THE KENNEL CLUB. 



543 



dogs in the field was held over the estate 

 of Mr. Samuel Whitbread, M.P., at Southill, 

 in Bedfordshire. For fourteen years after 

 the holding of the first regular dog show, no 

 organisation was established possessing any 

 authority to govern or regulate the pro- 

 ceedings in connection with the exhibition 

 of dogs. It is hardly necessary to say 

 that during this interval irregularities and 

 scandals had arisen ; so much so, that if 

 such exhibitions were to continue, especially 

 upon a basis which would enable reputable 

 persons to take part in them, it had be- 

 come evident that some authority having the 

 power of control and guidance must be 

 established. As I have remarked else- 

 where, this necessity arises in connection 

 with all forms of sport as soon as they be- 

 come popular, and as in the main the aims 

 and objects of the dog-owner are similar 

 to those which prevail among owners and 

 breeders of blood stock, it was felt that a 

 body with power to enforce its decrees 

 should be brought into existence, to do 

 for dogs and dog-breeders and exhibitors 

 what the Jockey Club had done in con- 

 nection with equine affairs. Prominent 

 amongst those persons of influence, who 

 at this time took a deep interest in canine 

 matters, was the late Mr. Sewallis Evelyn 

 Shirley, of Ettington, the head of one of the 

 most ancient families in the kingdom, a 

 gentleman possessing a most intimate know- 

 ledge of everything relative to the breeding 

 and exhibition of dogs, and to him pre- 

 eminently belongs the honour of founding 

 the Kennel Club. 



Long before Mr. Shirley took public 

 action, he had seen that unless a responsible 

 authority took affairs in hand, dog-showing 

 and breeding must eventually become a 

 pursuit with which no person who valued 

 his reputation would care to be connected. 

 It was not, however, until .^.pril, 1873, that 

 he was able to accomplish the task to which 

 he had long devoted his energies, and that 

 the Kennel Club' was actually established. 

 It is entirely owing to the influence of the 

 Kennel Club that to-day dog breeding and 

 dog showing are pursuits which may be in- 

 dulged in by gentlewomen, and that dog 



shows held under Kennel Club rules are 

 patronised by every section of the com- 

 munity, from Their Majesties the King and 

 Queen, down to the humblest artisan ; 

 certainly a wonderful testimony to the 

 acumen and foresight of Mr. Shirley. 



Without detracting in the least from 

 the credit due to its founder, it must be 

 granted that the direct inception of the 

 Kennel Club was the outcome of the earlier 

 Crystal Palace dog shows. In February, 

 i86g, the National Dog Club was formed, 

 and in the June following the society held 

 its first and only show at the Crystal Palace. 

 Financially this show was not a success, 

 and shortly after its first and last exhibition 

 the National Dog Club ceased to exist. 

 The promoters of the show were, however, 

 not dismayed at their failure, and felt san- 

 guine of ultimate success ; and although — 

 owing to the risk involved — it was no easy 

 matter to form a committee who would 

 undertake to hold another exhibition near 

 London, yet a second show was held at the 

 Crystal Palace in June, 1870, the details 

 of which were jointly arranged by Mr. 

 Shirley and the late Mr. J. H. Murchison, 

 with the assistance of a large and influential 

 committee. In 1871, although several mem- 

 bers of the 1870 committee had declined to 

 act, a second exhibition was held under the 

 same auspices, and on this occasion, al- 

 though a loss occurred, it was much less 

 than that sustained in the previous year. 

 The promoters of these exhibitions, still un- 

 daunted by their earlier e.xpcriences, deter- 

 mined to persevere in their enterprise ; 

 but the inconvenience of organising a fresh 

 committee each year, and the fact that 

 the association had no permanent secretary, 

 no funds, no regular office, nor any clerical 

 staff, was so real, that Mr. Shirley set about 

 the founding of the Kennel Club, and, as 

 already stated, its first meeting was held 

 in April, 1873. Associated with Mr. Shirley 

 in this undertaking were twelve other 

 gentlemen — namely, the late Mr. S. Lang, 

 of Bristol, Mr. H. T. Mendel, Major (now 

 Colonel) Piatt, Mr. T. W. Hazelhurst, the 

 late Mr. Whitehouse, the late Mr. W. Lort, 

 Mr. George Brewis, the late Mr. J. C. Mac- 



