History of the Club

1876
The Fox Terrier Club was formed "Sworn to foster, encourage and develop" the then most popular of all terriers. Mr. Harding Cox was appointed Honorary Secretary Read More. It is thought that The Fox Terrier Club is the oldest breed club in the Terrier Group.

Subscriptions raised to provide a suitably impressive 'Challenge Cup' to be offered for Best Fox Terrier (Wire or Smooth.)

The Fox Terrier Club issued the first Breed Standard, drawn up by a sub-committee of terrier men who knew the terrier in its work. Other clubs that were adopting a standard subsequently borrowed many of the points formulated by The Fox Terrier Club and this was taken as a great compliment. The Breed Standard remains only slightly altered to this day.

1877
First Fox Terrier Club Show held at Lillie Bridge, West Brampton on May 2nd and 3rd. Judge was Mr. Theodore Bassett, who judged both breeds. Entry Fee: Ten Shillings Per Dog. Number of entries 220.

Original list of Club members published: 48 Members.

1879
Produce Stakes Class introduced into the club's shows - later sub-divided into Derby and Oaks Stakes -which provided huge entries and not inconsiderable prize money. The classes are no longer scheduled at the The Fox Terrier Club Show due to falling support.

1881
The Fox Terrier Club started to run up to 4 shows a year until 1904 when annual competition apparently met requirements.

1883
First Year Wires and Smooths were judged by separate judges; previously the same judge had judged both breeds. This resulted in a tie for the Grand Challenge Cup between the Wire 'Briggs' and the Smooth 'Spice’: the referee settled in favour of the Smooth. The Fox Terrier Club then acquired a second Grand Challenge Cup for Wires, the original being retained for Smooths. These historic cups are still competed for each year with the winning dog’s name and owner being inscribed on the base.

1917-1920
The Fox Terrier Club ran no shows

1922
The Fox Terrier Club ran 2 shows in 1 year for the last time until an open show was added in 2005 in a response to the dissolution of many of the regional clubs.

1930's
One Year in this decade 7,345 Wires and 2,126 Smooths were registered with the Kennel Club. By comparison, in 2002 there were 665 Wires and 167 Smooths registered with the Kennel Club

1943-1944
The Fox Terrier Club ran no shows

1969
The Fox Terrier Club re-introduced a 'Young Stock' show by the then President Miss Kathleen Emery - an Open show limited to dogs under 18 months old. This would offer a training ground for young stock and also emerging judges waiting in the wings, prior to awarding CCs. This show ran until 1974 due to economic reasons and falling support

1976
The Fox Terrier Club celebrated it's Centenary, 243 members attended the pre-show dinner and the show received an entry of 459 from 233 dogs - 104 Wires and 129 Smooths. The breed judges were Captain John Glover "Hewshott" for the Smooths and Mr. Jack Bywater "Kenelm" who judged Wires. The winner of the Grand Challenge Cup for Smooths was Ch. Boreham Ballet Star and for Wires was Ch. Harwire Hetman of Whinlatter. The Wire, owned by Mr and Mrs E May went on to win Best in Show under Mr. Cyril Whitham of the renowned "Townville" affix. The show was attended by a large contingent of overseas visitors, who contributed greatly to making this a historic event.

1999
Fox Terrier Club ran the first Ernest Sharpe Masterclass. The class was repeated the following year

2000
The Fox Terrier Club ran it's Millennium Show, which had a truly international flavour, reflecting the newly instituted 'Pet Passport Scheme' - allowing dogs to be brought into the UK without quarantine. Smooth Judge Wood Wornall, arrived from the USA and the Wire Judge Mrs. Grethe Bergendahl from Norway and our own internationally famous Ernest Sharpe was the Best in Show judge. The Wires received an entry of 99 - from 88 dogs and the Smooths received an entry of 106 from 95 dogs. Included was the first overseas entry to The Fox Terrier Club - Fairwyre Prospect, exported to Italy by Ann and Bob Stanfield and brought back for the show by Adriano and Sarah Sardo.

Best in Show was the Wire - Ch. Saredon Could It Be Magic, owned and handled by Miss Dieny Uiterwyck Winkel and bred by Mrs Judy Averis. Gold Cup Winner Smooth & Best Puppy in Show was the Smooth Migley Lyric of Rockenhart owned by the Hartigan family, bred by Mrs Margaret Clifford and handled by Mr Garrett Hartigan.

74 enthusiasts from 12 different countries had made long journey to attend the celebrations and some 200 attended the Annual Dinner held the evening of the show. The following day Wood Wornall held an extremely successful workshop on handling Fox Terriers to a packed room of Fox Terrier fanciers, passing on many tips for presenting Fox Terriers in the show ring. A full review is in the 2000 Fox Terrier Club yearbook.

2000
The Fox Terrier Club organised an Inter Club Match as a social event and an opportunity for young enthusiasts to judge Fox Terriers in a relaxed environment, 8 Regional Breed Clubs participated. A parade of Champions from other breeds in the Terrier group was also held. A full review appears in the 2000 yearbook.

