Countryside Alliance remembers Captain Ian Farquhar LVO

The hunting world is in mourning after news that Captain Ian Farquhar LVO, one of the most prominent huntsmen and hound breeders of his generation, passed away peacefully at home on 6 March 2024.

Born in Dorset in 1945 to a hunting family, Ian was educated at Ludgrove and Eton. Sandhurst followed and in 1966 he was commissioned into the Queen’s Own Hussars, serving in the UK, Middle East, Aden and the Far East. In 1971, he became an equerry to HM Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, a post he held for two years.

Ian left the army in 1973 to become master of the Bicester with Warden Hill, hunting their hounds for 12 seasons. In 1985, Ian was invited to become joint-master and huntsman of the Duke of Beaufort’s Hunt, hunting hounds four days a week until 2010 when he retired as huntsman, remaining a joint-master until 2019.

Ian was a renowned breeder of foxhounds with the Beaufort bloodlines in demand worldwide. In 2006, a Beaufort doghound won a record sixth consecutive championship at the Peterborough Royal Foxhound Show. As a past vice-chairman of the Masters of Foxhounds Association, Ian was greatly involved in the political and organisational aspects of hunting, working closely with the Countryside Alliance of which he was a great supporter.

He recently published his first book, The Way It Was, in which Baroness Mallalieu, the President of the Countryside Alliance wrote: “In the world of hunting, Ian Farquhar is quite simply a legend. He is the predominant hound breeder and huntsman of his generation. His story told in these memoirs goes way beyond that. It is told by a man with immense charm, bravery, outstanding kindness, and a sense of fun, but above all, with an all-consuming passion for an occupation of which so many have no knowledge or understanding. Ian is a man with an exceptional gift – an ability to command the respect and affection of both men and animals and to work together with both as a team. He knew his farming communities as friends and neighbours and did a job they needed brilliantly.”

The thoughts of all those at the Countryside Alliance are with the Farquhar family, Ian's friends and all those who knew him as hunting reflects on his incredible life.

A memorial service for the late Captain Ian Farquhar, former master and huntsman, who passed away on 6 March 2024, will take place at 2.30pm on 23 May at Badminton.

Image: Georgina Preston