The Adelaide Hunt Club is an Australian
fox hunting club founded in the 1840s.
History
Originally called The Adelaide Hounds, the club was founded in
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
in the early 1840s.
[Adelaide Hunt Club.] As early as 3 July 1841, the Governor of South Australia
Sir George Grey KCB along with about 25 horsemen, hounds and ladies in carriages met for a day’s hunting, on this day a
wild dog
A free-ranging dog is a dog that is not confined to a yard or house. Free-ranging dogs include street dogs, village dogs, stray dogs, feral dogs, etc., and may be owned or unowned. The global dog population is estimated to be 900 million, of w ...
was the quarry. Without foxes to hunt, wild dogs,
kangaroo
Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern ...
s and
emu
The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the genus '' Dromaius''. The emu ...
s were the early quarry.
[Brown.]
Due to lack of support, hunting declined in Adelaide and the pack was dispersed in the 1850s but was revived in 1869 by a group of wealthy sportsmen led by
William Blackler, who imported sufficient
hounds
A hound is a type of dog that assists hunters by tracking or chasing the animal being hunted.
Hound may also refer to:
* Dog, any dog of the subfamily Caninae
Arts and entertainment
* ''Hounds'' (TV series), a 2012 television comedy series set ...
to form a pack.
The first hunt with his pack was held on 24 May of that year and attracted many interested huntsmen and spectators.
In 1871, after a dispute with the Club, Blackler withdrew his support, and at the instigation of James A. Ellery passed his pack to the newly-formed South-East (later Mount Gambier) Hunt Club.
Deer hunting was attempted on several occasions, but provided rather pedestrian sport and the most interesting riding was provided by
drag hunting
Drag hunting or draghunting is a form of equestrian sport, where mounted riders hunt the trail of an artificially laid scent with hounds.
Description
Drag hunting is conducted in a similar manner to fox hunting, with a field of mounted riders fol ...
, where an
aniseed
Anise (; '), also called aniseed or rarely anix is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae native to Eurasia.
The flavor and aroma of its seeds have similarities with some other spices and herbs, such as star anise, fennel, licorice, and t ...
scent trail was dragged over a course guaranteed to present challenges to the abilities of horse and rider.
[
The club is very closely linked with the city’s history with events such as the annual ball and steeplechase being social highlights of the new colony. The pack was originally kennelled at various locations on the Adelaide Plains although urban expansion meant they had to move in the late-1900s. The club's current kennels are located at Woodside in the Adelaide Hills.]
In 1901 Simpson Newland
Simpson Newland CMG (2 November 1835 – 27 June 1925), pastoralist, author and politician, was a pioneer in Australia who made significant contributions to development around the Murray River. He was also an author of practical works and novel ...
was president of the club, which at that time held regular meets in the Erindale area.
Officials
Masters (full title: Master of the Foxhounds, MFH) of the Adelaide Hounds included:
*1844: C. Campbell
*1847: Thomas Shayle
*1851, 1852: William van Sittart
*1855: Arthur Malcom
*1862: W. van Sittart
Masters of the Adelaide Hunt Club include:
:(Elections were held around April of each year)
*1869: William Blackler
*1870: E. G. Blackmore
*1871: William Blackler
*1872: H. E. Downer
*1873: Seth Ferry
Seth "The Master" Ferry (25 May 1839 – 20 October 1932) was a prominent rider, dealer, owner and trainer of racehorses in South Australia.
Biography
Seth Ferry was born at "Providence House", Ponders End, Lower Edmonton, Middlesex, where his pa ...
*1874: John Hart
*1875: Arthur Rait Malcom
*1876: John Hart
*1877–1878: Sir J. Lancelot Stirling
*1879: H. E. Downer
*1880-1881: Sir J. Lancelot Stirling
*1882: Harry Bickford
*1883–1884: James Hay (son of Alexander Hay)
*1885: E. G. Blackmore
*1886–1892: Allan Baker (son of John Baker)
*1893–1897: Frank H. Downer
Frank or Franks may refer to:
People
* Frank (given name)
* Frank (surname)
* Franks (surname)
* Franks, a medieval Germanic people
* Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang
Cur ...
*1898–1900: John Tennant Love
*1901–1904: H. C. Cave
*1905–1906: R. A. Sanders
*1907–1909: Carew Reynell
*1910–1912: W. S. Bright
*1913: K. Lister Colley, grandson of Richard Bowen Colley
*1914–1915: Ernest M. Luxmoore
*1919–1921: E. M. Luxmoore
*1922: J. J. Mortimer
*1923: E. M. Luxmoore
*1924–1928: Paul Teesdale Smith
*1929–1932: W. P. A. Lapthorne
*1933–1936: E. M. Luxmoore
*1937–1939: Francis C. Bickford
*1940: E. M. Luxmoore
:Recess during WWII
*1946–1948: Tom Downer
Tom or TOM may refer to:
* Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name)
Characters
* Tom Anderson, a character in '' Beavis and Butt-Head''
* Tom Beck, a character ...
*1949: T. H. Hawkes
*1950–1951: Keith Frayne
*1952–1954: James R. Balharry
Race meetings
The first Hunt Club race meeting was held at the Thebarton Course on 2 October 1869. Races held were: Hunt Club Cup, Amateur Flat Race, Hunters' Stakes and Hurry Skurry.
The meeting was held at the Adelaide Old Racecourse from 1870 to 1874, then Morphettville from 1875 to 1884; then the S.A.J.C. became insolvent and Morphettville was mortgaged and the Hunt Club held its meetings at the Old Course 1885 then back to Morphettville 1886 to 1914,
Victoria Park in 1915, then a break until 1919.
References
Bibliography
Adelaide Hunt Club website, ''www.adelaidehuntclub.com.au''
retrieved 2 October 2016.
retrieved 2 October 2016.
* Brown, Judith M., ''Town life in pioneer South Australia'', Rigby, 1980, {{ISBN, 9780727013347.
1840s establishments in Australia
Sports clubs established in the 1840s
Sporting clubs in Adelaide
Fox hunts in Australia
Hunting organizations