Where The Yorkieshire Terrier Came FromThis page is just meant to give you a little bit of history about the Yorkshire Terrier. I have tried to supply a little bit about how the breed came to be, and when it came to the United States.
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 This Clydsdale Terrier also had it's role in the Yorkshire Terrier |
 This early Scottish-bred Yorkshire looks more like the Clydsdale above than todays Yorkshire Terrier. |
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. 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. These terriers were inevitably crossed with other types of terrier, probably the English Black and Tan Toy Terrier, and the Skye Terrier; 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.  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. |
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. 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 12,343 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. |
 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. The Yorkshire Terrier is also very popular in North America today. In 1992, Yorkies were #14 on the AKC's list of most popular breeds with 39,904 registrations. In 1994 they were #11, although registrations had dropped to 38,626. It may seem strange that Yorkies have risen in popularity in North America while the number of registrations has dropped, but overall, AKC registration, is down (as is UK registration), with some popular breeds having dramatic reductions in the numbers now registered. The Yorkie came to America in the early 1870s in response to the American fascination with all things Victorian. The breed was adopted by purebred dog lovers here and was admitted to the American Kennel Club (AKC) stud book in 1885, one year after the AKC had been established. Yorkies were a diverse lot at first, weighing anywhere from 3 to 13 pounds. By the 1930s the petite size and the modern-day Yorkie look were more universal, but the breed did not start to climb the AKC's hit parade until the 1950s. Indeed, 50 years ago the Yorkie ranked 57th among the 112 breeds registered by the AKC, with a mere 173 new registrations in 1949. During the Eisenhower regime, when many Americans were buying houses for the first time, a number of people were buying Yorkies for the first time too; and by 1960, when 1,181 new Yorkies were registered, the breed had leap-dogged 23 spaces on the AKC's popularity list. The beat went on during the following decade, and by 1970 annual Yorkie registrations had increased more than tenfold (to 13,484), which was good enough for 17th place on the AKC list. By 1980 the Yorkie was poised at number 11 with 24,665 new registrations. After vacillating between 11th and 14th on the AKC list for a decade and a half, the Yorkie made the top 10 in 1995, when its 36,881 new registrations placed it 10th among the 145 breeds registered by the AKC. Last year the Yorkie, with 42,900 new registrations, ranked 9th among the 146 AKC-recognized breeds. |
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Pictures from "The New Complete Yorkshire Terrier" by Joan B Gordon Information derived from "The New Complete Yorkshire Terrier", by Joan B Gordon, "Yorkshire Terriers", by Armin Kriechbaumer, and "Bark Bytes Cyber Magazine". |
