Russell
Only with knowledge of the Reverend John (Jack) Russell, his life and times can we have a better understanding of the breed that carries his name and has done so for more than 150 years. The rural society in which he was born and lived was one of poverty, with many livelihoods dependent on the whims of land owners. Work was long and arduous and there was little to do in the way of entertainment. Hunting was a way of life, and the very existence of a hunt could sustain whole communities.
Early life
John Russell was born in 1795 in Devonshire, and from boyhood showed an exceptional interest in the countryside and animals. His father, a well-known hunting parson, who, at one time, kept a pack of hounds, encouraged his son to follow in his footsteps. At that time it was not unusual for men of the cloth to be keen on hunting. Indeed, many had their own packs, and they were often admired by their parishioners and overlooked by the church hierarchy.
Young John Russell was a tough, strong country lad, who was not easily put down and was always ready to fight his corner, which was just as well for his second school, Blundell’s, a public school in Tiverto, Devon, had a harsh regime, and bullying was rife. He kept ferrets and in his spare time would go ratting for local farmers, who were amused by the boy’s keenness and agreed to keep four-and-a-half couple of hounds (nine hounds) on his behalf.
Today’s Jack Russells are all descended from the original Terriers owned by the Reverend John Russell in the nineteenth century. Feisty and fun-loving, these dogs make great family pets as well as being superb workers.
At Oxford University, Russell was not interested in cock fighting and heavy drinking like the other young gentlemen undergraduates. Instead, he used every opportunity to hunt with the best packs. Foxhunting became the story of his life, and he was obsessed with hunting until his eighties, riding phenomenal distances to join a famous hunt.
The Jack Russell Terrier
The tale of how Russell found his first Terrier is well known, but it will lose nothing in re-telling. He was taking an early morning walk in Oxford when he saw the local milkman delivering milk with a white Terrier at his heel. Russell fell for the dog and could not rest until he had bought her. Her name was Trump and she became the foundation bitch of his kennel.
A famous Terrier man
In 1873, Russell became one of the founder members of the Kennel Club, but although he showed dogs for a short period he believed that dogs bred for the show ring would lose their working characteristics and he was only interested in function. Writing about him in 1904, H. Compton stated, ‘For where shall you find any Terrier strain, or for that matter any strain of dogs, as honoured and renowned as that of the Devonshire Parson whose distaste for show dogs was almost as profound as his admiration for working ones’.
Although he was said to be ‘the father of Fox Terriers’, which he kept within his own stud, there were some people who claimed he would buy up any likely looking Terrier and breed him or her. Unfortunately, we will never know the full truth because few of his records have survived, but, to use a stockman’s expression, ‘he had an eye for a dog’ and by a process of selective breeding became the most famous Terrier man in Britain. His fame extended far and wide, not only for his hunting prowess but also for his knowledge of country matters.
The Reverend John (Jack) Russell died on 28th April 1883, and, to illustrate how greatly he was esteemed and loved, over 1,000 people attended his funeral, including 24 clergymen, the mayor of Barnstaple and many hunting celebrities. Even the Prince of Wales sent a wreath of wild flowers celebrating Parson Jack’s love of the countryside.
Supporters of the breed
Two other men who should be named because of their support of Parson Jack and his strain of Terriers are Arthur Heinemann and Squire Nicholas Snow of Oare. Heinemann acquired his original stock of Jack Russell Terriers from the squire, and his kennel woman, Annie Rawle, was the granddaughter of the Parson’s kennel manager, Will Rawle. It was Annie who managed Heinemann’s kennels when the master was serving in World War I. Heinemann was also an obsessive huntsman and a student of Parson Jack’s breeding methods. He wrote the original Standard for the breed, which has been preserved virtually intact to modern times. He also built up a strong kennel of Terriers, and on his death in 1930 his stock passed to Annie Rawle, thereby ensuring the continuation of the type.
Using the Parson’s dogs as their patterns, the early show enthusiasts began to ‘improve’ on the originals. They developed their dogs to win in the show ring, but, in the view of many hunting people, they changed the priorities, making perceived beauty the most important criteria instead of function. They thought that the show Terrier would never be called upon to prove his metal in the field and therefore was not worthy of consideration.
Today’s working Jack Russell Terrier is a game little dog with all the instincts of his ancestors. He loves to dig and hunt.
Fox Terrier Club
At the time the generic name for terriers bred to run with Fox Hounds was ‘Fox Terrier’, and even the Parson’s dogs were alluded to as Fox Terriers. Indeed, to some he was the father of the breed. However, other gentlemen, wishing to stabilize the breed, created the Fox Terrier Club and sought recognition from the Kennel Club, which they achieved in 1872. Parson Jack Russell would have none of it and would not register his strain of Terriers with the Kennel Club, believing that it would dilute their hunting qualities. Many enthusiasts followed him, continuing to breed their working terriers in the time-honoured way – only from dogs that showed prowess in the hunting field – and called them Jack Russell Terriers.
However, in 1894, Heinemann formed the Devon & Somerset Badger Club, which later changed its name to the Parson Jack Russell Club and became one of the 28 clubs affiliated to the Fox Terrier Club in the 1930s. Sadly, they folded just before World War II.
By the turn of the century, dog shows were becoming very popular, and at the same time the Kennel Club’s registered Smooth Fox Terriers became the most popular Terrier exhibits. In some litters of Smooths, Wire-haired puppies appeared, which, although they were not favoured at the time, overtook the Smooths in popularity several years later. From photographs of the time it is easy to see that the Fox Terriers were not so very different to those of today.
Popularity of the breed
The one major problem that has haunted the breed, since its superb working qualities were recognized, is the spread of what can only be described as ‘counterfeit’ Jack Russells, because few people adhered to a Standard. During Word War II, food was scarce and it was difficult to feed kennels of dogs, so many were forced to close down and numerous dogs did not survive.
After the war, when the servicemen started returning home, there was a renewed demand for puppies, and many dog breeders, who were quick to seize the opportunity, began their operations again, producing so-called Jack Russell Terriers, which were acvtually a mishmash of types.
Puppy farmers and backyard breeders, seeking only to make money, would mate any Terriers together and call the resultant progeny Jack Russells. Farmers bred Terriers with small sheepdogs and described the puppies as Jack Russells.
