SIR JOCELYN LUCAS
(written by Pamela Harrow)
Sir Jocelyn Lucas, a long-time Sealyham breeder in the first half of the 20th Century, bred the first cross between a Norfolk Terrier and one of his own Ilmer Sealyhams. He found the mix produced an intelligent and feisty dog with an excellent temperament, suitable for use as a working terrier but equally happy as a domestic pet, and so named the cross after himself. Sir Jocelyn died in 1980. Several distinct lines of Lucas Terrier were bred from the late 1940s, and these are still unbroken today.
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Sir Jocelyn described the dog he felt the Lucas Terrier should be: "In appearance they are normally red, or grizzle and tan, weighing about 11 or 12 pounds, but if bred from a small Sealyham bitch they would resemble a little red Sealyham with short hard working jacket, legs shorter than the Norwich [he was referring to the breed now known called the Norfolk Terrier but at that time known as the Drop Eared Norwich], and with less bone than then Sealyham. The eyes are intelligent. I have never known one to fight. They are sometimes a little shy as puppies, but are quite fearless with other dogs, as being friendly they expect no evil!"
Sir Jocelyn was becoming disenchanted with the extremes he felt were appearing in the Sealyham Terrier. He thought they were too large, with too much bone, coats that were too soft and which were being bred almost exclusively for showing, so developed his own smaller Ilmer Sealyhams. Because he used them for hunting vermin they needed to work as a pack, and so had to be good tempered - fighting dogs were not tolerated. His pack consisted of 20-40 Sealyhams and he was regularly invited by many landowners to hunt on their land.
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Ilmer Sealyhams were much sought after, bred by today’s standards on an almost industrial scale, and were sent all over the world. Well-known owners included Princess Margaret (Ilmer Johnny Boy, an ancestor of many of today’s Lucas Terriers) and Sir Alfred Hitchcock. The smaller Ilmer Sealyhams found whelping difficult when mated to larger show bred dogs. Sir Jocelyn therefore decided to look for a suitable breed of terrier to which these bitches could be mated, and so bought a small Norfolk Terrier dog. The main colouring of the subsequent cross with his Ilmer Sealyham was a sandy red, with a white vest and feet. With docked tails they looked very smart and attractive.
The new mix proved to be very stable and popular with owners, and he named them after himself. Six completely new lines of inheritance were created over the early years using a range of Norfolk Terriers with Ilmer Sealyham bitches, as well as eight half lines using Lucases with either Norfolks or with Sealyhams. In addition, a number of Lucas-Lucas matings took place and the breed became better established. Norfolk Terriers were not used as the dam due to their small size and difficulty with whelping, and always the aim was to have more Sealyham in the Lucas pedigrees than Norfolk whilst type was being fixed. It was found that when the proportion of Norfolk Terrier outweighs Sealyham Terrier there is a rapid degeneration in type and the desirable attributes passed on from the Sealyham are lost. This produces a terrier which lacks depth and strength of muzzle, width between the ears, is light in bone and has little body. The two advantages the Lucas has which favours the Norfolk are that they tend to carry a hard coat and have the characteristic red (tan) colour.
ENID PLUMMER
(written by Pamela Harrow)
Enid Gridley was born in Yorkshire in 1909, the third child of Arnold (created 1st Baron in 1955) and Mabel Gridley. In 1936 she married and moved to Harpenden. She joined Sir Jocelyn Lucas as kennel manageress for his Ilmer kennels, breeding mainly Sealyhams.
Sir Jocelyn gave up his kennels at Watford in the late 1950s but Enid Plummer took over the breeding programme and continued to breed Ilmer Sealyhams and Lucas Terriers at Bonners, Luton. She also continued to use the cachet of his name as the registered breeder, and this is shown on pedigree documents well into the 1970s.
Enid lived in Cornwall until 1986. Her last surviving Lucas Terrier, Plummer's Bramble, died in 1998.
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After Enid Plummer’s death Jane Irwin (now Mounsey), Basil Wallwork and Jumbo Frost set up the Lucas Terrier Society which, in 1988, became the Lucas Terrier Club. The aim of this group has been to help and advise owners to find a suitable mate, should they wish to breed from their terrier, and generally to promote the breed.
Under the succeeding chairmanships of key owners such as Jane Irwin (now Mounsey), Judy Colville, Cathy Thomas and Annabel Whitehead the breed has continued to grow in numbers. Mention should also be made of Lynette Langford, Meg Peat, Jo Rodwell and Mark Parsons, each of whom has bred more than 20 Lucas Terriers. More breeders are up and coming and, with clear plans for the way ahead, the future is looking brighter again.
In 1999 a breakaway Club, known as the Sporting Lucas Terrier Club, was formed to register and promote a terrier which has a degree of Lucas Terrier in its make-up but also has genes from both Fell and Plummer Terrier - the latter being a mix of various breeds including Beagle and Pit Bull Terrier. Incidentally, Brian Plummer - who gave his name to this terrier - is not related to Enid Plummer. In 2003 a separate Sporting Lucas Terrier Association was also formed. The fact that these terrier clubs breed a type of dog with a very similar name to the original Lucas Terrier has created considerable confusion, but all three clubs co-exist perfectly happily and promote distinctly different attributes in their dogs.
JUMBO FROST
Miss Jumbo Frost took on the task of growing the breed from Enid Plummer, who she knew well, and her dedication, foresight and personal generosity carried Lucas Terriers through until she passed away suddenly in 2009. During that time, as President of our club, long-time owner and breeder of 91 Lucas Terriers, she oversaw a transformation in the fortunes of the breed, was instrumental in widening the gene pool and in setting a number of standards which are still followed today.
This is Jumbo's story in her own words - written in 1998.
As a family we lived near to the Hon Mrs Plummer (on right of picture), who was a good friend of my parents, and we had her dogs (of which she had sole control at that time for Sir Jocelyn Lucas - he and Lady Lucas I think at that time lived at Blickling Hall in Norfolk - miles away, and therefore Enid Plummer, no relation to Brian Plummer, directed the whole business). I am speaking of a time around 1947, which is when we had our first Ilmer Sealyham - other Ilmer Sealyhams followed and it was not until 1971 when I acquired a Lucas Terrier, black and tan, as a wedding present for my youngest brother. His mother in law wished them to have apricot coloured poodles so, to avoid a row, I kept the black and tan dog which I used to take daily to the office with the only remaining Ilmer Sealyham - an old bitch. This I had to have, because my father remarried at the age of 73 and sold our house in the country to live in London. So, there was no country base for the old girl - and I was the one who took her to live with me in London. That was in 1968.
Sir Jocelyn used to drown all the black and tan puppies in a bucket at birth. This was the only way he could achieve a standard colour as black is the Old English blood and in whatever breed, especially terriers, it will creep back. Enid Plummer abhorred this treatment but was very against using anything black and tan from which to breed. Therefore, by 1972 she was equally pleased to have the odd black and tan puppy as a pet but, of course, not as breeding stock. This black and tan puppy dog, as my first Lucas, was in many circumstances, of course, the BEST. To quote Michael Dyne, an equine and canine artist, in his delightful book 'From Litter To Later On' in his introduction says, "a man in his lifetime finds only one ideal woman, horse and dog" and so-after your first of anything is always THE BEST.
