Judging Panel

The Duke of Wellington was born in 1945 and educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford University, where he gained an MA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics. He is married with five children and six grandchildren. He lives at Apsley House in London and at Stratfield Saye in Hampshire.

The Duke was a Member of the European Parliament from 1979 to 1989. Since then he has been Chairman or Deputy Chairman of a number of publicly-quoted companies. In October 2015, the Duke was elected to the House of Lords as a representative hereditary peer.

He was a member of the Council of the Royal College of Art from 1992 to 1997 and a Commissioner for English Heritage from 2003 to 2007. He was Chairman of the Council of King’s College, London, one of Britain’s leading universities, from 2007 to 2016.

The Duchess of Devonshire has been a member of the judging panel since the start of the Purdey Awards in 1999. A lifelong shooting and conservation enthusiast, she is also an expert horsewoman, keen dog trainer, and picker-up at family shoot days at Chatsworth.

Adrian Walker, with a background in the insurance industry, grew up in East Africa but now lives, with his family in Aberdeenshire on Allargue, a family estate. A traditional mixed estate, in 2013 it was one of the first to gain WES accreditation and in 2014 it jointly won Gold in The Purdey Awards for Shooting & Conservation.

Head Keeper for HM The Queen at Sandringham since 2001 and a Purdey Awards judge since 2003, David is a founder member of the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation, and a former winner of the Awards when at Raby.

A well-known country artist, Will has illustrated over 30 sporting books, including Will’s Shoot and Will’s Shoot Revisited. He is a previous Awards winner, for a project to turn disused gravel pits into a sporting sanctuary. Will has been a member of the Countryside Alliance Conservation Committee, BASC Shooting Committee and Woodpigeon Working Group, and regularly writes for Shooting Gazette.

Regularly voted one of the best shots in the country, Jonathan is a partner in CKD Kennedy Macpherson, and specialises in the sale of sporting estates. He has expert knowledge of game conservation and shoot management, and joined the Purdey Awards judging panel in 2003.

Charles Nodder is a political and PR consultant, specialising in rural affairs. He advises the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation and the Game Farmers’ Association, and was previously a director of the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust. A game shooter, rough shooter and wildfowler, he is also amateur gamekeeper for his own shoot in Dorset. Charles was appointed a Purdey Award judge in 2008.

Jonathan is Editor of The Field, and has also edited Shooting Times. A countryman to his fingertips, Jonathan is highly knowledgeable on a wide range of countryside matters, a passionate conservationist, keen fisher, and no mean shot. He joined the Purdey Awards panel in 1999.

Tim is a Founder and Director of Oakbank Game & Conservation Ltd. He comes from a Cambridgeshire farming family and is passionate about wildlife habitat creation on farmland, a passion he is able to indulge through his work with Oakbank. Keen shot and fly-fisherman, he joined the panel in 2011.

Born and raised in South Africa, Marcus Janssen grew up on a farm in rural KwaZulu Natal before moving to the UK to study and embark on a career in journalism. Janssen spent five years in Scotland studying for an MA in Environmental Geography where he made the most of the Scottish countryside and embraced his love of field sports. Upon graduating, he moved to London to pursue a career in journalism. Janssen, who is also a keen fly fisherman and an experienced game shot, was the editor of Fieldsports Magazine.

Bertie Hoskyns Abrahall is a partner at Withers, heading up the Landed Estates team specialising in rural legal issues. Hoskyns Abrahall is formerly a trustee of the GWCT. He grew up on the family estate in Teesdale where shooting and conservation were prominent features of his upbringing and he is a firm believer in the great environmental benefits to the British countryside through the management of land for shooting.

Jonathan grew up on the Island of Anglesey where he developed his great passion for shooting and the countryside. Now Managing Director of the Royal Berkshire Shooting School, Jonathan previously worked as Head of Sales for Purdey, as General Manager at Woburn Abbey with its world famous Deer Park, and before that as General Manager of The West London Shooting School. Having been lucky enough to have travelled the length and breadth of the country in his roles within the industry, Jonathan believes the shooting community should be rightly proud of its remarkable long term management of the countryside and the numerous and demonstrable environmental and ecological benefits this has provided.

Roddy Richmond-Watson is a director of family firm West London Shooting School and farms in the Cotswolds. The farm is involved in both HLS & ELS schemes and hosts a small private shoot. He sits on the advisory board of a US shooting company and is a court assistant to the Gunmakers Company. He grew up in a farming environment surrounded by wildlife, his other interests include riding, racing, hunting, wildlife in general & birds in particular combined with a fascination for conservation and shooting.

Claire is an active and passionate advocate for the fieldsports community. She has a lifelong commitment to shooting, fishing and conservation. As well as a successful legal career in London, she is the first female vice chair for BASC. Claire‘s focus is on ways to support and encourage the future of shooting for generations to come.