The South Devon Hunt or South Devon Foxhounds is a foxhound pack in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, England. The country spans an area entirely within the county of Devon, predominantly on the East side of Dartmoor, out to the sea. Traditionally, the country was the land between the

River Exe The River Exe ( ) in England rises at Exe Head, near the village of Simonsbath, on Exmoor in Somerset, from the Bristol Channel coast, but flows more or less directly due south, so that most of its length lies in Devon. It flows for 60 mil ...

and the

River Dart The River Dart is a river in Devon, England, that rises high on Dartmoor and flows for to the sea at Dartmouth. Name Most hydronyms in England derive from the Brythonic language (from which the river's subsequent names ultimately derive fr ...

from Exeter to Totnes.

History

Foundation by George Templer

Whilst hunting had almost certainly occurred in the area before, the South Devon Hunt was founded by landowner

George Templer George Templer (1781 – 12 December 1843) was a landowner in Devon, England, and the builder of the Haytor Granite Tramway. His father was the second James Templer (1748–1813) who had built the Stover Canal. He inherited the Stover estat ...

, the owner of the Stover estate in

Teigngrace Teigngrace is a civil parish centred on a hamlet that lies about two miles north of the town of Newton Abbot in Devon, England. According to the 2001 census, its population was 235, compared to 190 a century earlier. The western boundary of the p ...

. The exact date of formation is unknown, but by 1810 a number of hounds were drafted from Stover to the

Duke of Rutland Duke of Rutland is a title in the Peerage of England, named after Rutland, a county in the East Midlands of England. Earldoms named after Rutland have been created three times; the ninth earl of the third creation was made duke in 1703, in who ...

Belvoir Hunt The following is a list of foxhound packs in the United Kingdom, which are recognised by the Masters of Foxhounds Association. Fox hunting is prohibited in Great Britain by the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002 and the Hunting Act 2 ...

, in a rare instance of one of the country's pre-eminent traditional hunts bringing in hounds from another pack. This must mean that the hounds must have been of some quality, and presumbly had been bred so over a number of preceding years. Templer was focused on the chase, rather than catching the fox, and was known for catching the foxes alive after they had been run down by the hounds, where they were caught for release in the future. One fox, nicknamed "The Bold Dragoon" was noted to have been caught and released no fewer than thirty-six times. In 1826, Templer was forced to sell Stover following the collapse of his business under the costs of building the

Haytor Granite Tramway The Haytor Granite Tramway (also called Heytor) was a tramway built to convey granite from Haytor Down, Dartmoor, Devon to the Stover Canal. It was very unusual in that the track was formed of granite sections, shaped to guide the wheels of hor ...

, and the hunt took the only break in its history, with no meets in the 1826–7 season. Templer died at his new home of Sandford Orleigh,

Newton Abbot Newton Abbot is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the River Teign in the Teignbridge, Teignbridge District of Devon, England. Its 2011 population of 24,029 was estimated to reach 26,655 in 2019. It grew rapidly in th ...

in December 1843 following an accident in the hunting field.

Masters

The following have all been masters of the South Devon Hunt. * 18xx-1826 -

* 1827-1829 - John King of Fowlescombe * 1829-1843 - Sir Walter Palk Carew, 8th Baronet of

Haccombe Haccombe is a hamlet, former parish and historic manor in Devon, situated 2 1/2 miles east of Newton Abbot, in the south of the county. It is possibly the smallest parish in England, and was said in 1810 to be remarkable for containing only two ...

* 1843-1845 - Captain Martin E Haworth * 1845-1849 - Thomas Veale Lane * 1849-1851 - Sir Henry Paul Seale, 2nd

Baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

Mount Boone Mount Boone was an historic estate in the parish of Townstal, near Dartmouth in Devon. History In about 1630 the estate, the elevated position of which dominates the town of Dartmouth, was purchased by Thomas Boone, a Newfoundland merchant and M ...

* 1851-1856 - John Whidborne * 1856-1865 - Sir Henry Paul Seale (second mastership) * 1865-1875 - Thomas Westlake * 1875-1878 - Augustus F Ross Partition of the country ''Haldon side'' * 1878-1882 -

Lawrence Palk, 1st Baron Haldon Lawrence Palk, 1st Baron Haldon (5 January 1818 – 23 March 1883), known as Sir Lawrence Palk, 4th Baronet from 1860 to 1880, was a British Conservative Party politician. Biography Born in London, he was the son of Sir Lawrence Palk, 3rd Ba ...

