by Ria Hörter Masterminds

Jack Russell (1795-1883) in riding costume.The photograph dates from the last quarter of the 19th century.

PART 2: Parson and his

ost breeds were developed after hundreds of years of evolution and M lengthy selection by breeders. How- ever, some breeds owe their existence to just one person, whose name they bear.

Thanks to his diaries, we know a lot about the life of John (Jack) Russell compared to the infor- mation we have about his activities as a . Parson Jack Russell must have been a striking figure in the County of Devon during the 19th century. Although his parishioners adored him, Jack Russell on his horse, accompanied by seven Fox-

R he was not the type of parson to be occupied E and one of his terriers.The 1841 painting by T R

Ö only with the spiritual welfare of his flock. On J. Loder was donated by F.W.B. Smythe to Blundell’s H

A I the contrary, during his whole life, the parson School in Tiverton. R

Y

S hunted three or more days a week. Jack Russell E T

R owned horses, he had his own pack of Otter- 1841. Russell is seated on his horse, dressed U O

C hounds and was able to call himself “Master of immaculately and accompanied by seven Fox-

: N

O Otter Hounds.” Last but not least, the parson hounds and one – the picture of a ‘Sport- I T A

R bred working terriers. Eventually, those terriers ing Parson.’ T S

U would bear his name… as would the pub in his L L I hometown, Swimbridge: the Jack Russell. The & An easy-going childhood

O

T way Parson Russell spent his leisure time is Russell was born in December 1795 in Dartmouth, O H

P clearly shown in the painting by J. Loder from in the County of Devon. His family had lived in

DOGS IN CANADA May 2005 23 Masterminds R E T R Ö H

A I R The ancestors of our Y S E

present terriers, drawn T R U

in the time of Jack O C

:

Russell’s youth. (From N O I

Sydenham Edwards, T A R T

Cynographia Britannica, S U L L

1799-1805) I

this county since the 16th century. Thanks to the together with the local farmers. When the farm- investigations of his biographer Charles Noon, ers gave the boys the idea of keeping Foxhounds, we now know a lot about this son and grandson Russell found accommodation for the in of Anglican parsons. Russell was the second son the shed of the local blacksmith. The farmers were of John Russell Sr. and Honor Terrell. The family delighted because they wanted to be rid of the ver- eventually consisted of one daughter and three min that was destroying their fields. Russell turned sons. John Sr. had married well and although the out to be a talented dog trainer, but unfortunately family was not really well-to-do, Jack had an easy- the boys were betrayed by a fellow student. Bovey going childhood – and that was quite something was expelled from school; Russell escaped this in early-19th-century . measure, but he got a severe beating. The story Russell’s education was typical for the son of a doesn’t reveal what happened to the Foxhounds. parson. He attended Plympton Grammar School In 1814, Russell began his studies at Exeter Col- until he was 14, when he became a student of lege in Oxford. Like many of his fellow students, Blundell’s School in Tiverton. Blundell’s School he left Oxford (December 1818) with the lowest de- advocated a Spartan upbringing: the students had gree, but by that time he had some useful friends to be present at their school desks at 7 a.m.; in and connections. Most of his fellow students were winter, the ink froze in the inkpots. On the time- sons of wealthy landowners and were more inter- table were Greek and Latin, exact sciences and – ested in and fishing than in Greek and for an extra charge – dancing lessons. To earn a Latin. Russell does not seem to have been a dili- little extra money, students, including Jack and gent student; his biographer writes about “a min- his friend Hunter, kept rabbits. When Headmas- imum of study.” ter Richards forbade the hobby and Hunter tried to hide his rabbits, young Russell set his ferrets Sport = hunting on them! As a result, Hunter’s rabbits were confis- Jack Russell lived at a time when “sport” really cated. Russell was obviously a student of enter- meant “hunting” and from the time he was a prise, but the school management had another young boy, he showed a natural talent for dealing opinion of the parson’s son. with dogs and horses. After school hours, there was little supervision In the 19th century, terriers were not yet sepa- of the students, so Russell and his friend Robert rated into distinct breeds as they are today, al- Bovey had the opportunity to hunt rabbits and rats though there was some distinction of types. In

24 DOGS IN CANADA May 2005 Cynographia Britannica (published around 1800), Sydenham Edwards wrote about two types of terrier: crook-legged and straight-legged. In gen- eral, their colour was black with tan markings on the muzzle and the legs and some tan above the eyes. Red, yellow-brown and spotted terriers were mentioned as well. White was the favourite col- Top: A Stranger in Their our of hunters (to distinguish the dogs from the Midst by John Emms prey) and usually the tail was docked and the ears (1895).The real sepa-

R cropped. Edwards also described the tempera- E ration between work- T R ment of those terriers: “grumbling, grumpy, irri- Ö ing terriers and the Fox H

A

I table and alert,” but also “brave and intelligent.”

