A HISTORY OF KENT 



Colonel North's mastership lasted for four 

 seasons, his successor being Mr. George P. 

 Russell of South Darenth, who stayed with 

 the pack until 1894. In the latter year Mr. 

 Augustus Leney of Orpines took over the 

 management, and he still (1907) holds that 

 position. Mr. Leney is his own huntsman, 

 with Will Welch to turn hounds to him, and 

 John Wilcox as kennel huntsman. Mr. 

 Richard Tapply of Thorndale is the honorary 

 secretary. 



The country hunted by the Mid- Kent 

 Staghounds lies entirely within Kent, and 

 extends over an area some forty miles square 

 in the eastern and middle divisions of the 

 county. There is very little plough, the 

 nature of the open country being principally 

 pasture. Woodland is, however, distributed 

 more or less all over the territory of the hunt, 

 and some of the coverts are of considerable 



among them being the Boxley (Mr. Brassey's 

 Harriers), which hunted a portion of the 

 territory now controlled by Mr. Mercer's 

 pack in the Sittingbourne district, and the 

 Fox Bush Harriers, which were merged in 

 the Hadlow Foot Harriers in 1903. The 

 names of many of the existing packs have 

 been changed from time to time. 



Mention is made of the existence of a pack 

 of harriers in the Sandhurst district so far 

 back as the seventeenth century, but it is 

 doubtful whether they can claim to be in any 

 way related to the present establishment. 

 The CoUins family appears to have controlled 

 a trencher-fed pack at that period, and carried 

 it on till 1847. From that date until 1868 

 Messrs. Robert Dunk and Edward CoUins 

 held the joint mastership, when Mr. Braizier 

 of Old Place, Sandhurst, came into office, 

 continuing till 1878. At this period there 



size. Wire, which in past times caused a comes a break in the pack's history, the 



good deal of trouble, is now well marked 

 where it is stiU left standing, and arrange- 

 ments are made for its removal in some 

 districts. 



The establishment of the pack is twenty 

 couples of hounds, which are kennelled at 

 Wateringbury ; and twenty-five deer are 

 kept in paddock, the latter being under the 

 care of H. Ralph at East Mailing Heath. 

 Days of meeting are two a week. 



The Surrey Staghounds, which, of course, 

 belong properly to the county from which 

 they take their name, also come into the 

 western part of Kent on occasion. 



HARRIERS 



A county possessing so much open country 

 as one meets with in Kent, whose breezy 

 marshes and expansive uplands provide that 

 seclusion so beloved of the hare, is certain 

 to be well supplied with packs of harriers 

 and beagles. Before the Ground Game Act 

 of 1 88 1 came into force, the hare in Kent 

 was considered the perquisite rather of the 

 courser and the hunter than of the gunner, 

 but although that act has had the effect of 

 reducing the ground game in many parts 

 of the county, hares have been sufficiently 

 well preserved by large landowners and 

 tenants to be still plentiful enough both 

 for hunting and coursing. At the present 

 time there are at least seven packs of 

 harriers within the county, and three or 

 four packs of foot harriers or beagles. 

 The latter are mostly of recent origin, the 

 Fordcombe pack, established about the year 

 1870, being the oldest of those now in exist- 

 ence. Several packs have disappeared, chief that Jenner has been with the pack they h 



4S6 



hounds being sold by auction, the majority of 

 them finding their way into the kennels of 

 neighbouring establishments. For some years 

 the district remained unhunted, but even- 

 tually Mr. Edward Collins formed a fresh 

 pack with kennels, as before, at the Crouch, 

 and George Jenner as huntsman. Mr. 

 Thomas Collins afterwards succeeded to the 

 mastership, and the kennels were removed by 

 him to Benenden, but he stiU hunted the 

 Sandhurst country. Subsequently the ken- 

 nels were once more removed, this time to 

 SpiUs Hill, Staplehurst, where the hounds 

 were established under the name of the Wesid 

 of Kent Harriers, with George Jenner still 

 acting as huntsman. The Sandhurst district 

 was now again without hounds until in 1895 

 Mr. James Farley of Ticehurst bought the 

 pack and re-estalDlished it under the name of 

 the Ticehurst Harriers. For a couple of 

 seasons he hunted the Sandhurst country from 

 Ticehurst with Joe Relf as kennel huntsman, 

 but in 1897 he removed his kennels to 

 Boxhurst, Sandhurst, with George Jenner 

 as huntsman. Up till 1902 Mr. Farley carried 

 on the pack at his own expense, when Mr. 

 Le Breton Simmons, of Chippenham, Wilts, 

 joined him in the mastership. The latter 

 carried the horn, Jenner taking the place of 

 kennel huntsman. In the following year 

 Mr. Farley retired, and the pack was hunted 

 by subscription with Mr. Simmons as master. 

 A committee took over the management in 

 1904, hounds and kennels being lent by Mr. 

 Farley. Mr. H. A. Pratt of Rolvenden was 

 chosen as deputy-master, with George Jenner 

 again as huntsman. In 1907 Mr. Farley 

 resumed the mastership. During the time 



