THE KENNEL CLUB. 
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 nand, 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 April, 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 
543 
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, 
1869, 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 experiences, 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) Platt, Mr. T. W. Hazelhurst, the 
late Mr. Whitehouse, the late Mr. W. Lort, 
Mr. George Brewis, the late Mr. J. C. Mac- 
