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The Badsworth Hunt
Now known as the Badsworth and Bramham Moor Foxhounds
The following is reproduced from 'Hunting in Yorkshire' a Field Sports Publication (c. 1962)
The publication is available on CD-ROM - visit www.foxhunters.net for details.
The Badsworth Hounds by David Dalby
The Badsworth, the southernmost Yorkshire Hunt, extends from Pontefract to the Derbyshire borders, and consists chiefly of plough and pasture, with a certain amount of woodland, mostly fenced with quick, but with walls and timber on the western side. This is probably the oldest established Hunt in Yorkshire, taking its name from Badsworth Hall, about five miles south of Pontefract, the seat of Mr. Thomas Bright, who inherited the Badsworth estates from his grandfather in 1720, and then founded the Badsworth Hunt. The doings of Mr. Bright have been immortalised in one of those old hunting ballads, "An account of an excellent fox chase performed by Mr. Bright's hounds," dated 1730, which follows the usual pattern of such effusions, bringing in the names of all the field, each of whom seems to have cheered his own particular hound, which suggests that the pack was trencher-fed.
In 1735, Mr. Bright handed over the country to a Mr. Spencer, who hunted the country for a considerable time, ending his Mastership with a flourish; for on his last day he found a fox at Haw Park, and killed him at Bolsterton on the Derbyshire border. He then sold his hounds to Lord Darlington.
For the next few season there appear to have been several private packs. in the Badsworth country. Sir Roland Winn and his son had hounds at Nostell, while not far away Mr. Godfrey Wentworth had a pack at Woolley Hall. At the other end of the country Mr. William Wrightson seems to have taken a hand. He eventually joined forces with Mr. Wentworth, and eventually took over entire management of the pack. Between 1769 and 1783 Lord Darlington appears to have visited the Badsworth country with his Raby hounds. Another name to be mentioned is that of Sir Edward Smith. After Sir Edward came Sir Thomas Pilkington, while Sir Rowland Winn again appears to have hunted round Nostell, near Wakefield.