2001
The Fox Terrier Club organised a group visit to Pennsylvania, USA to see the famous Montgomery Kennel Club Terrier Show & preceding shows. The trip was a great success attended by UK and overseas members. A full review appears in the 2001 yearbook.

2002
The Fox Terrier Club organised another group visit to The World Show in Amsterdam and the Netherlands Fox Terrier Club Show held the following day - again the trip was a great success and a full review appears in the 2002 yearbook.

2002
The Fox Terrier Club organised the 'Terrier-ific' event put on especially for young people involved with Fox Terriers and other breeds in the Terrier Group. A successful workshop for aspiring judges was held as part of the event together with a parade of Top Winning dogs in the Terrier Group.

2009
The Fox Terrier Club held a celebration of 100 years of the Watteau Fox Terrier kennels at it's annual Championship show and Dinner.

2012
The Fox Terrier Club took part in the first 'Fox Terrier Expo’ together with the Smooth Fox Terrier Association and The Fox Terrier Club of Wales. In part, the idea of running this event was to celebrate the Olympics coming to the UK by several breed clubs joining forces and running their shows on the same weekend in August, offering back to back CC shows for both Smooths and Wires. The event was a held at Sky Blue Leisure centre near Coventry, the co-ordinating Secretary for this event was Mrs Margaret Hughes, there was a super entry plus many visitors came to the show to watch. The breed judges for The Fox Terrier Club were Mrs Jan Campbell who arrived from Australia to judge Smooths and Mr Paolo Dondina from Italy who judged the Wires. The Gold Cup Winners were Kevin and Annette Hall’s Smooth dog Gosel Ceylonesse and Harry O’Donoghue's Wire Blackdale Supreme. The BIS judge for this year was Dr Ruth Barbour who made the Wire Blackdale Supreme BIS at The Fox Terrier Club, who then went on to win ’Supreme’ BIS over the BIS winners from The Smooth Fox Terrier Association and The Fox Terrier Club of Wales.

2017
Following the success of the first ‘Fox Terrier Expo’, The Fox Terrier club once again took part in the second Fox Terrier Expo’ together with the Smooth Fox Terrier Association once again and Birmingham and District Fox Terrier Club. The event was held at Portway Leisure Centre near Dudley, the co-ordinating secretary was Mrs Sue Wiggins and as with the first Expo it was a great success with a super entry and number of visitors. The breed judges for the The Fox Terrier Club were Mr Geir Flyckt Pedersen who travelled from the USA to judge the Smooths and Mr Dan Ericsson from Sweden who judged the Wires. The Gold Cup Winners were Judith Korozs-Papp’s Smooth dog Agria Zip Code and Harry O’Donoghue’s Wire Blackdale Park Royal. BIS was judged by Ronnie Irving who made the Smooth Agria Zip Code BIS at The Fox Terrier Club. Supreme BIS over both days also judged by Ronnie Irving was won by the BIS winner from Birmingham and District Fox Terrier Club Victor Malzoni’s Wire Ch/Br Ch Hampton Court’s Monte Cristo. The event won a ‘Pawscar’ for ‘Breed club event of the year’ at the annual ‘Pawscars’ held the evening before Crufts in March 2018.

2020
No show was held due to the coronavirus global pandemic.

2021
The Fox Terrier Club was the first UK Fox Terrier breed club to run a show following the various lockdowns due to the pandemic. The show was moved to an outside venue at Bakewell, Derbyshire. Smooths were judged by Peter Julian, Wires by Dr Ruth Barbour and BIS by Mrs Sue Nixon. BIS was the Smooth Forgevale Supremo owned by Margaret Hughes, James Osborne and Kimberly McKenna, RBIS was the Wire Paperman Purple owned by Mr F W Schoeneberg.

The Fox Terrier Club Officers and Committee

President
Mr R Bebbington

Vice President
Mr A Goodsell

Hon. Life Vice President 
Mrs S Wiggins
Dr R Barbour
Mr J Watson
Mrs A Thornton
Mrs J Thornton
Ms J Darby

Hon. Secretary
Ms Joanna Darby

Hon. Treasurer
Ms A Kettle

Hon. Yearbook Co-Ordinator 
Mr A Goodsell

Hon. Cup Steward
Miss J Hopewell

Show Manager
Mr P Horspool

The Committee

Mrs C Davies
Miss J Darby
Miss E Hannar
Mr R Bebbington
Mrs T Warner
Mr P Horspool
Miss J Hopewell
Mrs S Nixon
Mr A Goodsell
Ms A Kettle
Ms O Arustamyan Mrs T Bailey

List of Approved Judges

⬇️ Download Judges List

The Fox Terrier Club Yearbook 2020

One off special edition issued in 2020 covering all the previous Gold Cup Winners - limited copies still available!