CHAPTER X 



MR. EDMUND BYRON 



/^\NE of the best friends whom the Old Surrey Hounds 

 ^^ have ever had is Mr. Edmund Byron, of Coulsdon 

 Court, who, beginning as Master in the year 1877, occu- 

 pied that position till 1902, and during the whole of that 

 period he was successful in showing an abundance of 

 excellent sport. He worked consistently hard for that 

 purpose. A fine horseman, devoted to hunting, and a 

 keen all-round sportsman, with the social prestige of a 

 large landowner, Mr. Byron has fulfilled the duties 

 appertaining to Mastership with eminent ability and 

 distinction. 



Mr. Byron began to hunt on his pony with the Old 

 Surrey Hounds in 1853, since which time this Hunt 

 country — then about as wild as it is possible to imagine 

 — has been largely overrun by the enterprising builder. 

 The change is sufficiently conspicuous. In Mr. Byron's 

 early days the woodlands were considerable, but a large 

 extent of them has been grubbed up during his time, and 

 many places where the hounds used to find foxes are now 

 absolutely covered with houses and gardens. From being 

 distinctly a plough country extensive tracts have gone to 

 rough grass and are uncultivated ; the flints, which were 



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