The Estate - Bevendean History Project
Obituary for Mr. Steyning Beard
DEATH OF WELL-KNOWN SUSSEX SPORTSMAN
MR. STEYNING BEARD, J.P.
FORMER MASTER OF HARRIERS PASSES AWAY AT HOVE
The
death occurred yesterday morning, as the result of a paralytic seizure,
of Mr. Steyning Beard, J.P., at his residence, 20, Denmark-villas, Hove.MR. STEYNING BEARD, J.P.
FORMER MASTER OF HARRIERS PASSES AWAY AT HOVE
A large land-owner and a first-class sportsman, Mr. Beard was for many years one of the beat-known and most popular men in Sussex. Born at Ovingdean in 1845, in 1870 he went to Rottingdean, buying Down House, where he lived until about five years ago, when, as the result of a serious accident, he came to reside in Hove. The year he moved to Rottingdean he married Miss Murrell, daughter of Dr. Murrell, of Lewes, and they had four sons; Charles Steyning, Ernest Percival, Bertram Ferryman, and Ralph Thomas. In 1894 he married again, his second wife being the daughter of Colonel Marshall Phillips, and there is one daughter, Dulcia, by the marriage. Deceased's only relative outside his own family was his cousin, Mr. George Beard, of Lewes.
Mr. Beard was a very large landowner; his possessions comprised the major part of the parishes of Ovingdean, Rottingdean and Telscombe, including the historic Ovingdean Grange, in addition to a considerable amount of land in the parish of Falmer. At one time he himself farmed between 2,000 and 3,000 acres, but he ceased in 1880 to take an active part in agriculture, beyond carrying on the farms that were from time to time vacant.
A WELL KNOWN SPORTSMAN
Mr.
Beard took the very greatest interest sport, in many branches of which
he played a leading part. He was perhaps best known as Master of the
Brookside Harriers; one of the oldest packs in the country, if not the
oldest, its records going back to the early part of the eighteenth
century. He was a hard cross-country rider, and a wonderfully clever
huntsman, having & thorough knowledge of the run of a hare, and he
filled the always difficult position of Master with a success that
might have led those with no experience of the work to suppose that the
traditional difficulties of managing a hunt were vastly exaggerated. At
the termination of his 32 years of Mastership, in 1902, before the
amalgamation of the pack with the Brighton Harriers, a subscription was
started to provide some recognition of his services. No less a sum than
£152 was subscribed in a very short period, and a handsome silver
bowl and a cheque for £103 were presented to Mr. Beard at the Old
Ship Hotel, Brighton, on the afternoon of 27th March, 1902. Mr.
Augustus C. Lee presided at the gathering, and in making the
presentation be said it was the gift of some thirty old members of the
Hunt who wished to recognize Mr. Beard’s great services and the
excellent sport with which for over thirty years he had provided them.Mr. Beard expressed his surprise and pleasure at the receipt of the gift. The time he had spent with the Brookside, he said, had perhaps been the happiest of his life, and during the long period of his Mastership not a single unpleasant incident had happened in the field, and that he thought was a great thing for any Master of Hounds to be able to say.
AN OWNER OF RACEHORSES
A
keen follow of racing, up to about fifteen years ago Mr. Steyning Beard
was a large racehorse owner his trainer being Prince, of Lewes. The
best-known animal that passed through his stable was Favo, who won him
a lot of good races. Favo afterwards became a famous sire, but Mr.
Beard had unfortunately accepted a good offer for him before he went to
stud. Another branch of sport in which Mr. Beard took a great interest,
and also personally excelled, was cricket. He played for the Gentlemen
of Sussex on several occasions, and was a generous supporter of the
County Club, being a member of the Committee for a great number of
years.He was also a first class shot, and it was while engaged in that sport that he sustained the accident which cut short his active career, and no doubt played a considerable part in the break-down of his health which ultimately resulted in his death. He was recommencing shooting after luncheon when a beagle ran between his legs, throwing him down and breaking his ankle. The fracture could never be set and it was in order to undergo treatment for the injury that Mr. Beard removed to Brighton. All the doctors efforts, however, proved unavailing, and the enforced inactivity must have exceedingly irksome to a man of his hitherto active and vigorous mode of life.
Mr. Beard also took a considerable share the public life of the district. He became a member of the East Sussex County Council when that body was formed, and sat for Rottingdean until he was elected an Alderman, but was compelled by ill health to resign in 1905. As a magistrate he was a regular attendant at the Lewes Bench, and he also acted as Chairman of the Rottingdean Parish Council, and as a member of the Newhaven Rural Council and Board of Guardians.
The funeral will take place at Rottingdean Church on Thursday at two o’clock.
From: The Sussex Daily News on 14 December 1909
Charles Steyning Beard photographed in 1905
Funeral of Charles Steyning Beard at Rottingdean
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