The Field (magazine)

The Field is the world's oldest country and field sports magazine, having been published continuously since 1853.

The famous sportsman Robert Smith Surtees, the creator of Jorrocks, was the driving force behind the initial publication. He saw a gap in the market for illustrated sporting literature, at a time when the rising wealth and leisure of the new Victorian industrialists and their offspring swelled a ready market for gentleman’s literature. He envisaged a paper for sportsmen, landowners and farmers, as well as the haut ton, that gave the readers an overview of all that was important, including the unusual and eccentric. It was an instant success under the auspices of its first editor Mark Lemon.

Events of Significance

The Field had its own Crimean correspondent, trumpeting the view that the dashing deeds carried out on the field of battle were due in no small part to fieldsports and the following of manly country occupations. On November 18, 1854 The Field carried personal narratives of those involved in the Charge of the Light Brigade.

J. H. Walsh initiated a series of field trials for guns from 1858 onwards, a catalyst to the production of the modern hammerless shotgun.

In 1861 ‘Goalstick’ impressed through the pages of The Field the importance of encouraging the game of football into general use, and pressed for an amalgamation of the rules, The Field obtained rules from Rugby, Eton, Harrow, Shrewsbury and Marlborough and helped create the modern game.

The Field was instrumental in instituting the first Field Trials and Dog Shows. In 1859 The Field was present at the Newcastle Sporting Dog Show taking a warm interest in the establishment of the exhibition of dogs on the same principles as cattle and poultry shows, and later in 1865 present at the first Field Trials of Pointers and Setters.

In 1873 the rower’s sliding seat was tested extensively in The Field.

In March 1874 Gerald D. Fitzgerald wrote to The Field to inform readers about a new game called sphairstike, or Lawn Tennis. Over ensuing years the minutiae of the rules were subsequently thrashed out through the letters pages of the magazine, culminating with the printing of the rules of Lawn Tennis on June 16, 1877, followed by the inaugural Lawn Tennis Championship in 1877 where players competed for The Field Cup. The Field Cup is still on permanent display at Wimbledon Museum.

The Field covered the first Americas Cup in August 1879 and recommendations in The Field led to the official Lloyds classification of yachts in 1906.

Francis Francis campaigned against salmon netting and was a leading authority on hatcheries and today The Field still champions the cause of wild salmon and their rivers.

William Senior, an angling writer for The Field and later Editor, under his nom de plume “Red Spinner” was at the forefront of fishing advances and experimentation, primarily dry fly-fishing, although it was FM Halford – a Field contributor – who developed the dry-fly ethos.

During the 1920s the design of the modern golf ball was formalised on designs agreed after tests by The Field, leading to The Field Long Driving Championship of the World.

The launch of the Field Distemper Fund in 1923 resulted in the inoculation of dogs against distemper.

During the 1950s The Field improved racecourse safety through its campaign against dangerous racecourses.

During the 1980s The Field campaigned against mismanagement of shooting leading to the widely recognised “Code of Good Shooting Practice”.

Today The Field is considered the premier field sports and country magazine and champions rural pursuits, people and the environment.

Field Editors

1853 - 1857 Mark Lemon

1857 -1888 John Henry Walsh

1888 - 1899 Frederick Toms

1900 - 1910 William Senior

1910 - 1928 Sir Theodore Andrea Cook

1931 - 1937 Eric Parker

1938 - 1946 Brian Vesey-Fitzgerald

1947 - 1950 Leonard V Dodds

1951 - 1977 Wilson Stephens

1977 - 1984 Derek Bingham

1984 - 1987 Simon Courtauld

1987 - 1991 Julie Spencer

1991 - Jonathan Young

The magazine is published by IPC Media, a subsidiary of Time Warner, from 110 Southwark Street, London.

External links