Basil Tozer
Basil Tozer | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Basil John Joseph Tozer 1868 |
| Died | 1949 Teignmouth |
| Occupation | Journalist |
Basil John Joseph Tozer (1868–1949) was a British journalist, hunter and novelist.
Career
[edit]Tozer was born in Teignmouth in 1868.[1] He was educated at Beaumont College.[2] As a young man Tozer worked a journalist and was editor of the Galignani Messenger newspaper in Paris. He served in the Royal Army Service Corps in France during World War I.[1][3] After a world tour he joined the staff of the Daily Mail. He worked with Sir Arthur Pearson, 1st Baronet on several of his publications.[1]
He authored articles for the English Illustrated Magazine. In August 1895 he authored a five page article "The Dogs' Home, Battersea" which included photographs taken by Walter Brock of dogs being euthanized in the Battersea Lethal Chamber.[4]
His best known work was The Horse in History, an exploration of the role of the horse throughout civilization. It was described as pleasantly written "sketch of the varying fortunes of the horse through the centuries".[5]
Family
[edit]He was the son of J. H. Tozer, a solicitor. His brother E. J. Tozer was honorary secretary of the South Devon Hunt.[1] Tozer married Beatrice Langley a chamber violinist.[6]
Hunting
[edit]Tozer was an avid huntsman but was concerned about unnecessary cruel activities he had observed on hunts.[7][8] At first he wrote letters on the topic anonymously but later wrote an article under his own name with the title "The Abuse of Sport", published in the The Fortnightly Review in 1906.[7] Tozer recounted an act of cruelty involving the use of a gigantic corkscrew to kill a fox. He commented that one of the hunter's servants also carried a triple fish hook. In regard to game hunting, he noted that the beaters and game keepers themselves had thrown birds that were not quite dead into their pockets and game bags.[7] Tozer stated that the reason for calling attention to the abuses was because animal welfare organizations were planning to abolish certain field sports by an Act of Parliament and that if unnecessary cruelty was removed from such sports they would not be abolished.[7]
Between 1907 and 1935, Tozer authored many newspaper articles on hunting. In 1927, he was promoting drag hunting as a replacement for fox hunting.[9] He authored a pamphlet Drag Hunting and Its Possibilities, published by the National Society for the Abolition of Cruel Sports in 1935.
Selected publications
[edit]Books
- Practical Hints On Shooting (1887)
- The Irony of Marriage (With an Introductory Note by C. W. Saleeby, 1908)
- The Horse in History (1908)
- Recollections of a Rolling Stone (1923)
- Confidence Crooks and Blackmailers (1930)
- Drag Hunting and Its Possibilities (1935)
Hunting articles
- Will Drag-Hunting Oust Fox-Hunting? (1907)[10]
- The Practice of Digging Foxes (1909)[11]
- Hunting-Field Problems: How to Make the Most of a Horse (1910)[12]
- Threat to Kill Foxes (1910)[13]
- Tact in the Hunting-Field (1910)[14]
- Hunting on a Small Income (1928)[15]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d "Late Mr. Tozer: Journalist from Old Teignmouth Family". Devon and Exeter Gazette. December 16, 1949. p. 5. (subscription required)
- ^ "Mr Basil Tozer". The Sketch. September 23, 1908. p. 341. (subscription required)
- ^ "Notes from Here and There". The Tatler. May 16, 1923. p. 24. (subscription required)
- ^ Mazzeno, Laurence W.; Morrison, Ronald D. (2017). Animals in Victorian Literature and Culture: Contexts for Criticism. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 89–91. ISBN 978-1137602190.
- ^ Polley, Martin (2004). The History of Sport in Britain, 1880-1914: Sport and Money. Routledge. p. 161. ISBN 978-0415231404.
- ^ Seddon, Laura (2016). British Women Composers and Instrumental Chamber Music in the Early Twentieth Century. Taylor & Francis. p. 164. ISBN 978-1317171348.
- ^ a b c d "Cruelty to Foxes". The Standard. September 26, 1906. p. 8. (subscription required)
- ^ Salt, Henry S. (1906). ""The Abuse of Sport"". The Fortnightly Review. 80 (479): 959–962.
- ^ "Cruel Sports: Many Protests at Taunton Gathering". Devon and Exeter Gazette. March 5, 1927. p. 5. (subscription required)
- ^ "Will Drag-Hunting Oust Fox-Hunting?". Pall Maul Gazette. April 16, 1907. p. 3. (subscription required)
- ^ "The Practice of Digging Foxes". The Graphic. November 20, 1909. p. 668. (subscription required)
- ^ "Hunting-Field Problems: How to Make the Most of a Horse". The Graphic. January 22, 1910. p. 120. (subscription required)
- ^ "Threat to Kill Foxes". Daily Express. March 12, 1910. p. 8. (subscription required)
- ^ "Tact in the Hunting-Field". The Graphic. November 26, 1910. p. 854. (subscription required)
- ^ "Hunting on a Small Income". The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News. January 7, 1928. p. 24. (subscription required)