B F Wilson with English Toy Spaniel, circa 1890
Duke of Marlborough Family
Lillian Raymond Mallock
THE TOY SPANIEL CLUB OF AMERICA Originally, the parent club’s fanciers were members of high society, concentrated along the Eastern Seaboard around Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. A New York Times ar- ticle published January 28, 1911 states that the Toy Spaniel Club of America had been incorporated in 1907. Another article from The New York Times , November 27, 1913, states that the Toy Spaniel Club of America was holding its eleventh annual show, so the club must have been or- ganized to some extent by 1903, the year of its first annual show. Meetings and shows were held at New York’s elegant Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, and each of the four color varieties competed separately for trophy cups. Early fanciers were frequently mentioned in society columns as well as show reports, which commented as much about the fashionable attire of the ladies as the characteristics of their winning show dogs! The names of gentlemen also appear as ex- hibitors and early club members. Entries were numerous enough, and kennel advertisements with photos of berib- boned Toy Spaniels appear boastful enough to suggest an air of keen competition from the earliest decades.
THE ROYAL SPANIELS The English Toy Spaniel is directly descended, for well over three centuries, from the royal spaniels popular in England during the reign of Charles II [reigned 1660-1685], who himself was a great admirer and kept many as his personal pets. The king’s devotion to his dogs is the historical con- nection which gave the breed the name King Charles Span- iel. His mother, Queen Henrietta Maria [daughter of the French King Henri IV and Marie de Medici] had arrived in England with several of her small pet French or “Con- tinental” spaniels. Known in England as “Queen Mary,” Lord Baltimore named the colony he founded in America “Maryland” after Queen Henrietta Maria. Charles I was fond of his wife’s dogs, and these were obvi- ously interbred with the small pet dogs and spaniels already in England. The ‘Epagnielles Royale’ [variously spelled] were observed at court during his reign as well as the reign of his son Charles II, who by Royal Proclamation granted the spaniels unrestricted access throughout his domain. Charles II was criticized for being distracted from cabinet meetings and other affairs of government by the presence of his playful pet dogs. Even the great Royalist supporter
“The king’s devotion to his dogs is the historical connection which gave the breed the name King Charles Spaniel.” 44 • T op N otch T oys , J anuary 2024
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