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HOW THE YORKSHIRE
TERRIER BREED WAS FORMED
Picture from
Hutchinson's (England, circa 1935)
Today's Yorkshire Terrier is very different from the
early Yorkshire Terriers of the North of England.
There are varying accounts of the origins of this
breed and its development. I have tried to give the
most accurate, and most widely agreed upon history
of the Yorkshire Terrier assembled from books and
publications written be reliable and experienced
fanciers of the breed in the UK.
Before 1750, most British people worked in
agriculture. The onset of the Industrial Revolution
brought great changes to family life. In Yorkshire,
small communities grew up around coal mines, textile
mills and factories. People were drawn to these
areas to seek work from as far away as Scotland.
They brought with them a breed known as the
Clydesdale Terrier, or Paisley Terrier. These were
primarily working dogs, much larger than today's
Yorkies, and were used for catching rats and other
small mammals.
Clydesdale Terrier
One breed
being largely responsible for the Yorkie is the
Clydesdale terrier. This dog is a version of the
Skye terrier, a dog with a long, straight, silky
coat. While the Skye can also be considered a
relative of the Yorkie, the Clydesdale is more
specific in that it had many of the traits necessary
to help create the Yorkshire terrier. They had the
same coat texture and colors as the dog we know
today. It was a rare breed in its day, and was
extinct by the 1920s.
Waterside Terrier
The
waterside terrier, also known as the otter terrier,
had the Yorkie's signature black and tan colors, but
unlike the Clydesdale, it sported a shorter, rough
coat. It is a breed with history dating back to the
1500s. This breed evolved into what we know today as
the Airedale terrier, a much bigger dog with a
short, wavy coat.
Old English Terrier
The Old
English terrier is another old breed. The variety
that contributed to the Yorkie breed is the toy
rough and broken-haired. Yorkies were originally
shown under the name of this variety until they were
given their own name. Today, the only variety that
exists under AKC standards is known as an excellent
hunting companion.
These terriers were inevitably crossed and it is also
thought that at some stage the Maltese Terrier was
crossed with these breeds to help produce long
coats. As the outline of the Maltese resembles that
of many of today's Yorkies, this is very likely.
Unfortunately, no records in the form of Pedigrees
exist to confirm these crosses (possibly because of
the poor level of literacy in these times), but a
great deal is known about the type of people who
bred them, and there can be no doubt that early
breeders had a very clear idea of the type of dogs
they were attempting to produce. We can see in
today's Yorkies how strongly the terrier temperament
has been retained.
Early
Yorkshire Terriers and Breeders
One of the most famous early Yorkies was
Huddersfield Ben, bred by a Mr. Eastwood and owned
by Mr. M.A. Foster. Huddersfield Ben was born in
1865 and died in 1871, and can be said to be the
father of the modern Yorkie. In his day "Ben" was a
very popular stud dog who won many prizes in the
show ring, and had tremendous influence in setting
breed type.
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In 1874 the first Yorkies were
registered in the British Kennel
Club stud book. They were referred
to as "Broken Haired Scottish
Terriers" or "Yorkshire Terriers",
until 1886, when the Kennel Club
recognised the Yorkshire Terrier as
an individual breed. The first
Yorkshire Terrier breed club was
formed in 1898. During these early
years, one who greatly influenced
the breed was Lady Edith
Wyndham-Dawson. Lady Edith was
secretary of the Yorkshire Terrier
Club for some time and did much
early work for the improvement of
the breed. Later, a Miss Palmer, who
was Lady Edith's kennel maid,
started her own Yorkie kennel under
the "Winpal" prefix. When Lady Edith
returned to Ireland at the start of
World War I, Miss Palmer went to
work for Mrs. Crookshank of the
famous Johnstounburn prefix, a name
with a long list of champions, which
is now in the care of Daphne
Hillman, who was entrusted with this
prefix, and still uses it along with
her own Yorkfold prefix.
Many others have worked very hard
since these early years to improve
this breed, and to these breeders
much is owed. Many of their early
dogs became the foundation stock of
kennels in North America and
elsewhere.
