Sealyham Century Site
Captain John Tucker Edwards, soldier and sportsman, owned the SealyHam estate in Pembrokeshire, between Haverfordwest and Fishguard. He was married to Anna Jane Jones.
He devoted his retirement to hunting. He retired 1848 at the age of 40 and after that he spent his days hunting the fox, otters, badger and polecats in the terrain around his home. For this he used Otterhounds in packs and small local terriers. These terriers did not suit Mr Edwards for many reasons. He wanted a small dog with strong jaws, active, short legged and the terrier should be white.
The Captain died 1891 in his eighty-second year. His only son died six months later
His daughter-in-law, Mrs Victor Higgon, continued to live at Sealyham Mansion for many years and she continued to breed ,judge and show Sealyhams with the affix "of Sealy" until the Second World War.
Back to the orgin of the breed. It is not known exactly what he used to create the breed. It is thought that he used the Welsh Corgi for length of back, size and lowness to ground. But on the other hand Edward Ashe´s writes in his book " Practical Dog Book" that the Sealyham itself was a progenitor of the Corgi !
Tom Horner says in his book "Terriers of the World" that without no doubt the Dandie Dinmont was used to shorten the legs. The Cheshire Terrier, a small Bull Terrier was probably used for gameness. But here again there is disagreements among the historians. Sir Jocelyn Lucas, who kept , bred and worked with Sealyhams for many years , suggests in his book "The new book of the Sealyham" (1929) that the white, smooth-coated breed known as the Cheshire Terrier was the natural choice for Mr Edwards to use. It had the points he wanted and lived fairly close by.
Robert Leighton in his "Complete Book of the Dog" dismisses out both the Dandie Dinmont and the Bullterrier and puts forward the West Highland White Terrier instead as being the breed that Mr Edwards used. He bases his argument on Edwardes friendship with the Marquis of Bute who owned estates in Wales and was a personal friend of Colonel Malcolm of Poltallock in Scotland, on whose estae the West Highland White Terrier was first bred.
Another breed that could have been used was the Wire Fox Terrier. Mr Fred Lewis , one of the early breeders and a friend of Captain Edwards, was opposed to this cross ever been made. However there are others that are certain that Wire Fox Terriers did play a part in the Sealyham´s development. This could have taken place after the death of the Captain. What we know for sure (thanks to Mr Henry Sutliff III) is that Smooth Fox Terrier was used . On a pedigree found by Mr Sutliff in the Dyfed archives in 1989, is is clearly shown that a Smooth Fox Terrier was used. The pedigree is of the bitch "Microbe" born 1906 . Her grandfather Dip II (father to the famous Peer Gynt) was a great grandchild to a Smooth Fox Terrier.
