Radnor Hunt is the oldest continuous fox-hunting club in the United States recognized by the Masters of Foxhounds Association of North America.
Overview Radnor Hunt was founded in 1883 in Pennsylvania.Radnor Hunt: About UsDigby Baltzell, The Protestant Establishment Revisited, Piscataway, New Jersey: Transaction Publishers, 1999, p. 101 A property was purchased on the corner of Darby-Paoli and Roberts Roads in Newtown Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and it became the club headquarters.
From its early days, it attracted members of prominent families from Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Main Line, also known as "Old Philadelphians".Miriam Ascarelli, Independent Vision: Dorothy Harrison Eustis and the Story of the Seeing Eye, West Lafayette, Indiana: Purdue University Press, 2010, p. 9 Nathaniel Burt, Perennial Philadelphians: The Anatomy of an American Aristocracy, Little, Brown and Company, 1963 (reprinted 1999), pp. 285-295 For example, Alexander Cassatt (1839–1906), the seventh president of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), was a founding member. The first President was James Rawle of the J. G. Brill Company, and the first Master of Foxhounds was Horace B. Montgomery. Later, Samuel D. Riddle (1861–1951) joined the club.Edward L. Bowen, Man O' War, Lexington, Kentucky: Eclipse Press, 2000, p. 84
M. Roy Jackson served as master of foxhounds for Radnor Hunt from 1929 to 1944.
In 1931, architect Arthur Ingersoll Meigs (1882–1956), who was a member of the hunt, restored the Gallagher Farm on Boot Road (now Providence Road) in White Horse, Pennsylvania as well as new stables and kennels. It became the new club headquarters.
The club is recognized by the Masters of Foxhounds Association of America. Memberships are cited in the Social Register.Edward Digby Baltzell, Philadelphia Gentlemen: The Making of a National Upper Class, Piscataway, New Jersey: Transaction Publishers, 1989, p. 363
Leadership President: Janice Murdoch .Abbott Takes Over Reins of Steeplechase Association, The Blood-Horse, January 23, 2007 Vice President: J. Wesley Hardin. Treasurer: Stephen E. Flynn II Secretary: Jane Taylor.
Bibliography Collin F. McNeil, Bright Hunting Morn: The 125th Anniversary of the Radnor Hunt (New York, New York: The Derrydale Press, 2009)
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