John Faunthorpe

Who was John Faunthorpe?

John Champion Faunthorpe was a British Army officer, big game hunter and sport shooter.

Faunthorpe was born in Battersea and educated at Oxford. He served in the Indian Civil Service, arriving in India in 1892. While there he established a formidable reputation as a big game hunter, bagging more than three hundred tigers. He was posted to various locations in India, including Bahraich, Muzaffarnagar and Kheri, though he was on leave in England in 1914 when World War I broke out. He was transferred to the General Staff and among other things was Military Director of Cinematograph Operations. For his service he was named C.B.E. and awarded the Military Cross, and in 1922 was appointed aide-de-camp to King George V.

When he returned to India after the war he worked closely with Arthur Stannard Vernay to collect specimens for the Natural History Museums of Chicago and New York. Their Vernay-Faunthorpe Expedition was made into a movie called Hunting Tigers in India.

Faunthorpe was also an accomplished athlete. With the British team at the 1924 Summer Olympics he finished fourth in the team 100 metre running deer, single shots competition and 21st in the individual 100 metre running deer, single shots event.