Master of the Buckhounds
The Master of the Buckhounds was an officer in the Master of the Horse's department of the British Royal Household. The holder was also His/Her Majesty's Representative at Ascot. It was a political office, so the holder, who in later years was always a nobleman, changed with every change of government. The office was abolished by the Civil List Act 1901. (A buckhound is smaller than a staghound and used for coursing the smaller breeds of deer, especially fallow deer.)
Masters of the (Privy) Buckhounds
The Privy Buckhounds were created in 1536 to provide for a hunting pack overseen by a Royal appointee rather than a hereditary officer.
- 1528: George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford
- 1536: vacant
- 1538: Sir Richard Long
- 1546: vacant
- 1550: Sir Thomas Darcy
- 1551: John Dudley, 2nd Earl of Warwick
- 1552: Lord Robert Dudley
- 1553: vacant
- 1572: Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester
- 1588: vacant
- 1596: Sir Henry Grey
- 1603: Sir Thomas Tyringham
- 1625: Sir Timothy Tyrrell
- 1633: Sir Thomas Tyringham
- 1636: Robert Tyrwith
- 1651: vacant
- 19 September 1660 John Cary
- 31 March 1685 Col. James Graham
- 9 September 1689 Jacques de Gastigny
- 6 July 1698 Reinhard Vincent Graf von Hompesch
- 8 March 1702 vacant
- 13 June 1709 Walter Chetwynd
- 8 June 1711 Sir William Wyndham, 3rd Baronet
- 28 June 1712 George Brudenell, 3rd Earl of Cardigan
- 11 July 1715 vacant
- 28 July 1727 Francis Negus
- 21 June 1733 Charles Bennet, 2nd Earl of Tankerville
- 18 June 1737 Ralph Jenison
- 31 December 1744 George Montague-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax
- 2 July 1746 Ralph Jenison
- 2 July 1757 John Bateman, 2nd Viscount Bateman
- 29 March 1782: George Villiers, 4th Earl of Jersey
- 17 May 1783: John Montagu, Viscount Hinchingbrooke; succeeded as 5th Earl of Sandwich 30 April 1792
- 12 February 1806: William Keppel, 4th Earl of Albemarle
- 13 May 1806: Charles Cornwallis, 2nd Marquess Cornwallis
- 12 September 1823: William Wellesley-Pole, 1st Baron Maryborough
- 24 November 1830: Thomas Anson, 2nd Viscount Anson; created Earl of Lichfield 15 September 1831
- 30 December 1834: George Stanhope, 6th Earl of Chesterfield
- 30 April 1835: William Hay, 18th Earl of Erroll
- 21 December 1839: George Kinnaird, 9th Lord Kinnaird
- 10 September 1841: James St Clair-Erskine, 3rd Earl of Rosslyn
- 9 July 1846: Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville
- 16 May 1848: John Ponsonby, 5th Earl of Bessborough
- 28 February 1852: James St Clair-Erskine, 3rd Earl of Rosslyn
- 30 December 1852: John Ponsonby, 5th Earl of Bessborough
- 26 February 1858: John Montagu, 7th Earl of Sandwich
- 18 June 1859: John Ponsonby, 5th Earl of Bessborough
- 23 January 1866: Richard Boyle, 9th Earl of Cork
- 10 July 1866: Charles Colville, 10th Lord Colville of Culross
- 12 December 1868: Richard Boyle, 9th Earl of Cork
- 2 March 1874: Charles Yorke, 5th Earl of Hardwicke
- 3 May 1880: Richard Boyle, 9th Earl of Cork
- 27 June 1885: John Beresford, 5th Marquess of Waterford
- 17 February 1886: Charles Harbord, 5th Baron Suffield
- 16 August 1886: George Coventry, 9th Earl of Coventry
- 25 August 1892: Thomas Lister, 4th Baron Ribblesdale
- 16 July 1895: George Coventry, 9th Earl of Coventry
- 1 November 1900: Charles Cavendish, 3rd Baron Chesham
Hereditary Masters of the Buckhounds
The "hereditary" mastership appears to have been a serjeanty associated with the Manor of Little Weldon. It was held in the Brocas family until 1633, when it was sold to the Watson family.
- Osborne Lovel (temp. Hen. I)
- William Lovel
- Hamon le Venour
- William Lovel
- John Lovel (died 1316)
- Thomas de Borhunte (died 1340)
- William Danvers (died 1361)
- Sir Bernard Brocas (died 1395)
- Sir Bernard Brocas (died 1400)
- William Brocas (died 1456)
- William Brocas (died 1484)
- John Brocas (died 1492)
- William Brocas (died 1506)
- George Warham and Ralph Pexsall (1512–1514)
- Ralph Pexsall (died 1540)
- Sir Richard Pexsall (died 1571)
- Sir John Savage (until 1584)
- Sir Pexsall Brocas (died 1630)
- Thomas Brocas (until 1633)
- Lewis Watson, 1st Baron Rockingham (died 1653)
- Edward Watson, 2nd Baron Rockingham (died 1689)
- Lewis Watson, 1st Earl of Rockingham (until 1706)
The pack of the Hereditary Master was merged with that of the Privy Master in 1706 and the office ceased.