THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE

THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — created by Valerie Martin, contains scenes from her home village of Findon, West Sussex, U.K.

CHARLES LENNOX, THE SECOND DUKE OF RICHMOND (1701-1750) AND FINDON FOX-HUNTING

Following the demise of Squire Roper, another huntsman, Jack Ware was employed in that position. Unfortunately, to judge from contemporary letters of the day, this gentleman would appear to have combined mediocrity in the field with much slackness back in his kennels. Many of his specimens of miserable hounds were reported as mangy, others worried flocks and had to be put down. Everyone agreed they were all in a most "wretched condition".

By 1729, Charles the second Duke of Richmond and the Earl of Tankerville had became the joint masters in the Findon fox-hunting venture. An agreement between these two gentleman tells us.......

It is moreover agreed by and between the above named contracting powers that the said Pack of Foxhounds shall be kept ffrom October the 15th to November the 15th at Findon.

Ffrom November the 15th to January 1st at Charlton.

The following receipted account is rather interesting......

Noumbr ye 20 1730 His Grace The Duke of Richmond
Bill

paid for bringn of a hound hom....................................... 1   0
paid for 2 shows a honting ............................................... 1   0
paid for whipcord ................................................................ 2 6
paid for riting paper .......................................................... 1   0
paid for digen of a fox at findon..................................3   0
paid for bringn of a hound hom......................................1   0
paid for bringn of a teryor hom ...................................1   6
paid for 2 shows a honting ..............................................1   0
paid for a bed at findon 2 weeks ................................5   0
paid for digen of a fox at findon ................................2   0
paid the smithes bill at findon.......................................6   0
paid for hors hire .................................................................   6
paid for pair of bouts for Jon rowll.........................13 0
paid for pair of bouts for Richard taylor................2 0
                                                                         ______

2 11 6

Goodwood the 23th of Nober 1730 Recvd there of His Grave the Duke of Richmond by the hand of Sat. Labbe two pounds Eleven shillings & Sixpence in full of this Bill I say Recvd by me John Ware

John Ware was obviously not a greatly educated man but he was the huntsman of the Charlton hounds in the 18th century. I understand that he although he was of no great success himself, he did lead many fine gentlemen over the Findon downland in the hunt. He continued in that profession for eleven seasons.

He was well known in the village of Findon and surrounding area and a bill for his services to the Duke of Richmond is proof of his presence in the village. He can be imagined, perhaps at the Gun Inn, puzzling over his illegible accounts and scratching his head on a chilly 20th November 1730.

The following is my interpretation of his miserable phonetic script and rather inept scrawl —

Noumbry 20 1730

digen of a fox at findon 3s 0d                    (Whereabouts in Findon not known).

bringn of a hound hom 1s 0d                      (A wayward hound deserting the pack in Findon no doubt).

bringn of a teryor hom 1s 6d                      (Another Findon casualty?)

2 shows a honting 1s 0d

a bed at fendon 2 weeks 5s. 0d                 (Maybe a bed for his good self at the Gun Inn?)

for digen of a fox at findon 2s 0d

the smithes bill at finton 6s 0d                 (For the horses of the hunt).

for a hors hire 1s 6d                                 (Probably from the stables of the Gun Inn).

for a pare of bouts for Jon rowl 13s 0d (Purchased from a Findon bootmaker - there were many)

a pair of bouts for Richard taylor 12s 0d (I wonder why he didn't have them repaired in those days?)

We are grateful to John Ware because his amusing records do at least give us an insight to hunting activites in Findon and the gist of his accounts is understandable for most readers.

There is proof of hunting in Findon once again for the winter season of 1730/31 when another of Ware’s bills were presented for payment to his employer, the Duke of Richmond, for services in the village amounting to another £5. 1s. 6d. Many accounts were obviously put forward over his eleven years and these were obviously not the only ones.

Even in the early 1730s there was trouble with the neighbours when it came to fox-hunting. The Findon area was causing problems around now because the local landowners violently objected to the practice of too much earth-stopping — a practice deemed essential to producing a good hunt. Angry letters went to and fro in 1732 between the large neighbouring estates of Wiston and Parham, with the village of Findon in the crossfire.

In 1731 the second Duke of Richmond took charge of our fox-hunting on the Findon downland assisted by Lord Delawarr and this no doubt brought a certain amount of prosperity to the villagers. Findon, through the auspices of the Charlton Hunt, was the most fashionable hunting centre of that time and, to judge from contemporary records, there must have been some most successful hunts.

Findon has always been dramatic hunting country during the winter months, and this sport continued through the days of John Cheale, the hunting squire, when he was the Lord of the Manor of Findon. I have discovered that he appeared to be a colourful character.

Four-legged visitors were the Charlton hounds from nearby Goodwood who continued to retain their popularity when hunting in the Findon area. These were the days when hunting was an ancient tradition through necessity and good husbandry, as foxes were said to kill the farmers' lambs. Therefore, we can perhaps excuse the sport in the past. Most of the expeditions in the Findon area took place on the magnificent Downs where the hounds could sally forth seeking the scent.

It was during this period that here was stabling for no less than one hundred and forty-three horses in the village.

As the hunting season approached, towards the end of 1732, it was noted that the hounds' sub-standard kennels, and the stables for the horses at Findon, should be repaired. The existing eating troughs for the hounds were to be made good where possible or disposed of. New troughs were ordered to replace these in readiness for the hounds' arrival in the village at the beginning of the season.

The flocks of sheep straying into the woods and copses around Findon were also proving a temptation during their wanderings for the eager young hounds. On some occasions there was too great a risk to bring the pack to be quartered actually in the village.

Disaster finally struck for John Ware the somewhat wayward huntsman. He had caused considerable concern for some time and was finally dismissed in the season of 1734. This was following an appalling episode in the hunting world when his unruly and headstrong hounds ran amok in a fold of sheep. In their frenzied quest for the quarry they set about and massacred fourteen sheep — fortunately this did not take place in Findon.

It must have been with a sigh of relief for all when another huntsmen, Thomas Johnson took charge in 1735.

There is a very famous Findon hunt of 26th January 1739, when the horsemen flushed out their quarry at 7.45 a.m. and the distance they travelled was immense before they caught him at 5.50 p.m. How far did the wily fox lead them do you think? It is reputed to be 57 miles and by that time the horsemen had been depleted to only three exhausted riders and only 23 of the hounds left in at the killing.

Continue if you would like to read Tales of Fox-hunting from Findon in the 1740s.

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THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — www.findonvillage.com is a continually growing record created by Valerie Martin exclusively for documenting life in Findon.

E-mail: valeriemartin@findonvillage.com