42 THE QUORN HUNT 



the Boothbys, and it was always supposed that more 

 than one character in "Tom Jones" was drawn from 

 the Tooley Park district, while Mrs. Boothby is said 

 to have been the original of Sophia Western. 



On another page it is stated that Mr. Meynell 

 married a grand-daughter of Mr. Boothby's, that lady 

 being sister to " Prince " Boothby, as Mr. Boothby's 

 grandson was called, on account of his reputed love for 

 the society of great people, and his grand way of doing 

 things. He appears to have hunted to a certain extent, 

 and lived with Mr. Meynell at Langton Hall ; but never 

 became famous in the hunting-field. He was, as a 

 chronicler described him, " a very respectable gentle- 

 man," among whose particular friends were the Duke 

 of Rutland, Lords Carlisle and Derby, and Charles James 

 Fox. He was somewhat eccentric in his dress ; but 

 his distinguishing feature was his hat, as he declined 

 to go with the ever-changing fashion, and clung to the 

 same shape for twenty years. With respect to his 

 weakness for the society of great people, it was said 

 of him that he would at any moment leave the com- 

 pany of a companion to walk with one of higher de- 

 gree. He had chambers in Clarges Street, Piccadilly, 

 and there, after breakfasting off cold tea, and riding his 

 hack in the Park, he blew out his brains with a great 

 horse-pistol because, in his own words, he was " tired 

 of the bore of dressing and undressing-." 



