A HISTORY OF KENT 



he hunted the country till 1873. The pack 

 was known as the Brooksend and Isle of Thanet 

 Harriers, and was made up of 20 to 2i-inch 

 harriers and dwarf foxhounds. Captain Tom- 

 lin succeeded Mr. White in 1873, the latter 

 still carrying the horn. In 1875 Captain 

 Cotton became master with Mr. J. White as 

 huntsman, the pack being known as the 

 Thanet Harriers. Then in 1877 came Mr. 

 Graham Lloyd, who hunted the pack himself, 

 followed by Mr. Johnson in 1878. The latter 

 only remained two seasons. In 1880 Messrs. 

 H. S. Russell and W. P. Cosier assumed the 

 duties of joint masters for two seasons, with 

 Mr. John White again as huntsman. Two 

 years later Mr. E. F. Davis took the country, 

 with Mr. Ambrose Collard junior as hunts- 

 man. Mr. Davis was followed in 1884 

 by Mr. J. Chesshyre, who carried the 

 horn himself, and in 1885 by Mr. Vincent 

 Frisby, with Mr. W. N. F. Parsons as 

 huntsman. Mr. Frisby moved hounds 

 from Brooksend Kennels to Walter's Hall, 

 Monkton. On Mr. Frisby retiring in 1887 

 a committee carried on the hunt for 

 three seasons, with Mr. Ambrose Collard as 

 huntsman. The pack was moved back to 

 Hoo Corner, Minster, where they had been 

 from 1840 to 1849, to kennels lent to the 

 country by the Marquess Conyngham. The 

 pack then consisted of fifteen couples of 18 to 

 19-inch harriers. In 1890 the Right Honour- 

 able James Lowther, M.P. for the Thanet 

 Division, became honorary master, Mr. 

 Ambrose Collard retaining the horn, and 

 Colonel Copeland assumed the duties of 

 honorary secretary. This rule continued 

 unbroken for eight seasons, but the name of 

 the pack was in 1895 changed to the Thanet 

 and Heme Harriers. In 189S Mr. Colling- 

 wood Ingram was master and hunted the 

 country with 20-inch dwarf foxhounds, being 

 succeeded in 1900 by Dr. Kelly Paterson, 

 who only remained one season. Mr. Ambrose 

 Collard carried the horn with both the last 

 masters. Lord Decies, who assumed the 

 mastership in 1901, carried the horn himself, 

 with Mr. Ambrose Collard as honorary secre- 

 tary. He bought the pack from a committee 

 and established his own hounds, which were 

 20 to 22-inch foxhound bitches. When he 

 retired in 1905 Lord Decies sold the pack to 

 Mr. B. Prescott-Westcar, who moved the 

 kennels from Monkton to Strode Park, Heme, 

 and is now (1907) hunting the country. In 

 1905 Mr. Ambrose Collard resigned the 

 secretaryship, after having been associated 

 with the pack for about fifty years, and was 

 succeeded by Mr. Cooper Wacher as honorary 

 secretary. 



The Thanet and Heme country includes the 

 whole of the Isle of Thanet and the district 

 of Heme as far as Whitstable. In the former 

 neighbourhood there is a large proportion 

 of woodland, but the rest of the territory 

 consisted, until recent years, principally of 

 plough. Latterly a large part of this has been 

 laid down to grass. Wire is somewhat 

 plentiful, but it is well marked, and during 

 the season most of it is removed by arrange- 

 ment. The pack hunts as far south as the 

 Canterbury and Sandwich Road. It con- 

 sists of eighteen couples of bitch foxhounds 

 and five couples of harriers, and meets on 

 two or three days a week. 



The West Street Harriers were established 

 at Worth, and subsequently took up their 

 quarters at West Street in East Kent in 

 1843. In that year Mr. Michael Nethersole 

 took possession of the pack and hunted it at 

 his own expense up to the year 1869, when 

 it became a subscription pack. Granville 

 George, second Earl Granville, was master 

 from 1875 to 1887, and Mr. R. Coleman 

 from 1888 to 1897. He was succeeded in 

 the following year by the Earl of Guilford, 

 who held the reins of management until 

 1901. In 1902 Mr. J. E. Allen and Mr. A. 

 ffrench Blake held the joint mastership for 

 a season, and from 1903 to 1905 Mr. Allen 

 was master. Mr. A. flFrench Blake of Eythorne 

 near Dover is the present master, and hunts 

 the pack for a committee. The pack consists 

 of seventeen couples of dwarf bitch fox- 

 hounds, and the kennels are at Waldershare 

 Park. Meeting days are twice a week, 

 with occasional by-days. The West Street 

 Harriers' territory consists chiefly of arable 

 land with a proportion of down country. 

 There are few jumping fences, but wire 

 is somewhat prevalent. The country is 

 bounded on the east by the coast-line between 

 Dover and Sandwich, and on the north by 

 the Isle of Thanet. The road from Dover 

 to Canterbury marks the limit on the southern 

 and western sides of the territory. 



POINT-TO-POINT RACING 



Point-to-point meetings are now regularly 

 held in connexion with the three chief hunts 

 in the county, viz., the East Kent, West 

 Kent, and Mid-Kent Staghounds. The Tick- 

 ham Hunt also promotes an occasional meeting. 

 During the spring, too, the officers stationed 

 at the various garrisons hold similar gatherings, 

 the Chatham garrison usually having their 

 meeting at Higham. In 1906 the Grenadier 

 and Coldstream Guards carried out their 

 programme at Goddington, whilst in 1907 



