The late Harry Goodricke, 7th Bt. (1797-1833), Deer-Stalking

John Ferneley was the defining chronicler of 19th-century sporting Britain, whose patrons encompassed the most prominent and celebrated huntsmen of the age. Ferneley enrolled in the Royal Academy Schools in 1804 before setting up his own studio in 1814 at the centre of the English sporting world, Melton Mowbray. Here began his rise within the hunting elite, as he was drawn into the orbit of devoted, aristocratic patrons and their sport. During a day’s shooting with the Earl of Kintore, Ferneley first encountered Sir Henry James Goodricke, 7^th Bt. (1797-1833). Over the following years, the two became rather close. On many occasions, Ferneley was invited to stay at Mar Lodge, Goodricke's sporting estate in Scotland, where he was an active participant of the various rural activities that were organised. Goodricke was one of the most celebrated sportsmen of his age, acting as Master of the Quorn Hunt, one of the world’s oldest fox hunting packs, from the start of the 1830s until his sudden death in 1833. Known to most as ‘Sir Harry’, Goodricke was a significant patron of Ferneley. The artist’s account books show that Goodricke commissioned over twenty works, including portraits of his favourite hunters ‘Smasher’ and ‘Dr. Russell’.
Whilst otter hunting in Ireland, Goodricke contracted pneumonia and died at the age of thirty-six in 1833. Upon his death, Sir Harry left his estates to his friend and business partner Francis Holyoake, on the condition he assumed the Goodricke name – which he duly did, subsequently succeeding as Master of the Quorn Hunt from 1833. The present work, signed and dated July 1836, was commissioned posthumously by Goodricke’s friend Robert Shafto, M.P. for the City of Durham, presumably as a memorial to one of the greatest sporting figures of the time. The work depicts Goodricke stalking with two other figures, possibly including the patron, Shafto.