* 1882-1884 - Edward Fairfax Studd, 4th

Netheravon Netheravon is a village and civil parish on the River Avon and A345 road, about north of the town of Amesbury in Wiltshire, South West England. It is within Salisbury Plain. The village is on the right (west) bank of the Avon, opposite Fittl ...

* 1884-1886 - Lord Haldon * 1886-1891 - Sir Edward Fairfax Studd (second mastership) * 1879-1882 - Augustus F Ross (second mastership) * 1882-1885 - John Whidborne (second mastership) ''Newton side'' * 1878-1879 - Mr E Fearnley Tanner * 1879-1882 - Augustus F Ross (second mastership) * 1882-1885 - Mr Whidborne Reunion * 1885-1893 - Dr Henry Searle Gaye * 1893-1897 -

Harold St Maur Major Richard Harold St Maur JP DL (pronounced "Seemer"; 6 June 1869 – 5 April 1927) was an unsuccessful claimant to the Dukedom of Somerset and briefly a Liberal Member of Parliament for Exeter, being unseated on an election petition by a ...

, MP * 1897-1901 - Robert Vicary and

Washington Singer Washington Merritt Grant Singer (1866–1934) was an American-born English heir, philanthropist and prominent racehorse owner. Biography Early life Born in Yonkers, New York he was the third child of Isabella Eugenie Boyer and sewing machine m ...

, Joint Masters * 1901-1907 -

* 1907-1913 -

Hubert Fawcett Brunskill Hubert is a Germanic masculine given name, from ''hug'' "mind" and '' beraht'' "bright". It also occurs as a surname. Saint Hubertus or Hubert (c. 656 – 30 May 727) is the patron saint of hunters, mathematicians, opticians, and metalworkers ...

Glazebrook House, South Brent Rixton-with-Glazebrook is a civil parish in the Borough of Warrington, Cheshire, England. Historically part of Lancashire, it lies to the east of Warrington and borders Cadishead, and is largely farmland. It has a railway station at Glazebrook ...

* 1913-1915 - Major JA Cooke-Hurle * 1915-1921 -

Herbert Whitley Herbert Whitley (1886 - September 15, 1955)Whitley wildlife Conservation Trust - History< ...

and William Whitley (Joint masters) * 1921-1930 - William Whitley * 1930-1931 - Major Gerald Achilles Burgoyne * 1931-1934 - Committee management * 1934-1938 - William Whitley and William Stadd * 1938-1953 - Claude Whitley (son of William Whitley) * 1953-1960 - Claude Whitley and Dennis Ferrens (joint masters) * 1960-1963 - Claude Whitley and Colonel AB Coote (joint masters) * 1963-1970 - Claude Whitley * 1970-1974 - Claude Whitley and Anthony Austin (joint masters) * 1974-1980 - Claude Whitley * 1980-1985 - * 1985-1991 - David Herring and Peter Ripman * 1991-19xx - Hugh Whitley (son of Claude Whitley) and Peter Ripman

Sabotage

The South Devon was amongst the first hunts to be subject to organised

hunt sabotage Hunt sabotage is the direct action that animal rights activists and animal liberation activists undertake to interfere with hunting activity. Anti-hunting campaigners are divided into hunt saboteurs and anti-hunt monitors to monitor for cruelty a ...

, with the formation in

Brixham Brixham is a coastal town and civil parish, the smallest and southernmost of the three main population centres (the others being Paignton and Torquay) on the coast of Torbay in the county of Devon, in the south-west of England. Commercial fish ...

of the

Hunt Saboteurs Association The Hunt Saboteurs Association (HSA) is a United Kingdom organisation that uses hunt sabotage as a means of direct action to stop fox hunting. It was founded in 1963, with its first sabotage event occurring at the South Devon Foxhounds on 26 Dec ...

in December 1963.

References

{{Reflist Fox hunts in England Fox hunts in the United Kingdom Sport in Devon