They accomplished three things for the E.C.H. They built the new kennels, they bought a new pack of hounds, and last, but by no means least, they secured the services of George Champion as kennel huntsman. And in their time also the services of the late Mr. R. S. de Havilland were enlisted as treasurer for the Hunt; services which were invaluable, in spite of his repeated protests that he had next to nothing to do. A great deal of work devolved on him; the control of the finance, and the auditing of the accounts; occasional visits to angry farmers; the task of general representative of beagling for the Head Master, and the duty of warding off the attacks of the now defunct “Humanitarian League,” a duty in which he suffered a great deal of unjust abuse; all these and many other tasks were patiently and successfully undertaken by him.
The building of the new kennels was the first accomplishment of the Grenfells. The scheme had been suggested by their brother, R. S. Grenfell, in 1894; and proceedings had even gone so far as for circulars to be printed, but difficulties arose as to the Army Examination, and he had to leave too soon. This brother had been killed at Omdurman in 1898, but his idea did not die with him, and directly Francis Grenfell was appointed Master he began the task of raising sufficient money for the building of real kennels.
FRANCIS AND RIVERSDALE GRENFELL.
These kennels were an ambitious task for two boys to undertake, for Rivvy, Francis’s brother, had a big share in the work. Circulars were sent out to Masters of Hounds asking for money and advice, an appeal was put in the Chronicle, and in a very short time £689 0s. 10d. had been collected and the building began.
A site was secured from the College authorities for a nominal rent; and experts were sent to give their advice. Lord Coventry sent the kennel huntsman of the Queen’s Staghounds. The Head Master (Dr. Warre), the Bursar, Mr. R. S. de Havilland, the Huntsman and the Twins all proceeded to the proposed site, and Mr. de Havilland told me he remembered how Francis, wishing to tip the visitor and having no money on him, boldly approached Dr. Warre and asked him to lend him a sovereign, which the Head Master gave with his most amused smile.
The kennels were built on clay on the advice of several Masters of Hounds. Lord Lonsdale wrote a letter showing how clay and lime should be put down and how the foundations should be set. Others that gave advice were Lord Willoughby de Broke, the late Duke of Beaufort, the late Lord Chesham, Sir Ian Heathcoat Amory, Mr. J. Arkwright and Mr. Godfrey Heseltine. They were modelled on the kennels of Mr. W. H. Grenfell (now Lord Desborough), of Taplow Court, where he kept a pack of harriers for ten years, and where the Old Berkeley Foxhounds were kennelled for some time. Everything that was defective in the original was corrected in the copy.
The buildings were finished on February 26th, 1899, and were occupied a week later. In the meantime a difficulty had arisen about the hounds remaining at Lock’s in the High Street. So they were removed to a barn on Agar’s Plough for the time being. It was a great day for the E.C.H. when on March 3rd they were established for the first time in their own kennels with their own whole-time kennel huntsman. The building of the new kennels cost £574 3s. 2d., leaving a balance of £114 17s. 8d. In the meanwhile an excellent letter appeared in the Chronicle of November 17th, 1898.
“Dear Sir,—As no small amount of controversy is at the present time taking place on the standard of height best suited to show sport to a field one and all mounted on shanks’ mare, I understand that there will shortly be new kennels at Eton maintained by the School in a satisfactory and orthodox manner, and I hope in some years they will give shelter to one of the best packs of beagles in England. I feel that this might be a suitable time to suggest: