Pau Hunt


The Pau Hunt was established in 1842 by the Société d’Encouragement as a spectacle authorized by the government of Louis Philippe to hunt predatory animals such as wolves and foxes. Internationally, the Pau Hunt, dominated by American and British Masters, was one of the most renown hunts until the breakout of World War II. Its country, between Gardères and the hills surrounding Pau was nicknamed “Leicestershire in France”.
Innovative hunt masters and committee members organized their first recorded drag hunt in 1847. They organized the capture of game and its later release at meets as early as the 1850s, cross country matches and point-to-point races in the 1890s.
In 1947 the association reorganized as the "Pau Hunt Drags". Continuing its tradition of drag hunting, meets are held in unplanted fields with the expressed permission of amiable property owners.
A plethora of private photos, articles, publications, photos and works of art during its heyday are housed in private collections, including the collection of the English Club of Pau.

List of Masters at Tarbes

  • 1832 to 1839: Royal Wolfcatcher Mr. Dupont
  • 1839 to 1842: Sir Henry Chudleigh Oxenden

    List of Masters of the Pau Hounds

Masters at Pau

  • 1842 Sir Henry Chudleigh Oxenden offers pack to French and British friends at Pau in November.
  • 1842 to 1844: Mr. J. Cornwall. Kennels at Pontacq.
  • 1844 to 1845: Mr. Charles Whyte of Pilton House
  • 1845 to 1847: Mr. William Standish and Mr. Pery Standish
  • 1846: New kennel at Soumoulou built by Pery Standish
  • 1847 to 1854: Mr. Jasper Hall Livingston
  • 1848 French Revolution of 1848 No hunting at Pau.
  • 1854: Livingston sold pack to Richard Francis Lalor Power who moved them to Lescar.
  • 1854 to 1863: Mr. Richard Francis Lalor Power
  • 1857 Kennels moved to new Power residence at Billère Lodge, later Villa Séguier now demolished.
  • 1864 to 1867: Captain Philip Savage Alcock
  • 1867: First Kennel Committee meeting minutes
  • 1868 to 1873: Mr. Jasper Hall Livingston
  • 1868: New Pack. Kennels moved to Livingston residence at Villa Dampierre
  • 1868: First recorded General Meeting held at the English Club
  • 1870-1871: Franco-Prussian War. No Hunting at Pau.
  • 1873 to 1874: Major William Henry Cairnes
  • 1874 to 1875: Mr. William George Tiffany
  • 1874: Kennels at Tiffany and Norman Story residence at Villa Navarre
  • 1875: New kennel at Villa le Petit-Chantilly today's lycée Saint-Dominique
  • 1875: Death of Norman Story and Founding of the Société de la chasse à courre
  • 1875 to 1878: Major William Henry Cairnes
  • 1878 to 1879: Lord William Saint Lawrence, Earl of Howth
  • 1879 to 1880: John Stewart with a competing hunt mastered by Count of Bari
  • 1880: Liquidation of the Société de la chasse à courre. Pack becomes property of the town of Pau.
  • 1880 to 1882: Mr. James Gordon Bennett Jr., New and separate pack. Kennel location unknown.
  • 1882: Refounding of the Société de la chasse à courre. Second pack given to the town of Pau.
  • 1882 to 1883: Mr. Thomas G. Burgess
  • 1883 to 1884: Mr. Neilson Winthrop
  • 1884 to 1885: Mr. Frederick William Maude
  • 1885 to 1888: Sir Victor Brooke
  • 1888 to 1890: Mr. William Knapp Thorn Jr.
  • 1890 to 1891: Lt.-Col. Talbot Crosbie
  • 1891: Today's kennels offered to the town of Pau by Sophia Vanderbilt Torrance in memory of Alfred Torrance.
  • 1891 to 1893: Mr. Frederick William Maude
  • 1893 to 1896: Baron Robert Lejeune
  • 1896 to 1899: Arthur Smyth Este "Baron d'Este"
  • 1899 to 1900: Baron d'Este and Mr. Charles Henry Ridgway
  • 1900 to 1901: Baron d'Este
  • 1901 to 1903: Mr. Charles Henry Ridgway
  • 1903 to 1905: Mr. Charles Henry Ridgway and Mr. John Harvey Wright Jr.
  • 1905 to 1910: Mr. Charles Henry Ridgway
  • 1910 to 1939: Mr. Frederick Henry Prince
  • 1914 to 1918: Horses were requisitioned for World War I. No hunt at Pau.
  • 1939: Horses were requisitioned for World War II. No hunt at Pau for eight years.
  • 1847: Founding of the Société d'Encouragement Pau Hunt Drags after WWII
  • 1948 to 1959: Mr. Renaud du Vivier
  • 1960 to 1976: Baron Jean d'Ariste
  • 1976 to 2000: Mr. George Claverie
  • 2000 to 2019: Mr. George Moutet
  • 2019 to 2020: Mr. Bernard Casenave
  • 2021 to 2020: Mr. Jean-Paul Vidailhet