A HISTORY OF SURREY 



exicnds into Kent and Sussex, and the Chid- 

 dingfold have nearly as much country in 

 Sussex as they have in Surrey. The Surrey 

 Union territory alone lies wholly in the 

 county from which the hunt takes its name ; 

 but it often happens that hounds run over 

 the Sussex border when they meet in the 

 neighbourhood of Somersbury or Baynards, 

 in the extreme south of their country. 



Foxhunting has been carried on in the 

 county of Surrey for more than 150 years. 

 The then Duke of Grafton in 1735 kept a 

 pack of foxhoimds at Croydon ; but from the 

 fact that he occasionally had foxes caught in 

 Whittlebury Forest, Northamptonshire, and 

 sent them to Surrey, it would seem as though 

 foxes were not at that period very plentiful 

 in this county. Foxhunting came into vogue 

 in Surrey much about the same time that it 

 became general all over England. It is the 

 fact that several packs of foxhounds claim a 

 longer continuity than 150 years, but, broadly 

 speaking, deer and hare were more generally 

 the quarry with every pack of hounds during 

 the first half of the eighteenth century, and 

 the records of very old establishments are 

 generally silent as to the exact date of the 

 change from hare or deer to fox. It is cer- 

 tain that once the change was made there 

 was no going back, the fox being found to 

 give far more sport than either deer or hare, 

 since the wild red deer became practically 

 extinct, except in such favoured localities as 

 Exmoor, the Quantock Hills, the New Forest 

 and in a small district of Lancashire. 



Both the Old Surrey and the Surrey Union 

 have had a long existence, compared with 

 those of the other county packs, but the Old 

 Surrey, as its title indicates, is the older of 

 the two, and as such may be dealt with first. 

 According to those who have busied them- 

 selves with research, one Mr. Gobsall kept 

 foxhounds at Bermondsey in 1750, and until 

 quite lately the remains of his kennels and 

 stables existed. It is also an article of faith 

 that the present pack has been in existence 

 ever since Mr. Gobsall's time, but the names 

 of those who were at the head of affairs, or 

 the periods during which they held office 

 during the latter half of the eighteenth cen- 

 tury cannot now be ascertained. We are 

 told that Mr. Gobsall hunted the country in 

 1750, and that Mr. Snow had the hounds 

 during the last few years of the century, re- 

 maining in office imtil 1808, when he was 

 succeeded by Mr. Neville, who was master 

 for four seasons. He in turn gave way to 

 Mr. Makerly, who held office for eight sea- 

 sons. After Mr. Makeriy came Mr. Daniel 

 Haigh, whose mastership of sixteen seasons 



was memorable. A song was composed in 

 honour of the * Old Surrey ' and Mr. Haigh. 



Sir Edmund Antrobus followed Mr, Haigh, 

 remaining in office for eleven seasons, and 

 then came a triumvirate of masters — Messrs. 

 Hood, W. Mortimer and H. Nicholl, who 

 reigned from 1847 until 1859. It was dur- 

 ing this period that the Old Surrey enjoyed 

 what was probably the very best run which 

 they have ever known. This occurred on 

 12 February 1857 when Tom Hills was 

 huntsman,' and it is said to have been a 

 twenty-two mile point, the time four and a 

 half hours. The meet was at Nutfield, they 

 found at Old Park, now in the Burstow 

 country, and ran to Cansion, which lies on 

 the Kent and Sussex border, some five or six 

 miles south-east of East Grinstead. 



According to the map the point is a good 

 deal less than twenty-two miles, but it is pos- 

 sible that the points of starting and killing 

 have not been correctly indicated, and the 

 account says that they crossed the river (pre- 

 sumably the Medway) no fewer than five 

 times, and that Tom Hills' 'horse was 

 beat beyond Dry Hill,' which is nearly 

 midway between Eden Bridge and East 

 Grinstead. The redoubtable Tom changed 

 horses with his son Sam, who was whipping 

 in to him at the time, and at the next fence 

 he had such a tumble that for long afterwards, 

 when he went into that part of the country, 

 they used to ask him ' when he was going to 

 send a horse and cart to fill up the hole he 

 had made.' Shortly after his fall the re- 

 mounted huntsman saw his favourite hound. 

 Warrior, carry the scent down a lane into a 

 coppice when the rest of the pack were at 

 fault, which caused him to exclaim, ' He's 

 been waiting for us ; he must be owrn 

 now ! ' This Warrior was an old Surrey 

 bred hound by Joker, who did great service 

 in the pack for many seasons. 



After the triumvirate of masters came to 

 an end in 1859 Messrs. Mortimer and Nicholl 

 continued as joint masters until 1871, from 

 which date Mr. Mortimer continued alone 

 until 1877. He was succeeded by Mr. 

 Edmund Byron of Coulsdon Court, who re- 

 mained at the head of affairs until 1902, when 

 Mr. H. W. Boileau, the present master, was 

 elected, he having just previously held office 

 with the South Coast Staghounds (kennelled 



1 This worthy went to the Old Surrey when he 

 was fifteen years of age, was a whipper-in for seven 

 seasons, and was huntsman for over forty seasons ; 

 he was a brother of Jem Hills, the famous Hey- 

 throp huntsman, and was the father of several 

 sons, who all became huntsmen. 



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