Farewell to passionate advocate for wildlife management in the British countryside, aged 85

By David Renney

Lewis Hartland Thomas, the co-founder of Vets for Hunting, later the Veterinary Association for Wildlife Management (VAWM), has died aged 85.

Lewis was born in Bath, where his mother, Alex, was an evacuee from London during the war. His father, Mark Hartland Thomas, was an architect.

He attended Westminster School in London, then Trinity College, Dublin, briefly to read classics. Questioned by his father, whom he greatly respected, on what he planned to do with his degree, he changed his course at Trinity to zoology, then gained a place at Cambridge to read veterinary medicine.

The family moved to Kent while he was a teenager, where he met Rosemary, who became his wife of 60 years. He and Rosemary spent the early part of their marriage in Cambridge, where Lewis rowed for his college.

After graduation, Thomas went into mixed practice, briefly joining Messrs Gilbert, Kirkwood and Gale in Newbury. He soon switched to an academic career, taking a position at the Institute for the Research on Animal Diseases, at Compton, Berkshire. There, he worked on bovine conditions, earning his doctorate and becoming a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists.

It was one of his many published letters, in this case to The Times, that was the catalyst for the formation of Vets for Hunting. William “Twink” Allen read it and thought it so articulate he made contact to arrange the first vets’ meeting.

In retirement, Thomas threw himself into the work of Vets for Hunting and the VAWM. The name change was intended to show that the remit was not limited to wildlife management by hunting, particularly important when an informed veterinary voice was needed on the subject of badger culling. It was also intended to show that the association’s interest was not limited to hunting but extended to its purpose.

Lewis organised two successful conferences on wildlife management, attracting eminent speakers and delegates, putting on show the intellectual ballast that supports the case for hunting with hounds.

He was an indefatigable writer of letters to newspapers and politicians, making the case that hunting with hounds was better for the welfare of the quarry species than any other method of management. No VAWM committee meeting was complete without a report of his most recent correspondence with the secretary of state.

He was a keen fly fisher and sang in his church choir. He did not ride, but was an enthusiastic follower of hounds and his son, Charlie, went into hunt service. Having started as professional whipper-in at the Vine and Craven Hunt, last year he was made a joint-master. Lewis and Rosemary gave a lawn meet for Charlie’s hounds last season.

It was only his responsibility for caring for Rosemary and his own failing health that finally began to limit him. He felt cheated that in old age he did not reap the benefit of a daily 15-mile round commute on his bicycle for almost all his working life. But he never lost his fighting spirit.

He leaves Rosemary, his son Charlie, an estate agent, and daughter Lucy, a vet.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now