In the genes
Hunting as a family tradition
SOME families are known for their literary achievements, others for their ability to make money. Some are brilliant at producing politicians and some specialise in actors, but there are some families for whom hunting is the raison d’etre and these specialise in masters of hounds.
Whether this passion is embedded in the DNA or encouraged through nurture is immaterial. Hunting threads through the generations and dominates the family tree.
The Lambert family is a case in point. Stephen Lambert, former chairman of the Masters of Foxhounds Association, can boast five generations of masters in his family and is hoping for six.
“Stowe Beagles for the oldest grandson?” he quips.
He and his sister Sophia are the fourth generation of masters in their family, with Stephen’s hunting CV including being master and huntsman of the Marlborough Beagles, then the Trinity Foot Beagles and, after that, master and huntsman of the Taunton Vale, the Warwickshire and the Heythrop.
Sophia was master of the Old Surrey and Burstow, then jointmaster of the North Cotswold and is currently joint-master of the Thurlow.
It all started with Stephen and Sophia’s great-grandfather Henry Gerard Hoare, a member of the banking family, who was born in 1827. He became master of the Morden Harriers in 1848, aged 21, and hunted foxes and hares in areas such as Streatham and Tooting.
In 1866, he started hunting the Burstow Foxhounds as an amateur and in 1879 he became master, although he had run the hounds for some years by then. He continued to hunt hounds almost until his death in 1896.
“Many stories are told about him,” recalls Stephen. “A stranger who over-rode his hounds was asked, ‘Sir, I think you are not a subscriber to these hounds?’
‘No master, as a matter of fact I subscribe to the Old Surrey but I do like to have a hunt with the Burstow from time to time.’ To which Hoare replied, ‘Next season perhaps you will be good enough to subscribe to the Burstow and hunt with the Old Surrey.’”
The second generation has masters on both the paternal and maternal sides. Stephen’s grandfather on his father’s side, Uvedale Lambert, became master of the Burstow in 1900 and built new kennels for the hounds at Poundhill in Surrey, close to his home.
Stephen’s mother’s father, William West Grant, was following a similar path across the pond as acting master of the Arapahoe Foxhounds in Colorado from 1942 to 1945 and then joint-master from 1948 to 1951.
The third generation produced Stephen’s father, also called Uvedale, who became joint master of the Old Surrey and Burstow in 1950 and remained in office until 1974.
Stephen recalls: “He hunted hounds on the very rare occasions when Jack Champion was injured. My father also hunted hounds each March in Cheltenham week, when Jack always paid his annual visit to the races, taking me with him. We stayed at the Ledbury kennels with his brother, Nimrod.”
Despite his own commitment to the sport, Stephen’s father was less encouraging of his son’s career as master and huntsman.
“He felt I should be doing a nine to five,” notes Stephen. “When I took on the Warwickshire, he recorded in his diary, ‘Mad, mad, mad.’”
And the tradition carries on. Stephen and Jane Lambert’s youngest daughter, Nessie Chanter, has been master of the Heythrop since 2009. Far from influencing her to take the role on, Nessie feels it probably made her more reticent.
“Hunting was such a big part of our lives growing up. I knew what a sacrifice it would be,” she explains, adding, “Dad was cautious when I first asked his advice on whether I should take the role. I was quite young and I suspect he was trying to protect me. I remember him warning me, ‘Every decision you take, 50% of people will agree with you and 50% will disagree.’
“It’s a role where you need to have broad shoulders and that is something I have had to try to grow. For that reason I would hate my daughter, Poppy, to continue the family tradition — I’ll leave that to one of the three Phillips boys, my nephews! [Nessie’s sister Frances is married to VWH jointmaster Nick Phillips.]”
CONTINUING TRADITION
FAMILIES with private packs are a rarity now, but the Beauforts and the Berkeleys are the exceptions who have continued to produce masters through the generations to the present day. The Dukes of Beaufort have either hunted hounds themselves or been in the mastership since the title was created in 1682. Henry Berkeley has been joint-master of the Berkeley since 2000, continuing a tradition that began in the
12th century.
