PMP2000 > Places > Charnwood History

FAMOUS PEOPLE

HUGO MEYNELL (d 1808)
"The Father of English Fox-Hunting" was born at Bradley Park, Derbyshire in either 1727 or 1735. When his father died in 1751, he inherited the family estates in Derbyshire and Staffordshire and moved to QUORN HALL two years later.

The Hall was at first rented from EARL FERRERS but MEYNELL bought both it and the Earl's horses and hounds fairly soon afterwards. Before this time, hunting in this area was dominated by THOMAS BOOTHBY of Tooley Park but MEYNELL extended hunting rights to an area stretching from NOTTINGHAM to MARKET HARBOROUGH. He built kennels at QUORN and is thought to have collaborated with ROBERT BAKEWELL of DISHLEY on the breeding of a new strain of fox-hound.

MEYNELL married his first wife, ANNE GELL in 1754 and the couple had one son, GODFREY. After her death in 1757, MEYNELL married ANN BOOTHBY SKRYMSHIRE, the grand-daughter of his hunting predecessor THOMAS BOOTHBY. This marriage resulted in two further sons, HUGO and CHARLES.

MEYNELL, a lover of music and the theatre, was a lavish entertainer at QUORN HALL and was also known for his charitable work for the poor of the area. His public life began in 1758 when he became High Sheriff of Derbyshire. This was followed by periods as MP for Lichfield (1761-68); MP for Lymington (1774) and MP for Stafford (1778). From 1770 to 1772 he is also reported to have been Master of the Royal Stag Hounds.

MEYNELL's son HUGO took over the management of the kennels in the 1790s but he was killed in a hunting accident in 1800. The same year, MEYNELL gave up the Mastership of the QUORN HUNT and sold QUORN HALL to LORD SEFTON who succeeded him as Master. MEYNELL moved into a cottage he had built near to the kennels and continued to hunt with the QUORN until his death in December 1808.