Yorkies Today:
The Yorkshire Terrier now flourishes
throughout the world and the early
breeders who were instrumental in
producing the diminutive toy terrier
of today would surely be astounded
at the success of this delightful
breed. In 1932 only 300 Yorkies were
registered with the British Kennel
Club, in 1957 the number was 2313,
and in the 1970's Yorkies were the
most popular breed in Britain. This
trend continued until 1990 with a
record of 25,665 Yorkies registered.
However, this figure has now begun
to drop, and in 1994 there were
12343 registrations, with the Yorkie
being recorded as the 7th most
popular breed.
The most famous Yorkshire Terrier of
modern times in the UK was CH
Blairsville Royal Seal. He was by CH
Beechrise Surprise and his dam was
CH Blairsville Most Royale. "Tosha"
to his friends (of whom he had many)
was bred, owned and handled by Mr.
Brian Lister and his wife, Rita.
Tosha was definitely a 'King' among
dogs and no one who saw him flowing
around the ring could ever forget
him. His prescence could be felt,
even by a complete novice, and many
say that just thinking of him brings
a lump to the throat. During his
show career Tosha won 50 CCs, all
under different judges. He was 12
times Best In Show at all breed CH
shows, and 16 times Reserve Best In
Show. He took 33 Group wins, and
went Reserve Best In Show at Cruft's
in 1978, just as his dam had done
before him. Tosha was Top Dog, all
breeds, for two consecutive years.
He became the sire of many prolific
Champions and still features in the
pedigree of many of today's Yorkies.
Ironically, when Royal Seal died,
aged 15, in 1988, that year his
breed record for the highest number
of CCs in the breed was broken by
Osman Sameja's CH Ozmilion
Dedication "Jamie", who finished his
show career with 52 CCs, although a
few of these were duplicated under
the same judges. Jamie also has two
all breed CH show wins, and his many
Toy group wins helped him to win the
Top Dog title in 1987. The Ozmilion
kennel is the top Yorkshire Terrier
kennel of all time, and holds the
record for the number of Champions
produced.
Following on from this, Jamie's
grandson, Ch. Ozmilion Mystification
broke another record in 1997 by
being the first Yorkie ever to win
the coveted Best In Show award at
the most prestigious dog show,
Cruft's. "Justin" was retired after
this event, having to his credit a
total 51 CCs, 48 with Best of Breed,
22 Group wins, 9 Club BIS, and at
All Breed Shows, 7 RBIS and 3 BIS
awards. He was Top Yorkie from
1994-1997, Top Dog All Breeds 1996,
Crufts Supreme Champion 1997, and
Pedigree Chum Champion overall
Stakes winner 1997.
Some record of achievement! In this
same year, the great "Jamie" died.
Yorkies in North America:
The first Yorkie to become an
American Champion was Bradford
Harry, who gained his title in 1889.
He was the great-great-grandson of
Huddersfield Ben, and was imported
from England by P.H. Coombs of
Bangor, Maine. Some of the most
notable early American kennels are
Janet Bennet and Joan Gordon (Wildweir)
who imported many English Yorkies,
including lines from Johnstounburn,
Haringay and Buranthea. The
Mayfield-Barban kennels owned by
Anne Seranne and Barbara Wolferman
have also done much to improve the
breed.
Whilst CH Blairsville Royal Seal
dominated the British show scene,
his American counterpart, CH Cede
Higgens was making his mark in the
USA. These two dogs were both shown
during the same era, and were
inevitably, constantly being
compared. However, although they
were both outstanding specimens of
the breed, those who had seen them
both, agreed that they were totally
different in type. Bred by C.D.
Lawrence, Cede Higgens was closely
line-bred to the Clarkwyns and
Wildweir lines, by CH. Wildweir Pomp
'N Circumstance.
Another dog who had significant
influence on the North American
Yorkies was CH Finstal Royal Icing,
bred by Sybil Pritchard in the UK
and exported to the Jentre kennels
after Sybil died. He is by CH
Finstal Johnathan, who still has
winning progeny in the UK today.
Johnathan was looked after by Wendy
White (Wenwytes) after Sybil's
death, until he died in 1994 aged
about 17.
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