Mr. James William Berrie 



55 



From a lithograph 



MR. J. W. BERRIE, 

 PRESIDENT OF THE BULL-DOG CLUB 



Mr. Berrie was born at Long 

 Eaton, in Derbyshire, but is 

 of Scottish extraction, being 

 lineally descended from the 

 Earl of Kilmarnock, who was 

 beheaded after the Scottish 

 Rebellion in 1745. 



He is a Liveryman of the 

 Goldsmiths' Company ; and 

 ranks high as a Freemason. 



In the earliest annals of 

 Bull-dogs we find his name, 

 either as breeder or in some 

 way mixed up with them, and 

 many good specimens have 

 passed through his hands. I 

 well remember his King Cole 

 (by Dan, the Post Worrier, 

 ex Lady), one of the first he 

 bred and exhibited, a black 



brindle of grand shape and quality, no deformity about him, active 

 as a terrier, but full of type and character. Venom was another 

 of his breeding I greatly admired. I think she was owned at one 

 time by Mr. R. J. Hartley. She was a lightish brindle, of grand 

 style and quality, of medium size, by Mr. Blewitt's Crib, ex 

 Rose, by Mr. Vero Shaw's Sepoy. Another of the many good 

 specimens bred by Mr. Berrie was Monarch (first Mr. Lay ton's, 

 then Mr. Oliver's). This was the dog that carried all before him 

 in his day, a large dark brindle, full of type and quality ; and I 

 was with his owner when he refused an offer of 500 guineas for 

 him at the Bristol Dog Show, I think in the seventies, from the 

 late Mr. J. W. Gurney, although at that time it was a most unusual 

 figure for any breed of dog ! 



I was for some years a member of the original Bull-dog Club, of 

 which Mr. Berrie was one of the founders and an active member, and 

 of which he was some years back elected the Perpetual President, 

 and can speak highly of the kindness and courtesy I always received 

 from him, and for such knowledge of the breed as I possess am 

 mainly indebted to him. I feel these few words are most inadequate 

 in dealing with the connection of this gentleman with the Fancy, as 

 he is a good all-round judge, besides of Bull-dogs, of most Non 



