Mark Hanbury Beaufoy (21 September 1854 – 10 November 1922) was an English vinegar manufacturer and

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

member of parliament. He wrote ''A Father's Advice'', a famous piece of verse about gun safety.

Background and early life

The son of

Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...

George Beaufoy (1796–1864), and the grandson of Colonel

Mark Beaufoy Colonel Mark Beaufoy FRS (4 March 1764 – 4 May 1827) was an English astronomer and physicist, mountaineer, explorer and British Army officer. His father, Mark Beaufoy (1718–1782), who was originally from Evesham, established a vinegar fact ...

(1764–1827), Beaufoy, born in South Lambeth, London was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

and

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is the fifth-oldest surviving college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by ...

. The Beaufoys had been vinegar makers since the 1740s, when Colonel Mark Beaufoy's father, another Mark Beaufoy (1718–1782) who was originally from Evesham, established a vinegar plant at Cuper's Gardens, on a site which later formed part of

Waterloo Bridge Waterloo Bridge () is a road and foot traffic bridge crossing the River Thames in London, between Blackfriars Bridge and Hungerford Bridge and Golden Jubilee Bridges. Its name commemorates the victory of the British, Dutch and Prussians at t ...

. Despite being his father's youngest son, George Beaufoy succeeded to the vinegar works in 1851, when he retired from the Navy. The next year he married Anne Harvey, with whom he had three children. George Beaufoy died in 1864, leaving his business in trust for Beaufoy, his only son, who was then ten.''BEAUFOY, Mark Hanbury'' in ''Who Was Who 1897–2007'' online at
BEAUFOY, Mark Hanbury
' (subscription required), accessed 29 June 2008
at vauxhallsociety.org.uk, accessed 29 June 2008 By the time the business came into Beaufoy's hands, it was at number 87,

South Lambeth Road South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

, South

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area expe ...

, having moved there in 1810. The name Hanbury came into the Beaufoy family in 1743, when the Mark Beaufoy who founded the family firm married Elizabeth Hanbury, daughter of Capel Hanbury (died 1740) of

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

and

Pontymoile Pontymoile (Welsh: ''Pont-y-moel'') is a suburb of Pontypool in Torfaen, South Wales. It is all but merged with the nearby suburbs of Cwmynyscoy and Upper Race. It is a community of Torfaen, and includes the electoral wards of Brynwern, Cw ...

and of his wife Elizabeth Newton, an heiress. In 1930, Gwendolyn Beaufoy published ''Leaves from a Beech Tree'', a history of the Beaufoy family.

Career

Beaufoy supported the introduction of the

eight-hour day The eight-hour day movement (also known as the 40-hour week movement or the short-time movement) was a social movement to regulate the length of a working day, preventing excesses and abuses. An eight-hour work day has its origins in the 16 ...

for all employees and introduced it in his own vinegar works at Lambeth. In 1881, he chaired a meeting which founded the Church of England Central Society for Providing Homes for Waifs and Strays, later renamed the Church of England Children's Society, and now known as

The Children's Society The Children's Society, formally the Church of England Children's Society, is a United Kingdom national children's charity (registered No. 221124) allied to the Church of England. The charity's two governing objectives are to: # directly improv ...

. The object of the new organisation was "to rescue and care for children who are orphaned, homeless, cruelly treated or in moral danger, and to relieve over-burdened homes". A

in politics, Beaufoy was elected as member of parliament for the Kennington division of the

Metropolitan Borough of Lambeth Lambeth was a civil parish and metropolitan borough in south London, England. It was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey. The parish was included in the area of responsibility of the Metropolitan Board of Works in 1855 and became part of t ...

at a by-election on 15 March 1889 and was re-elected at the general election of 1892, holding the seat until 1895. He was also a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

. Beaufoy continued his family's support of the

City of London School , established = , closed = , type = Public school Boys' independent day school , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Alan Bird , chair_label = Chair of Governors , chair = Ian Seaton , founder = John Carpenter , speciali ...

. He also founded the Beaufoy Institute in Black Prince Road, Lambeth (later taken over by the

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

), to replace a 'ragged school' established by the Beaufoys before 1870. A stone plaque on the Beaufoy Institute reads: "This principal stone was laid by Mildred Scott Beaufoy wife of Mark Hanbury Beaufoy, Chairman of Governors, 21 February 1907. F. A. Powell Architect, Sculpt Nixon".

Football

In his youth Beaufoy was an amateur association football player, usually in position of

outside right Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

. He had played for Eton College and Cambridge University (although not as a 'Blue' in matches against Oxford). After university he played for the

Old Etonians F.C. The Old Etonians Association Football Club is an English association football club whose players are alumni of Eton College, in Eton, Berkshire. Having been a member of The Football Association and played several editions of the FA Cup, Old ...

, his most distinguished match being the 1879 FA Cup Final at

Kennington Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since it ...

when the Old Etonians beat

Clapham Rovers Clapham Rovers was from its foundation in 1869 a leading English sports organisation in the two dominant codes of football, association football and rugby union. It was a prominent club in the late 19th century but is now defunct. The club playe ...

1–0. At different times he ironically played for Clapham Rovers outside of the FA Cup ties when both clubs were rival competitors. He played in county matches for Surrey.

Shooting

Beaufoy began to shoot at the age of twenty and became an enthusiast for game shooting, preferring quality of game to quantity. He had his own shoot at Coombe House, near

Shaftesbury Shaftesbury () is a town and civil parish in Dorset, England. It is situated on the A30 road, west of Salisbury, near the border with Wiltshire. It is the only significant hilltop settlement in Dorset, being built about above sea level on a ...

