OBITUARY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18879, 29 November 1924, Page 11

OBITUARY.

THE DUKE OF BEAUFORT.

A. and N.Z. LONDON. Nov. 27. The death has occurred of the Duke of Beaufort

The name of the Duke of Beaufort was inseparately bound up with foxhunting. He had hunted the Badminton since he was 21, and by those qualifield to judge he was declared to be the best amateur huntsman in England. Even during the years he was in tho Royal Horse Guards ho continued to be M.F.H., going backwards and forwards constantly between London and Chippenham. The Duke made a sensation in military circles by resigning his command of the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars (Imperial Yeomanry) because he objected to the wearing of khaki clothing and tho adoption of exposed Salisbury Plain as a camping ground. Ho did not see, ho said, why, becauso there had been a war in South Africa, the Hussars should be condemned to spend their time in wet tents, and why their smart and glorious uniforms, of which they were so proud, should be taken away that they might be dressed in khaki like a lot of convicts. For a long time oven his own officers could hardly believe him serious in his crusade, bnt doubts were set at rest by his resignation. Badminton, the stately country soat of the Duke of Beaufort, was built nearly six centuries ago by Henry Gower, Bishop of St. David's. It contains within its walls a collection of art treasures which it would be hard to rival, including splendid portraits of former members of the family, from John of Geunt downwards. Nowadays there is not the same state maintained at Badminton House as in the time of tho previous duke. Then a largo rotinno of servants seemed to be always on duty, and a manservant known as a " footman-in-waiting " was stationed in tho hall throughout tho day, and until the family retired to rest. Another grand seigneur custom of bygone Dukes of Beaufort was to engago a doctor to attend tho entire household at a fixed stipend of £500 a year, and this irrespective of his number of calls at Badminton House. Tho lats Duhe was born in 1847, and his heir ia tho Marquess of Worcester.