The QHSA was sired in the 1950s as a response from all those people who followed the hunt, not on horseback, but on foot – or bicycle, car and in some cases by pony and trap. There are almost certainly more foot followers than mounted foxhunters.

The first Chairman of the QHSA was Bill Headly, on whose instigation the association was formed. Ulrica Murray-Smith MFH was installed as Chairman with Pat Bull as Secretary. There have been surprisingly few changes at the top since then. When Bill retired in 1988, Robert Barber became Chairman, and when he retired in 1998, Arthur Waldron took the mantle of chairman and Lord Crawshaw became the new President. After 10 years in the hot seat, both Arthur and Lord Crawshaw stood down when Rod Pickering was appointed Chairman and Henrietta (Etta) Madocks Wright (former MFH) became the new President. Rod Pickering stood down in 2012 and Arthur Waldron took over as caretaker chairman. David Birch became chairman in 2013, then Anna Saunders in 2015. An underlying thread to these changes is the support and quiet work in the background of the Vice Chairman for many years, Tony Thomas. Of course, nothing would be possible without the time and effort given freely by the members of the committee, past and present.

The aim of the QHSA is primarily to provide a varied range of entertainments and events throughout the season with any surplus funds given to the Hunt in the purchase of capital items. These range from providing the Hunt with vehicles and ground maintenance equipment, re-building the flesh house to EU standards, replacing all the windows in the properties at the kennels and a myriad of smaller items. This takes the strain off the Hunt finances, raised by subscriptions, caps and donations. It thus has a social function that helps bind the Hunt together and a fund raising function that provides valuable financial support. The range of events is varied in the extreme – from the annual events, such as the Open Day with Terrier & Lurcher Show, Opening Meet Cocktail Party and Hunter Trials, to Gigs, Quizzes, Fashion Shows, Dinners etc.

During the last decade, membership has been extended to all subscribers who are urged to become life members of QHSA. Membership is not restricted to locals – we have members from all over the globe.

The QHSA publishes a news magazine once a year. If you would like to advertise in this magazine please contact QHSA adverts from the Contact page.
If you would like to join the QHSA, please download and complete an application form; these can be found in the Home page Downloads area.