R Terrier took place at the

Y He went on: “He tracks with the Foxhounds, hunts S end of the 19th century. E T

R with the and finds the game for the Grey-

U The terrier in the fore- O

C .” We must think of this type of terrier when

: ground can easily be S

N we read about young Jack Russell meeting ‘Trump,’

O distinguished from the I T

A the terrier bitch he bought from a milkman in Ox-

R short-coated Fox Ter- T

S ford. Seeing her just once, Russell knew she was

U riers. (Collection of Mr. L L I the type he was looking for. and Mrs. Hans Ursch) We know what Trump looked like: white with dark tan markings above her eyes and a tan spot Left:‘Trump,’Russell’s close to the tail-set. Her coat was thick and wavy, in the 19th century, working pressure was mini- first terrier, bought from her frame built for endurance and heavy work. mal. Russell had about 10 marriage and funeral a milkman in Oxford. She was the size of a fully grown vixen. Trump services to conduct a month and had to preach became the ancestress of all the terriers bred by only twice a month. There was a lot of time left for Russell. They were built to be able to chase a fox his pleasures and in his diary, he wrote almost effortlessly, even underground, and follow the daily about his hobby: “Tuesday: Killed an otter horses up to 20 miles a day. in the marsh above Allen’s lime pits… Thursday: Russell’s interest in terriers originated in his Domi in the morning (a funeral). Killed an otter love for . During his stay in Oxford, he under White House below Pilcock Wood in the had hunted with the Duke of Beaufort’s Fox- afternoon… Saturday: Found a stag in Head hounds and the packs of Bicester and Old Berk- Wood…. Thursday: killed four hares… Monday: shire. He closely watched the methods and tactics Found a fox with Mr. Fellowes at Irishcombe of the older Masters of Hounds and learned a lot Plantation… Saturday: Found a fox in Stone about hunting, horses and packs. Sometimes he Wood, killed in Nott’s Wood.” The diary goes on was short of money and couldn’t join a hunting and on, year in, year out. A funeral in the morning, party, in which case he used the excuse, “I am not fox hunting in the afternoon, chasing hares in the feeling very well.” morning, a baptism in the afternoon. The ques- tion seems to be was Jack Russell a hunter who Hunter/parson or parson/hunter? became a parson by coincidence or a parson who Russell’s father was not very pleased with the be- in fact should have been a hunter? haviour of his son. In his view, young Jack was Although Russell’s father was not very pleased wasting his time with hunting parties. He tried to with his son’s behaviour, the apple never falls far find a job for him and in 1820, 27-year-old Rus- from the tree. Russell Sr. was also known for the sell was consecrated by the bishop of Exeter, Mr. fact that he rather liked to go fox hunting instead George Pelham, in the Chapel Royal in London. of preaching. Not infrequently, churchgoers could Young Parson Russell wouldn’t have a busy life; see his hunting boots sticking out from under for an Anglican parson in the English countryside his gown!

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Jack Russell used his ter- Russell’s marriage lasted almost 49 years, my im- riers to chase the fox to pression is that he didn’t behave like a concerned

its hole.Contemporaries family man. He was often away from home and R E T not infrequently Penelope stayed elsewhere. It is R

of Russell also used this Ö H

A

type of terrier to hunt obvious that his wife never came between Rus- I R

hares, rabbits and pole- sell and his favourite sport. Y S E T

cats.This painting by After the marriage, Russell was still worried R U O

Robert Hugh Buxton about having sufficient money for his expensive C

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dates from the end of hobby. According to his biographer Charles Noon, O I T A

