Coo-ee is a regular column highlighting events in Benalla’s history.
Foxhunting became illegal in England in 2005.
In Victoria, foxes remain vermin and are widely spread throughout the state, but there are only 13 Victorian hunt clubs at the moment.
These hunt for foxes in the traditional English manner.
Together, these clubs accounted for only 650 foxes in 2005.
On the other hand, shooters killed 90,000 during the same year to claim the state bounty.
In 1891, Benalla had an active hunt club that pursued a modified form of the traditional fox hunt on Saturday afternoons.
Assembling in Bridge St for a bracing stirrup cup or two of brandy or port, the Benalla Hunt would then ride to the town boundary.
In the meantime, two men on fast horses laid down a “fox” trail through the countryside using pieces of paper.
These two “roadsters” always laid a trail that required any rider following them to negotiate a large number of stiff three-rail fences.
Usually, there were about 26 fences.
Gradually, the trail led back to the starting point at the town boundary.
These paper pieces did not appear to have a fox scent on them.
It is not apparent that the hunt used scent hounds.
There is no mention of hounds in the newspaper reports.
It seems that they may have relied on the riders sighting the white paper trail.
After 20 minutes, the riders set off in pursuit of the roadsters.
The objective was to catch the two before they made it back to the starting point.
Falls were common but seldom caused serious injury.
After a pleasant, but dangerous, Saturday afternoon spent steeplechasing and point-to-point racing over high fences, the hunt and its roadsters would adjourn to the home of one of the members.
Even in this modified form of foxhunt, participants wore red or pink coats, white jodhpurs and high black boots.
It also required valuable horseflesh if one were to avoid the perils of its many jumps.
This was a sport for the wealthy.
The only reports of the Benalla Hunt come from spring 1891, so the hunt may have lasted only a few months.
Charles Turnbull, the founder of and the most active participant in the Benalla Hunt, was a partner in a stock agency that ran Benalla and Wangaratta stockyard sales.
On one occasion, the hunt retired for refreshments to his home “Vaucluse” on the conclusion of the hunt.
His house still stands at the beginning of Baddaginnie Rd.
Turnbull’s prize runner in these hunts was “Sultan”.
Turnbull died in 1933 aged 66. He is buried in Benalla Cemetery.
Hunt members included Messrs. J. Lloyd, Coleman, J. Hoskings, P. Murphy, J.E. Sergeant, R. Hoskin, Cook, Chadwick, W. Grattan, McLuckie, Burness, Featherstonhaugh and H. Moore.
Captain J. E. Sergeant would be killed during the first day on Gallipoli.
What was worrying about the Benalla Hunt was that participants varied wildly in each newspaper report.
This suggested that men tried the Saturday outing once and did not bother again.
— John Barry, Coo-ee