Radnor Hunt is the oldest continuous fox-hunting club in the United States recognized by the

Masters of Foxhounds Association of North America The Masters of Foxhounds Association of North America, first established in 1907 as the Masters of Foxhounds Association of America, and commonly abbreviated to MFHA, is an association promoting the activities and interests of fox hunting in the Un ...

Overview

Radnor Hunt was founded in 1883 in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

.Radnor Hunt: About Us
/ref>Digby Baltzell, ''The Protestant Establishment Revisited'', Piscataway, New Jersey:

Transaction Publishers Transaction Publishers was a New Jersey-based publishing house that specialized in social science books and journals. It was located on the Livingston Campus of Rutgers University. Transaction was sold to Taylor & Francis in 2016 and merged with ...

, 1999, p. 10

/ref> A property was purchased on the corner of Darby-Paoli and Roberts Roads in

Newtown Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania Newtown Township is a township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Prior to 1789 it was part of Chester County. The population was 12,216 as of the 2010 census, and was 19,705 as of 2017. History The first mention of the township was in 1684, ...

, and it became the club headquarters. From its early days, it attracted members of prominent families from

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

and the

Philadelphia Main Line The Philadelphia Main Line, known simply as the Main Line, is an informally delineated historical and social region of suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Lying along the former Pennsylvania Railroad's once prestigious Main Line, it runs no ...

, also known as "

Old Philadelphians Old Philadelphians, also called Proper PhiladelphiansSee generally, Baltzell, Nalle , "Puritan Boston and Quaker Philadelphia" and "Philadelphia Gentlemen: The Making of a National Upper Class." or Perennial Philadelphians, are the First Families o ...

". For example,

Alexander Cassatt Alexander Johnston Cassatt (December 8, 1839 – December 28, 1906) was the seventh president of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), serving from June 9, 1899, to December 28, 1906. Family and early life Alexander Cassatt was born on December 8, ...

(1839–1906), the seventh president of the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...

(PRR), was a founding member. The first President was James Rawle of the

J. G. Brill Company The J.G. Brill Company manufactured streetcars,Young, Andrew D. (1997). ''Veteran & Vintage Transit'', p. 101. St. Louis: Archway Publishing. interurban coaches, motor buses, trolleybuses and railroad cars in the United States for almos ...

, and the first Master of Foxhounds was Horace B. Montgomery. Later, Samuel D. Riddle (1861–1951) joined the club. In 1931, architect Arthur Ingersoll Meigs (1882-1956), who was a member of the hunt, restored the Gallagher Farm on Boot Road (now Providence Road) in White Horse, Pennsylvania as well as new stables and kennels. It became the new club headquarters. The club is recognized by the

Masters of Foxhounds Association of America The Masters of Foxhounds Association of North America, first established in 1907 as the Masters of Foxhounds Association of America, and commonly abbreviated to MFHA, is an association promoting the activities and interests of fox hunting in the Un ...

. Memberships are cited in the

Social Register The ''Social Register'' is a semi-annual publication in the United States that indexes the members of American high society. First published in the 1880s by newspaper columnist Louis Keller, it was later acquired by Malcolm Forbes. Since 2014, it ...

.Edward Digby Baltzell, ''Philadelphia Gentlemen: The Making of a National Upper Class'', Piscataway, New Jersey: Transaction Publishers, 1989, p. 36

/ref>

Leadership

*President: Janice Murdoch .Abbott Takes Over Reins of Steeplechase Association
''

The Blood-Horse ''BloodHorse'' is a multimedia news organization covering Thoroughbred racing and breeding that started with a newsletter first published in 1916 as a monthly bulletin put out by the Thoroughbred Horse Association.

'', January 23, 2007 *Vice President: J. Wesley Hardin. *Treasurer: Stephen E. Flynn II *Secretary: Jane Taylor.

Bibliography

*Collin F. McNeil, ''Bright Hunting Morn: The 125th Anniversary of the Radnor Hunt'' (New York, New York:

The Derrydale Press The Derrydale Press was an American book publishing company founded in 1927 with headquarters on Park Ave. in Manhattan, New York. It was the creation of Princeton University graduate Eugene V. Connett III (1891–1969). He told ''Time'' magazine ...

, 2009)

References

{{Reflist Fox hunting 1880s in Pennsylvania Upper class culture in Pennsylvania