the 19th or beginning he hunted “on the cheap,” as economically as pos- R T S

of the 20th century. sible. He never owned more than six horses at a U L L time and his assistant was a young boy, called I Sam, who was taught how to train dogs by Russell himself. Sam would remain a loyal ‘whipper-in’ “Master of Otter Hounds” until his death in 1839. Russell’s superiors must have wondered how Two years after his marriage, Russell had al- somebody who rode through the county at dead ready spent a considerable amount of Penelope’s of night, accompanied by a team of dogs, could money. After 1850, he was forced to sell their big pay sufficient attention to his parishioners. house, Colleton Barton, in the neighbourhood of In 1820, Russell’s salary amounted to £100 a Cumleigh, to satisfy his creditors. In order to have year, but he inherited £800 from his grandfather. sufficient dogs in his pack, Russell co-owned dogs It is assumed that he bought his first pack of to keep down expenses. And he had good advice with his grandfather’s money. In for the farmers: do not kill the foxes yourself, but the summer of 1820, Russell killed 25 otters and leave that to a professional – i.e., Jack Russell. he was mentioned in hunting magazines. Being a “Master of Otter Hounds,” Russell was now a Two hundred ladies man of distinction and reading his diary one has In 1833, Russell moved from Iddesleigh to the vil- to come to the conclusion that his parishioners lage of Swimbridge and this occasion was marked received less attention than the hunt, the horses with a big party. Even the North Devon Journal and the dogs. Between November 1823 and Feb- wrote about it. It seems that Parson Russell had ruary 1824, Parson Russell hunted hares 38 times become a real star, because about 200 ladies at- and in the same period he went fox hunting as tended his tea party! Russell enjoyed social life: well. To put it briefly, Russell hunted 75 days out of dinners, meetings, collecting money for schools 90; his diary mentions dozens of names of other and hospitals and conducting himself as a promi- hunters and different packs of dogs. nent Freemason. From time to time the question His energy seems to have been inexhaustible cropped up if this parson still had time for his in becoming acquainted with almost every well- parishioners. On one occasion, even the local press to-do landowner in the county. Russell also traded in horses. He felt at home at every race-course and still he had energy left. His diary mentions visits to theatres, balls, school reunions and other places “where the girls are present.” On the cheap On March 30, 1826, Russell married 26-year-old Penelope Incledon Bury, an admiral’s daughter R E

from an old Devonshire family. Two sons were T T A

born: John Bury and Richard Bury. It seems that A L I E

Penelope’s mother was not enthusiastic about her H S

:

daughter’s choice. Although Russell was not poor, O T O

mother had something else in mind for her youn- H P gest daughter, and that certainly was not a parson without family possessions and whose name had Ridley Robber of Belmorr, a top stud dog in Great become a byword for hunting parties. Although Britain 1991-1996.

26 DOGS IN CANADA May 2005 addressed the subject, calling Russell “the futile Parson Jack Russell,” but it did not damage his popularity. On the contrary, most parishioners adored him and he continued to receive lots of invitations for hunting parties. Without a pedigree It is remarkable that the breed that made Jack Russell immortal played a relatively minor role in his life. Although he was one of the founders of , Russell was not interested in dog shows. He needed good working dogs and how they looked was not really important to him. That’s probably one of the reasons he never docked the tails or cropped the ears of his terriers, con- trary to the usual practice of the time. Nearly every terrier Russell used for his breed- ing originated from the West Country, where he usually hunted. He also used the well-known Fox Terriers Old Jock and Old Tartar. ‘Tartar’ was shown at Birmingham in 1863. In the catalogue, he’s de-

R scribed as “without a pedigree, weight 18 pounds E T T

A and almost white with a light tan marking above

A L I the eyes.” Russell was aware of proper registra- E H S

tion and in his own stud books mentioned all nec- : O T

O essary details. H P Although many hunters used Russell’s terriers to hunt rabbits, rats, etc., Russell used them exclu- sively for fox hunting. Not infrequently, beat-up foxes hid themselves in holes and the ter- sell’s salary! In spite of his uncertain financial po- A true sportsman riers were able to follow them underground. sition, Russell received an invitation from the Jack Russell bred a type of terrier that was per- Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) to spend fectly suited to the area in which he lived: rough, Christmas at Sandringham Castle. On New Year’s rolling fields. His terriers could work with the fast Eve, 1873, 78-year-old Parson Russell was on the Foxhounds, they had great stamina and were intel- dance floor holding Queen Alexandra in his arms. ligent. Sometimes a wounded or tired terrier would In the fall of 1882, Russell was present at a stag be seated in front of Russell in the saddle; other- hunt; on April 28, 1883, his life ended at the age wise, Parson Russell was unrelenting. Young dogs of 88. that did not fulfil his expectations were disposed of without mercy. During Russell’s lifetime, his terriers were al- Literature • Bryan Cummins, The Terriers of Scotland and ready considered a bit “old-fashioned,” but still some of his dogs were used to lay the foundation Ireland. Doral Publishing, 2003. of new lines elsewhere. The year 1874 set the seal • James McKay, The Complete Jack Russell. Swan- on his work when Russell was invited to judge Fox hill Press, 2000. Terriers at the Crystal Palace show in London. • Charles Noon, Parson Jack Russell, The Hunting Legend 1795-1883. Halsgrove, 2000. Prince of Wales • Mary Strom, The Ultimate . Russell’s wife died in 1875 and he was immedi- Ringpress Books, 1999. ately in financial difficulties again. Well-to-do friends helped him out and in 1880, many paid tribute to Russell at a massive party at the Duke A retired bookseller and publisher, Ria Hörter is a contrib- of Bedford’s mansion. An old friend, Lord Polti- uting editor of De Hondenwereld, the national dog maga- more, provided for a small job that doubled Rus- zine of Holland.

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