12 
Sir Nigel Kingscote. 
the county, and a Justice of the Peace both for Gloucestershire 
and Wiltshire. He was one of the first Aldermen appointed 
in 1889 by the Gloucestershire County Council, a position he 
retained until his death, and for many years one of the 
Committee of Management of the Royal Agricultural College 
at Cirencester. Although in late years he had not been able to 
follow the hounds, he had a great reputation in the past amongst 
hunting men in the Badminton, the V.W.H., and Berkeley 
countries for being an especially straight and bold rider. His 
hunting career commenced when he was sixteen, and there 
are records in the Berkeley annals of brilliant gallops when 
he and others “ went best.” In the winter of 1861, when the 
then Duke of Beaufort had to winter abroad, the management 
of the Badminton pack was entrusted to Sir William Codrington 
and Colonel Kingscote. 1 When riding one of the Prince of 
Wales’s horses whilst His Royal Highness was in Egypt, Colonel 
Kingscote broke his leg whilst out hunting ; and he also broke 
some ribs in the field. Almost to the last he was fond of 
riding, and rarely missed his early morning canter in Hyde 
Park. In the grounds of Kingscote is what was once one of the 
finest race-courses in England, and the meetings there used to 
be called the Goodwood of the West. There was, however, 
no racing there in Sir Nigel’s lifetime, as the course has 
not been used for that purpose since 1825. In a secluded 
dell in the park is pointed out a place where many prize 
fights were held in the palmy days of the ring. In his 
early days he was devoted to cricket, and was mainly instru- 
mental in getting together an eleven to play the Free 
Foresters at Kingscote and in bringing a team to play the 
Zingari at Badminton. 
Mention has been made on a previous page of Sir Nigel’s 
having kept up, on succeeding in 1861 to the Kingscote 
property, the family traditions as a landlord of the old school, 
and as an enthusiastic breeder of pedigree live-stock. He took 
a very keen and practical interest in the management of his 
estate and liked to be kept duly informed of all that took 
place. He was a just and generous landlord, ever ready to 
help his tenants in all their difficulties. They never applied 
to him in vain for improvements to their holdings that 
appeared to him of practical value. He was perhaps happiest 
when walking or riding over his home farm and estate. He 
knew every man on it and took a personal interest in their 
welfare. He had not resided at Kingscote for the last twenty 
years, greatly to the regret of the neighbourhood, but he came 
down for a day or two every two months or so, and made a 
1 The Eighth I)ul<e of Beaufort and the Badminton Hunt , by T. F. Dale, 
1901, pp. 193, 223. 
