Page 197 - ShowSight - September 2020
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                            HISTORY OF THE SEALYHAM TERRIER
  The Pembrokeshire Hunt at Sealyham Mansion, circa 1895. Peer Gynt, born before 1900.
Because the Sealyham Terrier can trace its origin to a specific person and vicinity, it is not unreasonable to think that records would exist as to how and when the breed was developed. However, if these records exist, they have not yet been located.
The Dyfed Archives in Haverfordwest have most of Edwardes’ Estate papers. Research trips there have failed to identify anything relevant in answering many of the outstanding questions. However, some of what could be found is contradictory to what has been written and repeated.
It was on a research trip to the Dyfed Archives in 1989 that the only certain ancestor of the Sealyham could be identi- fied. In the records of Captain Jack Howell MFH, it was recorded in his hand that the great-great-grandsire of the famous early sire Peer Gynt (born before 1900) was a Smooth Fox Terrier, a breed not previously found in any of the postulations.
Many excellent writers have discussed the origin of the Sealyham and speculat- ed on the breeds used to create the Sealy. Unfortunately, what has happened over time is these conjectures have become accepted as fact when they should not. Color, struc- ture or movement ought to have eliminated some from consideration and many photos of the Sealyhams circa 1900 and before suggest a different ancestry than what was hypothesized.
Clearly, the lack of complete official doc- umentation of the Sealyham’s origin only adds to the mystery of the breeds involved. Captain Edwardes’ vision was always to cre- ate a white hunting Terrier to accompany the Foxhounds and Otterhounds on hunts. White was essential so the dogs would not be accidentally shot, being mistaken for the vermin they were searching.
Breed type was still being set by 1900. The breeding records of Capt. Jack (John Hamilton) Howell, Master of the Fox- hounds for the Pembrokeshire Hunt, and Mrs. Catherine Octavia Carden Edwardes
Higgon are essential to documenting the early history of the breed. It was Mrs. Hig- gon (as widow of Capt. Charles Gustavus Whittaker Edwardes) who started to revive the breed into a recognizable type by spon- soring a class for Sealyhams at Haverford- west on October 5, 1903. She, more than any other person, is responsible for there being a Sealyham today.
It was in the smoking room at Sealyham Mansion on January 21, 1908 that broth- ers Jack and Adrian Howell, together with Catherine Octavia Carden Edwardes Hig- gon and her second husband, Victor James Higgon, met to form the Sealyham Terrier Club. Their aim was to persuade the Kennel Club to register the Sealyham as a distinct breed rather than the looser description of Fox Terrier (Sealyham). A Breed Standard was drawn up with a Standard of Points to set breed type.
The four founders felt that interest in the Sealyham breed across Pembrokeshire was sufficient to call a general meeting at Sealyham Mansion on February 8, 1908. Hugh Edwardes, Lord Kensington, an Edwardes cousin, became the first President of the new club. (President in 2020 is Sam Richards, the current owner of Sealyham Mansion and properties.)
By 1910, the Sealyham Terrier Club had increased to 58 members with 13 approved judges. The efforts to obtain separate reg- istration for the Sealyham was still being pursued and proved very frustrating. The Secretary-Treasurer, Jack Howell, became so infuriated by the lack of response from the Kennel Club that he was determined to storm the building. Wearing a morning coat, striped trousers and top hat—with a white carnation in his buttoneer—How- ell went to the Kennel Club and used his considerable charm to the effect that they agreed to present Sealyham classes at their Crystal Palace show.
The first British exports went to India in 1908. The first USA imports from the
UK were Harfat’s Pride and Stella, bred by Messers Fred Weaver Lewis and How- ard B. Gwyther in 1911. Their owner was August Belmont Jr., President of the Ameri- can Kennel Club. The first American- bred litter was born September 1, 1912 and was bred by Mrs. Alfred Irénée du Pont (Mary Alicia Heyward Bradford) of Wilmington, Delaware.
The first Sealy to be exhibited in the USA was (Ch.) Folly, shown at the San Mateo Kennel Club in California. The first USA Champion was The Varmint in 1914, bred by Reverend Henson in the UK and owned by Tyler Morse. The first American- Bred Champion was Ch. Hemlock Hill Ivo Clyde (1915), born June 9, 1915 in Brook- line, Massachusetts, and bred by Mrs. Gertrude Geiger.
By the 1920’s and 1930’s, the breed had become so popular it was among the top twenty breeds in registrations. Britain’s entry into the Second World War on Sep- tember 3, 1939 ended the steady supply of imports into the United States, and the war itself ended many breeding programs in the United Kingdom and in the United States. Gone were many of the first genera- tion of breeders in both places. The end of hostilities in 1945 did not find the resump- tion of breeding except for a few breeders on either Continent.
The most famous Sealyham personality in the UK was Cora Charters of Windsor, Berkshire. Although Mrs. Charters bred a few litters, it was her uncanny ability to pick outstanding stud dogs for her kennel that made the St. Margaret dogs the dominant force in the breed for type and excellence for nearly 50 years. From the early 1920’s, Mrs. Charters was the supreme authority on breeding. In her later years, her most famous dog was Ch. St. Margaret Steve who was “Dog of the Year in the UK” in 1959 before coming to Dorothy Wimer (Pool Forge) in Pennsylvania.
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