The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1882-04-04
IN. Y. Tribuns.l
. Typical English Peer

Thomas Egerton, second earl Of Wilton and
Viscount Grey de Wilton in the peersge of the
United Kingdom, whose death in his SD year
is announced, was the second son Of Robert
Grosvenor, first marquis of Westminster, who
married Tin 179f Lady Eleanor Egerton.
daughter and heir OF Thomas, first earl of Will
ton. The titles held by the earl were created
10 1901. The late earl held the grand cross Of
the Guelphs of Hanover, and of the first or
der of Saxony, was privy counselor. colonel
of the Queens OwnTower Hamlets light infan-
try militia regiment, commodore in the Roy
al yacht squadron, and doctor of civil laws.
He was born December 30, 1893, and succeeded
his maternal grandfather, September %, 1898.
He was married to his first wife, Lady Mary
Margaret Stanley, Fourth daughter Of Edward,
twelfth earl of Derby,) November 20. 1921. She
died December 16, 1853. and on December II,
1868, he married Isabella, only child OF the late
Major Elton Smith, Madras army.
Lord Wilton was not 15 years of age, when,
being then Westminster school-boy, he enter
ed upon possession of Heaton park and the
property surrounding it. The proximity OF Man.
chester and the prudent husbandry and thrift
of the owner of Heaton have not lessened the
annual rent roll OF an estate which Is greatly
enhanced In value by the vast commercial city
lying outside of its gates. Lord Wilton has
never been accustomed to pass more than .
fractional part of each year at Heaton. In bis
eyes that estate, and more especially since the
extinction Of Heaton park races, for which be
has no one but himself to blame, never possess
ed such attractions as Doncaster, Newmarket
and many another race course, or London,
Cowes and Melton-M -Mowbray(his seat in Leices-
tershire).
Charles Sheridan, the accomplished author
OF "The Chariot of Achilles'-in which the
fashionable notabilities OF his day were lam
pooned tine complex and anomalous character
of the earl OF Wilton was puzzle and an enig-
ma. 1t was in these words that, when Lord
Wilton was in his seth year, Sheridan sang OF
him.-
"Next. upon switch-tailed nag with wandering eye
Attenuated Wilton canters by,
His character, how difficult to knowl
compound of psalm-tunes and tally-ho;
forward rider half inclined to preach,
Though less disposed to practice than to teach
An amorous lover with sanity twist
And now jockey, now an organist."
Fox-hunter, race-rider, Lothario, psalm
singer, composer of sacred music, and organ
ist-such were Lord Wilton's hetero-
geneous characteristics as they appeared to the
keen eyes Of his not unfriendly critic in 1888.
1t seems to have escaped Sheridan 8 notice that
from the days of his youth Lord Wilton had
displayed taste and aptitude for surgury, and
had walked the London hospitals as an anna
teur medical student. When the first railroad
was opened in England (September Is, 1830D
Lord Wilton was one Of the passengers on the
train that carried the Duke OF Wellington
(then prime minister), Mr.. Huskisson, one OF
the members OF Parliament for Liverpool, and
other celebrities. 1t was on that occasion that
Mr., Huskisson was run down by the engine
"Rocket," as the several trains passed in re-
view before the prime minister. The first per-
son to lift the injured person from the ground
wvs Lord Wilton, who at once applied the
knowledge he had gained in the London hos
pitals But despite Lord Wilton's prompt and
skillful surgical assistance, Mr.. Huskisson died
some II hours after the accident. Lord Will
ton was to be seen each August at Cowes,
where no face was better known than his.
Like his old friend, George Bentinck. nj. r. OF
West Norfolk, who goried in being "the old
est certifcated master in her majesty mercan-
tile marine" Lord Wilton has never been
mere amateur sailor, but has repeatedly stood
across the Bay of Biscay and carried his yacht
into almost every Mediterranean port. For
the last 80 or 60 years no follower OF the hound
across the Leicesteshire pastures was ever moro
certain TO be in the van than Lord Wilton.
Tall, wiry, sinewy, with legs like lamp-post,
and hands not less exquisitely fine than the
spider's touch, which "feels at each thread and
lives along the line," Lord Wilton, II may be
safely said never had superior and rarely
equal, among those representative sportsmen
whom generation after generation Melton has
set 1Ortl at the DoSluuluS VI odcu ooaoont W
meet the hounds on opening day at Ashley
Gate.
II is at Egerton lodge. Melton-Mowb
where he has, perhaps, the most perfect hunt
ing-box and stables in existence, that the hap
piest hours of Lord Wilton's long life have been
passed. He bought the place about IA years
after he became peer, and at once made ex-
tensiye improvements. A short time ago, when
it was evident that increasing years had de-
prived his knees of that firm grip upon the sad
VI 1T et.h ho, hoo
while announcing his intention OF passing
some portion of each winter at Egerton lodge:
"At least If / can no longer ride to hounds as
of yore, can die at the place which love
best on earth" Upon the turf, OF which no
has been patron as long as any man now iiv-
ing it can hardly be claimed that Lord Wilton
has been as uniformly popular as In the hunt
ing field As gentleman rider he was famous
and when he bestrode Lord Eglindon's "Dr.
Caius''-a vicious horse that had proved too
much for the best jockeys of the day and man
aged the ungenerous brute's mouth SO well that
he steered him to victory, Tom Dawson declar-
ed there was not such another jockey in Eng
land. As an owner of race-horses Lord Wilton
was most successful as competitor for hand-
caps His stable policy was always too crafty
and secretive to make his victories widely pop
ular.
The lsurels won by Lord Wilton in literature
will hardly prove OF an enduring character.
Some one has said that worse book than his
Sports and Pursuits of the English" bas rare
ly been published. This work is o lame at
tempt to prove that Magma Charta, trial by
jury, the impartial administration OF justice,
and the general prosperity and freedom OIL En-
glishmen are due to their love OF fox-hunting
horse-racing football and cricket. The gram
mar of the work is not to the credit OF the doc
tor of ciyil-law. 1t is as q rider on the fiat and
across country that Lord Wilton's best claim TO
be remembered rests.