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History Of The Bloodhound Club
The Club was formed in 1902 by Mrs Oliphant of the famous Chatley Bloodhounds. The objectives of the club were
1) to take every opportunity of bringing bloodhounds into prominence by developing their hunting instincts.
2) To hold meetings at least once every year, as which hounds may qualify for certificates of merit in hunting the clean boot.
3) To guarantee ,from time to time, classes at shows confined to hounds holding the certificate of merit, and to offer special prizes at shows to be competed by members of the club only.
4) To encourage the breeding and training of typical, well balanced hounds possessing: courage, constitution and powers of endurance.
5) To promote the interests of the breed generally.
The club held its first trails in 1903 on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, this was an annual occasion until 1913. However the intervention of world war one was the cessation of activities, although the 1914 AGM was held at the Ladies Kennel Association show in 1915.Activities became fitful after this, with just occasional mention over the ensuing years, until Mrs Elms of the famed Reynalton Kennel restarted it as the bloodhound club in 1937. However before she was able to fully establish the infrastructure, world war two intervened. After the cessation of hostilities the club found it difficult to recover.
The Bloodhound Breeding population was at a low ebb after the war and disagreement over how the situation should be tackled caused great division between breeders, and this is probably one of the major influencing factors in Mrs Elms decision to push ahead with the re-formation of the club. It is thanks to Mrs Elms determination that the Club was re-established in 1948 with lord chelmsford as president. Alan Brews as Treasurer and Mrs Elms as Secretary.
The club began to make slow progress, but when Mrs Elms died in 1950, affairs were once again on hold. Unfortunately all of the clubs records were lost at this time, but with some foresight Mr Brews retained the clubs title with the kennel club.
Although the link with the Bloodhound Hunt club has been mentioned by several authors, it has not been possible to prove continuity to the title with the Bloodhound Club. The links could exist. It is possible that having Hunt in the title may have restricted interest or entry to the club.
The Renaissance of the club finally came after a special general meeting was head at olympia in 1958 and move forward under the chairmanship of Bob Townson MRCVS, With Douglas Appleton as secretary and Elsie Henbest as treasurer. Viscount Chelmsford remained as honorary president. With a strong team at the helm the club began to grow in substance into the strong body that exists today. It was made clear from the onset that the club wished to work in harmony with other breed clubs and it would work hard to encourage and help new owners to the breed.
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