Edward Curre was a prominent sportsman in Monmouthshire at the end of the nineteenth and the start of the twentieth century with the squire of Itton Court playing cricket and polo to a high standard, besides creating his own pack of hounds and Hunt at his home four kilometres to the north-west of Chepstow.
Educated at Harrow and Magdalene College, Oxford, he was the son of Edward Curre (senior) who had been High Sheriff for Monmouthshire in 1850. His first major match came in 1881 when he played for Newport against the All England Eleven, but he bagged a pair. The following year he played for Chepstow against the United England Eleven and fared much better, as he scored 31 and 25. A few weeks later, he went on the South Wales Cricket Club’s tour to the London area, playing against the MCC at Lord’s, as well as Surrey Club and Ground at The Oval.
The summer of 1882 also saw Edward play for the South Wales Cricket Club in the cricket week they had organised during the first week of August, with appearances against Clifton CC, the MCC and Wiltshire. The latter game also saw Edward make his best score for the Club with an unbeaten 27. He also played for Monmouthshire as well as the MCC, besides representing the county at polo and riding in local point-to-points.
Whilst being a capable cricketer, Edward’s first love was country sports and in 1896, after the Chepstow Hunt had been disbanded, he created his own Hunt by buying hounds from the defunct organisation, besides extending the number of kennels at Itton Court where he had previously kept his own small pack. With his estate comprising around 9,000 acres he was also one of the largest landowners in Monmouthshire. He was also a Governor of the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester and was a leading member of the Cheltenham Steeplechase Club.
He had served as High Sheriff for Monmouthshire in 1892, besides being a member for many years of Chepstow Rural District Council. Despite approaching his sixtieth birthday, Edward joined the Royal Monmouth Royal Engineers shortly after the outbreak of the Great War and served as a Lieutenant-Colonel at the regiment’s base near Alexandria in Egypt.
Edward was created a Baronet in 1928.
CURRE, Sir William Edward Carne
Born – Itton Court, Chepstow, 26 June 1855.
Died – Itton Court, Chepstow, 26 January 1930.