The Buzz About Norfolk Terriers – A Look Back in Time

Ch. Biffin of Beaufin and Little Jane. Biffin was born in 1932.

By: Heidi Cole

The Norfolk Terrier, one of the smaller working terrier breeds is now almost 80 years old.  And what a history this breed has had! Developed in East Anglia, England, the Norwich and Norfolk Terrier were originally the same breed type, but with two different ear sets—the Norwich with the prick ear and the Norfolk with the drop ear. The Norfolk came from simple beginning in Britain and while it remains a popular breed there, its popularity has seen incredible growth worldwide. The Norfolk is smart, feisty, quick, clever, versatile, loving, amusing and loyal. Yet it is called a true “demon” in the field. They were originally bred as barn dogs to rid the buildings of vermin and they were also used on occasion on the hunt to chase animals of a similar size from their den. The Norfolk has kept its ratting instincts fully intact—as evidenced by the popularity and success of the Norfolk in the AKC Earthdog and other field competitions– but has also evolved into a good-natured companion dog.

The Norfolk Terrier, as with many breeds, is a combination of many others. In the case of the Norfolk it is noted by breed historians that they came from a breeding of a Yorkshire and Irish terrier and were originally called the Cantab Terrier. Even then they were agile and quick and the perfect “ratter.” During the 1900s undergraduate students of Cambridge University bought these terriers—in both red and black and tan colors—from a breeder named Charles (Doggy) Lawrence. They were used to catch rats that had begun to infiltrate the dormitories at the University.  Enter a man named Jodrell Hopkins, a graduate of Cambridge who lived on Trumpington Street and who clearly remembered the Cantabs running through dormitory halls in search of vermin.  Hopkins wanted a dog for his livery stable to chase down the blossoming rat population. He bred his dog—a Scottish type terrier to one of the Cantabs owned by Lawrence. The result of that breeding was a red coated male and female prick eared terrier whom he named Rags and Nell.  Rags was a red terrier with a harsh coat and prick ears—though it should be noted that during those days many of the ears were cropped. Rags was a prolific sire and produced many litters.  He called them “Trumpington Terriers.”

Podge Low with "Ninety"

Lewis “Podge” Low had an eye for a hard working terrier.  He was the son of a local veterinarian and owned a white prick-eared bitch, thought to be a cross between a Dandie Dinmont and a Wire Fox Terrier, named “Ninety.” Low bred Ninety to Rags and had a number of litters.  All of these puppies were red and a number of them were bought by Frank Jones who was the First Whip to the Norwich Staghounds—a local hunting group. Jones found these hardy young terriers to be in high demand among the sportsman he both socialized and worked with so he began breeding them in earnest.  In later years Jones went to work for Jack Cooke, who was Master of the Norwich Staghounds, and was given the moniker of Frank “Roughrider” Jones.  Jones continued to breed his terriers with some even exported to the United States. They were known as “Jones Terriers.”

Jones continued to work to refine his type of terrier. Through working with other breeders, the foundation for the Norwich Terrier was established.  The Norwich Terrier Club was recognized in 1932. At an early show, the Richmond Championship Show in England, fourteen dogs were entered.  The breed winner was a prick-eared dog named “Smudge” who years later sired the first breed’s first drop-eared champion. This little red dog was “Biffin of Beaufin,” born in 1932 and awarded his Championship in 1935. It is said that the owner, Mrs. E. Mainwaring, preferred the drop-eared look and because Biffin was known to prick his ears, she weighted them down.  Biffin had great influence on the breed as both prick eared and drop eared dogs can be traced back to him. After Kennel Club recognition, ears became an important factor in the definition of breed type. The practice of cropping ears diminished and breeders started considering natural ear set in their breeding. There was a division among breeders, with some favoring the prick ear dogs and others the drop eared variety. There was some interbreeding among both varieties, but ultimately the breeders split to breed the ear set of their preference. By the end of the 1940s there was a clear division of the varieties.

Miss MacFie of Colonsay Kennel

A dominant force in the promotion of the drop eared varieties was Miss Marion Sheila Scott Macfie.  A breeder of Dalmations, MacFie joined the Norwich Terrier Club in 1935 and founded Colonsay Kennels through the use of Mrs. Mainwaring’s Tiny Tim of Biffin. MacFie bred and showed her drop eared Norwich and championed the cause of the variety well through World War II.  However, the prick eared variety continued to dominate and up to 1964 the drop eared variety accounted for only a quarter of the Norwich being shown and bred.  It was MacFie who fought for the separation of the two varieties.  Although the Norwich Club wanted to separate the varieties under one breed name, the Kennel Club itself decided that the two varieties would be separated under two separate breed names. It was after much discussion and debate that the prick eared variety kept the Norwich Terrier name, while the drop eared variety was named the Norfolk Terrier. This occurred in England in 1964.

During that time the quality and quantity of great-quality Norfolk Terriers was somewhat diminished.  However, it was through dedication of breeder in England and later in the United States that has created some exceptional Norfolk Terriers. Many great British kennels came into being, including Titanium, Ragus, Gotoground, Kings Prevention, Mt. Paul, Ickwork, Nanfan, Cracknor, Castle Point among so many others. Those kennels became the foundation for many great American kennels, which is another topic for another time.

The First American Norfolk Champion - Merry of Beaufin

In the United States it was another Beaufin bitch, Merry of Beaufin, who was imported to the United States and became the first US Norfolk Terrier champion 1939–though the breed was still under the Norwich Terrier designation. Much has happened to the breed since that time.  The Norwich Terrier Club in the United States was founded in 1930 but the breeds were not split until 1979—though they still operated under the Norwich and Norfolk Terrier Club.  It took until January of 2009 for the Norfolk Terrier Club of America to be formed and accepted by the AKC, but finally the little red terrier from England was standing alone and on its own two feet.

But how does all of that history get us from there to here?  Easy!  Think back a few years to the top winning Norfolk of all time, the much beloved Eng./Am. Ch. Cracknor Cause Celebre.  “Coco” did it all!  In addition to becoming the breed’s all time top winner she also won Crufts, the Montgomery Kennel Club dog show, the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship and won two Terrier Groups at Westminster. If you follow her pedigree back it goes to the legendary Nanfan Kennel. (Nanfan is where Elisabeth Matell of Cracknor fame cut her teeth learning about Norfolks from the widely respected Joy Taylor who created what is arguably one of the most influential kennels in Norfolk history.) Take a couple of steps back from that and you will end up in Colonsay kennel founded by determined Miss Macfie—the  woman who devoted herself to the darling little drop ear red dogs and who was one of the first breeders who bred the black and tan Norfolks which are becoming more and more popular.

The Nanfan kennel (and ultimately Colonsay) was also behind the top winning male Norfolk Terrier in history—Ch. The Duke of Copperplate.  “Duke” was the only other Norfolk Terrier to win the Montgomery Kennel Club dog show and until “Coco” made her presence known in the United States, carried the record as the top winner in the breed.

There are many well established American kennels—all who ultimately trace their roots back to those early Norfolks… the Cantabs who ran the dormitories of Cambridge and were bred to create the Trumpington Terriers and then the Jones Terriers.  The rest, as they say is history!  Take any Norfolk pedigree and trace it back and its roots will always end up in that very same place, in East Anglia, England.

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Posted by chesliepickett on Jul 30 2013. Filed under Dog Show History, Featured, The Buzz. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.