford, 

 Swynnerton, Maer, the Bishop's Woods, Betley,and Audley. 

 When Sir Thomas Boughey gave up, in 1840, Mr. William 

 Davenport, who had already kept a pack of harriers, began 

 to hunt part of the vacated country, and we find, from 

 documentary evidence in our possession, that in 1842 Mr. 

 Davenport had acquired a considerable portion of the 

 North Staffordshire country, and had begun regularly to 

 hunt foxes; but it was not till 1845 that he regularly 

 hunted the whole of what is now known as the North 

 Staffordshire Hunt. Mr. Davenport began by advertising 

 two days a week, which after two or three seasons he 

 increased to five days a fortnight. In 1846 he engaged 

 the well-known Joe Maiden as huntsman, who remained 

 with him in that capacity for seventeen years, till he 

 retired after the season 1862-63. 



According to " Cecil," in an article in the Field, 

 January, 1868, Joe Maiden had already had a wide 

 experience of hunting and of hounds. When a boy, he 

 commenced as whipper-in to a pack of harriers kept by 

 Mr. Whitmore at Apley, near Bridgnorth. He then lived 

 with Mr. Garforth, but was soon engaged as second whip 

 to Lord Middleton, in Warwickshire. From there he went 

 to whip-in to Mr. Horny old, in Worcestershire ; and when 

 these hounds were given up he was engaged for the season 

 1823-24 by Sir Bellingham Graham, who was then 

 hunting the Albrighton. Subsequently we find him acting 

 as huntsman to Sir Clifford Constable's stadiounds at 

 Tixall, Staffordshire ; but that not suiting his taste, he 



