A License To Kill

Late 18th century British law qualified one type of person to effectively carry and use a gun with lethal intent, the sole purpose of which was to protect the ancient game privilege and property of the landed gentry. As a valued servant, the keeper had responsibilities that included organizing to dispatch the landowner’s ‘noble beasts of the forest’ for either profit, or for the sporting pleasure of guns. This, after having gone to great lengths to raise and protect them. Increasingly though, he was expected to fend off all who would violate the owner’s privilege and property, including those who used armed military tactics. A key issue was the jealous manner in which landowners protected their exclusive right to these animals, to the exclusion of the upstart urban elite and the masses who sought sustenance or profit. Keeper Thomas Turner, descended from a long line of respected warreners, would see his children make the transition into gamekeeping as the wealthiest landowners began to invest in providing excellent shooting experiences for their peers. As a young man, he and other talented people were taken on by the Earl of Mountrath who was intent on extracting profit where blowing sands, failure, and bitter rivalry had reigned in the Brecklands. Intrigue and deadly intent abounded as the stakes were high and the drums of discontent beat over the horizon. Follow this group of historical figures as they cope with life about the manor in a rapidly changing world, to find how Thomas handled his responsibilities to authority, to local society, and to his family and friends. This book, intended as the first of three that will take us beyond the death of Prince Albert in 1861, will captivate all who believe history is the product of innumerable minds and hands.