A HISTORY OF KENT 



about fifteen couples of Mr. Armstrong's 

 hounds, the rest of which were secured by 

 Mr. Arthur Whieldon, of the Vine ; and 

 having built new kennels at Wrotham Heath, 

 close to his residence at Addington Park, 

 he continued to preside over the destinies of 

 the hunt until 1862, when the Honourable 

 R. P. Nevill of Birling Manor, second son 

 of William, fourth Earl of Abergavenny, 

 joined him. Two years later Mr. Stratford 

 withdrew, and Mr. Nevill continued alone. 



To Mr. Ralph Nevill, than whom no 

 better man with hounds ever existed, 

 must be given the credit of having set the 

 West Kent upon the firm footing which 

 it has enjoyed ever since his day. To 

 George Bollen, too, a capable huntsman, 

 who was with Mr. Nevill for a dozen years 

 or more, must also be awarded some acknow- 

 ledgement of the good work done and the 

 good sport shown during that long period, 

 while another good huntsman, Tom Hills 

 of the Burstow, a son of Tom Hills of the 

 Old Surrey, must also be mentioned. 



The West Kent never had a more popular, 

 or a more capable master than Mr. Nevill, 

 and the farmers of tlie country showed their 

 appreciation of his worth by presenting him 

 in 1892, soon after his retirement, with a 

 portrait of himself seated upon a favourite 

 grey with some of his pack around liim. The 

 picture, the Avork of John Emms, hangs at 

 Birling Manor, Mr. Nevill's seat in Kent. 

 Mr. Nevill had previously (at the end of 

 his seventh season) been the recipient of a 

 piece of plate, presented by members of the 

 hunt. His mastership of the pack lasted 

 from 1862 to 1 89 1. 



It was during the early years of Mr. Nevill's 

 mastership that the West Kent had that 

 good sportsman, Mr. Richard Russell of 

 Otford Castle, familiarly known as ' Dick 

 of Otford,' as secretary of the hunt. After 

 he had reached the age of seventy Mr. Russell 

 was taken seriously ill, and his life was despaired 

 of. The occasion prompted Mr. Nevill to 

 pen some spirited verses, of which two stanzas 

 run as follows : — 



Then fill up your glasses, for ne'er shall we see 

 At Otford a sportsman so thorough as he ; 

 Be it fox, be it stag, a drag or a hare. 

 Whatever the chase he was bound to be there. 



Then fill up your glasses, and drink, my boys, drink, 

 Long life to Old Richard, nor e'er let us think 

 His days are yet numbered, though sixty and ten 

 Is the limit of summers allotted to men. 



' Dick of Otford ' got better, and the 

 wish of his impromptu bard was gratified. 

 .-Ynother wish, Mr. Russell's this time, was 



that a piece of ground might be consecrated 

 in the wood at the top of the hill at Otford, 

 and that he might be buried there, so that 

 when hounds or fox came by they might 

 pass near his grave. But this hope of the 

 old sportsman was never gratified, and he 

 lies buried in the churchyard at Sevenoaks. 



In 1 891 Colonel Warde, who was then 

 member of Parliament for the Mid-Kent 

 division, became master of the West Kent, 

 and was succeeded in the following year by 

 Mr. R. Stewart-Saville. The latter stayed 

 till 1895 when Lord George Montacute 

 Nevill, third son of William, first Marquess 

 of Abergavenny and a nephew of Mr. Ralph 

 Nevill, came from the Eridge, of which 

 hunt he had been master from 1880 to 1887, 

 and taking over the hunt, continued with it 

 till 1900. 



George Bollen, Mr. Nevill's old huntsman, 

 had remained with each successive master, 

 but in 1896 he was succeeded by Eli Skinner, 

 who came from the Worcestershire ; and 

 later by Wesley, of the Old Surrey. George 

 Bollen returned to his old post after a lapse 

 of two or three seasons, but left again in 1901 

 during the mastership of Mr. W. Baker White, 

 \vho came from the East Kent in 1900, when 

 Tom Darch, from the Essex, took Bollen's 

 place as liuntsman. 



Mr. Baker White stayed with the West 

 Kent until 1904, when the present master, 

 Mr. William Gore Lambarde of Bradbourne 

 Hall, succeeded him. 



The country hunted by the West Kent 

 comprises an area about seventeen miles 

 square, apart from the territory recently 

 occupied by the Hundred of Hoo Hunt. 

 This part of the county was formerly regarded 

 as belonging to the West Kent, but it was 

 given up about the year 1896 as unmanage- 

 able under the existing establishment of that 

 hunt. On the west the Old Surrey country 

 marks the boundary ; the Burstow and 

 Eridge are to the south ; and the Tickham 

 to the east. The country is chiefly pasture 

 with a fair proportion of woodland, but very 

 little plough, and there is not much wire. 

 Some forty-five couples of hounds constitute 

 the pack, which is kennelled at Otford near 

 Sevenoaks. 



The Hundred of Hoo Hunt no longer 

 exists. It was established in 1896 to hunt 

 that part of the country vacated by the 

 West Kent, and Mr. Whitebread, who was 

 the instigator of the movement, got a scratch 

 pack together for the purpose. He himself 

 acted as master until 1900, when he was 

 succeeded by Mr. H. Gibson, who stayed 

 two years. 

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