Henry Halford

Sir Henry St John Halford, 3rd Baronet (9 August 1828 – 4 January 1897), was an English landowner and expert rifleman.

Life He was born the son of Sir Henry Halford, 2nd Baronet, MP for Leicestershire South, whom he succeeded in 1868. He was educated at Eton College and Merton College, Oxford, where he graduated B.A. in 1849. On his father's death he inherited Wistow Hall in Leicestershire, where he thereafter lived. noting:

He was an excellent shot and won several tournaments. In 1877 and 1882 he was captain of a team of eight who shot against an American team at Creedmoor Rifle Range in New York.

In 1867 he was engaged in testing rifles as part of the Committee's open trials for a new breech-loader. A Carter and Edwards bolt-action rifle suffered a premature ignition while closing the bolt, badly injuring (or amputating) his right thumb. This serious accident to someone so prominent did not advance the case for bolt-action rifles in Britain and was influential in the Martini-Henry and its falling block action being selected instead, putting the adoption of bolt-action and repeating rifles in the UK years behind other countries.

Family Halford married Elizabeth Ursula, daughter of William John Bagshawe but had no children. The baronetcy thereby passed briefly to his brother John Frederick, who died later the same year. Sir Henry left Wistow Hall in his will to Baron Cottesloe, whose descendants still own the property.