A tribute to Frank Freeman and the Badby Wood Run of 1911

The Frank Freeman blog

On 11th March 2011 there will be a celebration of the Centenary of the Hunt with the Pytchley Hounds from Badby Wood to Bucknell’s Wood which occurred on 11th March 1911. There will be a dinner at Holdenby House on Thursday 10 March 2011 followed by a ride the following day. These events will honour the memory of Frank Freeman and his first Master of the Pytchley, Luke Annaly.

Anybody who would be interested in attending either the dinner or the ride may email: robinlcsa@aol.com

Holdenby House

Just across the Northamptonshire fields from Althorp lies Holdenby House, a stately home whose royal connections go back over 400 years. Built by Sir Christopher Hatton to entertain Elizabeth I, it became the Palace of James I and the prison of his son, Charles I. Now a family home, the house is the splendid backdrop to a beautiful garden and Falconry Centre, where visitors can watch birds of prey soar over the scene of so much history. Six miles from Northampton, Holdenby is a magnificent venue for corporate events and conferences, film and TV shoots and weddings.

Who was Frank Freeman?

Lord Annaly, who lived at Holdenby, had already been Master of the Pytchley for four years when he appointed Frank Freeman as Huntsman in 1906, and although Annaly retired in 1914 Freeman went on to hunt the Hounds until 1931. Freeman was 29 years old and had only hunted Hounds for two seasons in Yorkshire but before the end of his first season he had killed criticism by showing the best season’s sport the Pytchley white collars had seen for years. So strongly was Freeman supported that whatever he did was considered right. His first eight seasons with Annaly was “the perfect combination of Master and Huntsman who each in his own sphere will never be excelled” wrote Isaac Bell in The Huntsman’s Logbook of 1947.

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Who was Frank Freeman?

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