The Eames family is another hunting dynasty whose pack, the Cotley Harriers, can boast a master in every generation since the pack was established in 1797. A diagram entitled The Cotley Hunt Tree shows that seven generations of the family have held the position of master,
huntsman or whipper-in at the Cotley, and the family members who do not feature on the hunt tree invariably hunt in other counties across Britain.
Foxhunting is distilled in the blood and the family and hounds are carved into this part of Somerset in a way that is rarely seen elsewhere. The Cotley Inn at Wambrook has a beautiful sign showing the face of Colonel Eames, fifth generation and master between 1939 and 1987, and a white-faced Cotley Harrier — Mover, who was a champion at Honiton — on the other. The point-to-point has been hosted on the family farm since 1953.
Vyvyan Eames, who was the sixth generation of the family to hunt the hounds, remembers his father, Colonel Dick Eames, as “a tough old stick and a tough act to follow. He had a stiff leg after the war and had to have a horse that didn’t mind his leg sticking out.”
The seventh generation are carrying on with gusto with Vyvyan’s daughter Mary Eames as master with her cousin, Fred Eames, as master and huntsman.
Mary says: “As a family, we are incredibly lucky to have the honour of being involved in the Cotley Harriers. I feel great pride every time I step inside the kennels.”
FAMILY TREE
JAMES BARCLAY’S hunting pedigree can be traced back to the Victorian era and the Barclay family can boast a long 230 years of continual mastership.
“We’ve been masters in every county from London to South Yorkshire,” he declares. “It goes back to the early 1880s when my great-grandfather had his own private pack of harriers at Roydon in Essex. I have the old diaries of the Barclay Harriers and that is where the groundwork is done,” he explains. “My great-grandfather, grandfather and father all did 50 years apiece as master of the Puckeridge and in the 1947-1948 season, all three generations were masters together. The occasion was recorded by Jim Meads, who took a picture of the three of them standing outside Brent Pelham Hall at the opening meet. The joke was that my great-grandfather had already died and had been stuffed so that the picture could be taken.”
James’ brother, Ted, is now master, while James went on to become master of the Essex and Suffolk, Fitzwilliam, Cottesmore, Southwold and Grove and Rufford.
KEEP THE FLAME ALIVE
THERE are other families whose recent family tree is packed with masterships. The Andrews family, for example. Jonnie Andrews is master of the Glyn Celyn Beagles, and his two sons are both masters — James is master and huntsman of the South and West Wilts, while Rupert is master of the Devon and Somerset Staghounds. Their half-brother, Will, was master of the Christchurch Beagles. Is there one characteristic that holds true through the generations?
“Being tough,” says James. “Anyone who has ever done it knows that it is not a bed of roses.”
James’ paternal grandmother was master of the Chilmark Beagles and his maternal grandfather was master of the New Forest Beagles for 40 years.
“It was this grandfather, Brian Day — an artist and countryman — who got us all into it,” observes James. “He had such an insight into the countryside.”
This keenness has transferred to the next generation in the form of James’ son, Charlie.
“He is keener than I was at his age and he goes to Cirencester in September, so hopefully there will still be hunting for him in the future,” muses James.
Nick Bannister has similar thoughts. His son Roddy is currently on a gap year whippingin at the Brackenridge Hunt on New Zealand’s South Island. The Bannister family have a threegeneration association with both the Pendle Forest and Craven, and the Stowe Beagles.
Nick Bannister explains: “My father took over the mastership in 1977 and I joined in 1992 and have done 26 years. My brother Tom was master before he died, as well as being master of the beagles at Stowe. My sons Harry and Roddy also hunted the Stowe. We were all brought up with hunting and the country.”
Hannah Pattinson became master of the Oakley this season and her brother Charles Saffell has become master and huntsman of the West Norfolk. They are a fledgling dynasty; their father, Nick, was master of the West Norfolk for 19 seasons.
“If we don’t support hunting it won’t survive, and it helps keep the community together. I was honoured to be asked. It is important that we educate the younger generation,” says Hannah.
We can only hope that Hannah’s grandchildren and great grandchildren will continue to keep the flame alive.