1861: Shows at Leeds, Birmingham, and Manchester 1862: Shows at Islington and Birmingham 1863: Shows at Cremorne, Islington, and Birmingham

I do not find record of any other dog shows of importance till July, 1861, when the North of England Exhibition of Sporting and other Dogs was held for three days at the Royal Agricultural Hall, Leeds, with the following officiating as the judges there: Lord Neville, Sir W. Cooke, Bart., Captain Harrison, Captain Spencer, Messrs. W. Lort, E. Smith, J. Parrington, G. F. Solly, and G. Leacroft.

A good and representative entry was obtained in both divisions, Blood-hounds, Greyhounds, Pointers, Setters, and Harriers being the strongest in the one, and Mastiffs, Newfoundlands, Dalmatians, Black-and-tan and English Terriers, Yorkshire Terriers (then and long afterwards shown under the title of Scotch Terriers), Toy Spaniels, and Toy Terriers being the strongest in the other.

On December 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, 1861, the Second Exhibition of Sporting and other Dogs was held in Tennant Street, Birmingham.

The following officiated as judges: Messrs. C. Wickstead, R. Harper, Major Irvine, Major Ainslie, Captain Lowndes, Messrs. S. Mallaby, J. Walker, W. Lort, J. Carver, P. Hackett, and J. Tailby.

The Sporting Division was much the larger of the two, and the Pointers the largest entries in it, the winners in Large Dogs being Mr. Newton's Ranger, Mr. Antrobus, Mr. C. S. King's Frank, Mr. Chatterton, and Mr. J. Aspinall; in like Bitches, Mr. Taylor's Flash, Mr. Combermach's Moll, Earl Derby's Juno, and Mr. Fosbrooke's Esther. In Small Dogs, Mr. Bayley's Dash, Mr. Forrester's Don, and entries of Messrs. Long, Powys, and Chamberlain were the winners. In Bitches, Messrs. Worsey's Bess, Lang's Fan, Turner's Nell, and Riley's Moll were all "in the money." Blood hounds, Fox-hounds, Harriers, and Beagles were all small entries. In Otter-hounds Viscount Hill took all the prizes. In English Setters the winners in Dogs were Messrs. Woolfs Sanko and Bayley's Bob; in Bitches, Rev. T. Pearce's Regent and Ruby; extra prize, Marquis of Anglesey's Rhumney. In Gordon Setters, Sir J. Rivett Carnac's Ned and Rock were first and second; extra prize, Mr. J. Harrison. Retrievers found Mr. Riley's Cato, Mr. Walsh's dog, and Mr. Rutherford's Grouse, first, second, and extra in Dogs. In Bitches Mr. Wakelin's Fan was first, Mr. Robertson's Lassie second. Irish Setters were not very numerous, Mr. G. Jones being first in Dogs with Carlow, and second in Bitches with Nora. Mr. Watts's Ranger was second in Dogs, and Mr. Master's Fan first in Bitches; extra prize, Mr. J. Aston's Mona. In Clumbers, first in Dogs and first and extra in Bitches went to Trimbush, Truce, and Silk, belonging to Mr. R. S. Holford, M.P., a power in that variety at the time, Earl Spencer's Bob being second in Dogs, and Mr. Boaler extra in Dogs and second in Bitches. Other Breeds used for Sporting Purposes found the following in the prize list: Mr. G. Jones's Bob, Mr. Goode's Trudge; extra prize, Mr. W. Smart's Don, in Dogs, and in Bitches Mr. Footman and Mr. Shield. Extra class for Foreign Sporting Dogs, only prize given to Mr. J. Heap's Russian Setter bitch Gipsey.

Three historical animals took the prizes in Mastiffs, being Mr. H. Cantley's Quaker and Mr. E. Hanbury's Empress and Duchess. In Newfoundlands the winners were Mr. Infelix and Lieut.-Colonel D'Alton. Bull-dogs had some well-known exhibitors. Mr. Lamphier was first with King Dick, Jim Hinks second with Madman, Jack Percival third with Captain in Dogs and Bitches. In extra class, Bill McDonald was first with Tony, and Mr. C. Carrington second with Gruff. In Sheep-dogs, Mrs. Silvester's Jehu was first, and Mr. King's Bob second. Messrs. Birch, Mann, and J. Stretch took all the prizes in Black-and-tans. In White English Terriers, Mr. R. Alkin was first and third, and Viscount Hill second. Messrs. Mitchell, Dinsdale, and Mann were the winners in what were then called Scotch Terriers, but nothing like the present variety. In Pugs, Italian Greyhounds, Blenheims, and King Charles Spaniels, Mr. J. Stretch took first prizes, followed in last-named variety by Mr. W. McDonald's Pet, second, and Mr. Almfield's Charley, third. In Toy Terriers the winners were Messrs. R. Chaplin's Tiny, H. Peter's Flora, and J. Wilkinson's entry. Extra class for Non-Sporting Foreign Dogs produced a mixed assemblage, first going to Mr. F. Thursley's Cuban dog Jon Ton; other prizes to Captain Wingfield's Chinese dog Joss, Mr. Badham's French Poodle Sill, and Mr. Elkington's Pyrenean Sheep-dog Wolf.

In the year 1861 was held the First Exhibition of Sporting and other Dogs at the Belle Vue Zoological Gardens, Manchester, but I have not been able to trace its actual date, number of entries, or the names of the judges.

The Sporting Division was the stronger of the two, and Pointers, with classes for dogs and bitches, large size, and dogs and bitches, small size, had "pride of place." Setters were all shown together, divided by sex only. Retrievers, Blood-hounds, Deer-hounds, and Clumbers had one class each, while all other varieties of sporting Spaniels, Harriers and Greyhounds had two classes each.

In Non-Sporting Division, best entries were in Mastiffs (two classes), Bull, Black-and-tan, and Yorkshire (still called Scotch) Terriers, Skyes, Toys, and Foreign Dogs. Names of owners, and not of the dogs, appear in record!

In 1862 was held the next important show, at the New Agricultural Hall, Islington, London, June 24th to June 28th (I wonder how exhibitors of the present day would like a five days' show at midsummer!). A Mr. T. D. Appleby, of Briggate, Leeds, was the secretary, and it was called "North of England Second Exhibition of Sporting and other Dogs."

The names of the judges do not appear in my catalogue; but I see there were 803 entries, and some of the classes were remarkable for their size, as I shall proceed to show.