, in the border country of

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

and

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

, consisting of about fifteen hundred acres, plus another five hundred which he rented. The land was ideal for

pheasant Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family Phasianidae in the order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera native range is restricted to Eurasia ...

shooting. Beaufoy also ran a second shoot at

Ashmore Ashmore is a village and civil parish in the North Dorset district of Dorset, England, southwest of Salisbury. The village is centred on a circular pond and has a church and several stone cottages and farms, many with thatched roofs. It is ...

in Dorset.Rose, R. N., ''The BEAUFOY VERSES'', in '' The Field'' dated 22 November 1956 online at
The BEAUFOY VERSES
', accessed 29 June 2008 Throughout the English-speaking world, shooting people are familiar with Beaufoy's verses on gun safety called ''A Father's Advice''. These begin: at geocities.com/rbeaufoy, accessed 29 June 2008
:"If a sportsman true you'd be :Listen carefully to me: :Never, never, let your gun :Pointed be at anyone..." Beaufoy had written the verses by Christmas, 1902, when they were given to his fifteen-year-old eldest son, Henry Mark Beaufoy, together with his first gun, a 28-bore. A hundred copies of the verses were printed and given to friends. ''A Father's Advice'' quickly became well known in shooting circles, but it was not always credited to Beaufoy. The verses appeared in many different publications, sometimes with Beaufoy's permission, more often without it. Gun-makers began to send ''A Father's Advice'' out with their cartridges, and a

gamekeeper A gamekeeper (often abbreviated to keeper), or in case of those dealing with deer (deer-)stalker, is a person who manages an area of countryside (e.g. areas of woodland, moorland, waterway or farmland) to make sure there is enough game for s ...

offered the verses to a

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

magazine, claiming to have written them. It was sometimes said they were by an officer killed in the

Boer war The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...

, and in a letter to ''

The Sporting Times ''The Sporting Times'' (founded 1865, ceased publication 1932) was a weekly British newspaper devoted chiefly to sport, and in particular to horse racing. It was informally known as ''The Pink 'Un'', as it was printed on salmon-coloured paper ...

'' they were attributed to the Reverend J. L. Browne, an

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...

headmaster. Browne replied to say they were not his, and in November 1910 Beaufoy himself wrote in to say he was the author, adding "Perhaps they have not been wholly useless – if so, I am amply rewarded". The verses were highly thought of on the royal shooting estate at

Sandringham Sandringham can refer to: Places * Sandringham, New South Wales, Australia * Sandringham, Queensland, Australia * Sandringham, Victoria, Australia **Sandringham railway line **Sandringham railway station **Electoral district of Sandringham * Sand ...

, and A. S. Gaye translated them into

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

Kennel Club

As a young man, Beaufoy kept

mastiff A mastiff is a large and powerful type of dog. Mastiffs are among the largest dogs, and typically have a short coat, a long low-set tail and large feet; the skull is large and bulky, the muzzle broad and short ( brachycephalic) and the ears dr ...

s and

bloodhound The bloodhound is a large scent hound, originally bred for hunting deer, wild boar and, since the Middle Ages, for tracking people. Believed to be descended from hounds once kept at the Abbey of Saint-Hubert, Belgium, in French it is called, ...

s and between 1920 and his death in 1922 he served as

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

The Kennel Club The Kennel Club ("KC") is the official kennel club of the United Kingdom. It is the oldest recognised kennel club in the world. Its role is to oversee various canine activities including dog shows, dog agility and working trials. It also oper ...

Marriage and children

In 1884, Beaufoy married Mildred Scott Tait, daughter of Robert Tait. They had one daughter, Margaret Hilda (born 1885) and three sons, Henry Mark (1887), George Maurice (1893), and Robert Harvey (1895). Henry Mark Beaufoy, later of Hill House,

Steeple Aston Steeple Aston is a village and civil parish on the edge of the Cherwell Valley, in the Cherwell District of Oxfordshire, England, about north of Oxford, west of Bicester, and south of Banbury. The 2011 Census recorded the parish populatio ...

in Oxfordshire, became

High Sheriff of Oxfordshire The High Sheriff of Oxfordshire, in common with other counties, was originally the King's representative on taxation upholding the law in Saxon times. The word Sheriff evolved from 'shire-reeve'. The title of High Sheriff is therefore much olde ...

in 1944. The youngest son, Robert, lost his left arm during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, but continued with his shooting, going on to become a good one-armed shot. The middle son, George Maurice Beaufoy, was killed on 10 May 1941 when a bomb fell on the family vinegar yard in Lambeth during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He was the last of the Beaufoys to manage the business.

Honours (civic)

High Sheriff of Wiltshire This is a list of the Sheriffs and (after 1 April 1974) High Sheriffs of Wiltshire. Until the 14th century, the shrievalty was held ''ex officio'' by the castellans of Old Sarum Castle. On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Go ...

, 1900 The Beaufoy Institute in London is named after him.

Honours (sports)

Old Etonians F.C. 1879 F.A. Cup Final (winner).

Notes and references

''The Dispossessed: An Aspect of Victorian Social History'' by Barbara Kerr (1974, John Baker, London) discusses the related Thornhill & Beaufoy families and the social changes in Victorian England following the industrial revolution.

External links

*
Beaufoys Vinegar Works, Lambeth
early 19th century watercolour at landmark.lambeth.gov.uk

online at ruger.com
Full text of 'A Father's Advice'
online at web site of

British Association for Shooting and Conservation The British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) is a registered society under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014, whose mission is to promote and protect sporting shooting and the well-being of the countrysid ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beaufoy, Mark Hanbury 1854 births 1922 deaths Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge High Sheriffs of Wiltshire Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies People educated at Eton College Members of London County Council UK MPs 1886–1892 UK MPs 1892–1895 Progressive Party (London) politicians Old Etonians F.C. players Association football forwards English footballers FA Cup Final players