Fashion brand founder Johnnie Boden is a life patron of the Portman Hunt

Protect the Wild has been sent documents showing that businessman Johnnie Boden is a life patron of Dorset’s Portman Hunt. Two members of the Portman were convicted of illegally hunting

The documents, produced by the Hunt, were provided to Two Counties Hunt Saboteurs – Somerset and Dorset (2CHS) by a concerned local resident.

A brand inextricably linked with blood sports

Portman Hunt patron John (or Johnnie) Boden is an ex-Etonian former Wall Street stockbroker, He founded an eponymous fashion brand with inherited wealth. Boden specialises in upmarket clothing, and has received orders from the British Royal Family, who gave him a CBE in 2023.

Boden clothing, which incidentally is popular with leading Tories too, is sold via a mail-order service, as well as at some high street retailers including John Lewis.

The Boden family’s support for hunting has previously been exposed in the Citro by Protect the Wild’s Glen Black, prompting wildlife protection groups to call for a boycott of the Boden fashion brand.

A boycott campaign against Boden could cause further financial woes to the already struggling fashion company, which posted a £9.4m loss in 2023. Sales stood at £304.5m that year.

Portman Hunt

Sexism, as well as speciesism

Its no surprise that the posh, hunt-supporting Boden, is paternalistic and sexist too. Despite being the owner of a brand specialising in women’s fashion, he doesn’t seem to think there’s anything wrong with remarking that “A lot of women seem to dress like hookers”, or that “Women need to dress their age, but look attractive with it.”

Supporters of the Blackmore and Sparkford Vale Hunt

In 2021, documents leaked from the Blackmore and Sparkford Vale Hunt (BSV) listed “The Boden Family” as the gate openers for their 16 January hunt. Gate openers are volunteers who open and close gates throughout the hunt’s route. The meet was cancelled due to the Covid-19 lockdown but, according to Black, it was due to take place at Holwell, “approximately 20 miles from the Boden family home at Wytherstone Farm.”

Boden doesn’t seem shy about linking the company to bloodsports, the programme for the 2019 BSV Summer Ball featured a full-page advert for the Boden fashion brand.

He also doesn’t seem to see anything wrong with associating the brand with BSV, despite the hunt’s well documented history of violence. In 2014, the BSV’s Mark Dogrell trampled hunt saboteur Nid Warren, leaving her with serious injuries. In 2020, another member of the BSV knocked down a monitor from Somerset Wildlife Crime. Just a week ago, police were called after a BSV member rode into a sab from North Dorset Hunt Saboteurs (NDHS) while in pursuit of a fox.

Boden co-directs another company, Larkham Limited, with Charlotte Townshend. Townshend has previously been named as Master of the Cattistock Hunt. Boden’s farm is on land used by the Cattistock hunt, and his connections with the Cattistock go back years.

A hunting family

There are lots more links between the Boden family and hunting. John Boden’s daughter has been photographed on horseback and hunting regalia in Horse & Hound magazine, and a Guardian profile of Boden says that he used to hunt “in a bowler hat” in his youth. He attended at least one Countryside Alliance (CA) demonstration in the early 2000s, protests that were marked by violence and animal abuse, with CA supporters infamously dumping corpses of horses and cows outside the 2003 Labour Party conference.

Protect the Wild contacted Boden, to ask if the company condoned illegal hunting. We had not received a reply by the time of publication.

Portman Hunt: A history of violence and ableism

Portman Hunt – masked up

The Portman Hunt, which Boden is patron of, has already shown that it has no intention of changing its ways, or respecting wildlife protection laws. The Portman’s huntsman and whipper-in were both found guilty of illegal hunting during a meet in September 2022. The court found them guilty in September 2024, but in November 2024 the Hunt was already up to its old tricks. Weymouth Animal Rights captured some very clear footage of the Portman Hunt actively hunting a fox on 2 November, just months after the court’s findings. Sabs luckily managed to stop the hunt from killing this beautiful creature which you can watch here.

On 2 January 2025, according to Wildlife Crime Action, masked Portman Hunt supporters, expressed their anger at being forced to give up their illegal chase of another fox by directing derogatory and ableist language language to two 14-year-olds. You can view the video here:

In October 2024, NDHS reported that domestic cats had gone missing after the Portman Hunt’s hound chased after them them. This is a repeat of what happened in January 2023, when the hunt’s hounds terrorised kittens on a local farm.

In September 2024, Weymouth Animal Rights reported that a Portman Hunt supporter attacked sabs with a bone-handled walking stick. The attacker was later interviewed by the police, and given a 16 week Community Resolution Order.

The National Trust decided to ban the Portman Hunt, long before it applied a general policy of not issuing licenses for trail hunting on its lands,because North Dorset Sabs caught the hunt’s hounds killing and disemboweling a fox (the trust is still, however, issuing licenses for drag hunting).

The Portman Hunt

“Hugely Disappointed”

2CHS told Protect the Wild that they were “hugely Disappointed” in the Portman Hunt, and urged the government to keep its promise to ban trail hunting.

“Two Counties are hugely disappointed that the Portman Hunt along with many other hunts in Somerset, Dorset and nationwide are still using the Smoke Screen of Trail Hunting to continue with their illegal activity of killing foxes and persecuting wildlife. With many influential people taking part in this illegal activity the Labour Government need to see good on their promise and put a total ban on all forms of hunting”

The Department for the Environment and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has reconfirmed that it is “committed” to banning trail hunting, which it says “is being exploited as a smokescreen to cruelly kill foxes and hares”. With rich, privileged and powerful people like Boden advocating for hunting, its up to us to ensure the government keeps its promise.

• Two Counties Hunt Saboteurs – Somerset and Dorset are raising money to pay for additional batteries to keep their ‘eye in the sky’ drone watching over the illegal activities of the hunts for longer – you can donate to help them reach their target here.

• Check out Wildlife Crime Action here, and North Dorset Hunt Saboteurs here.

• Have a look at Weymouth Animal Right’s profiles on X and Facebook.

Featured images via 2CHS