Most people will have heard of the Jack Russell dog, and that it was named after a Westcountry parson. Here is the full story.
The Revd John ‘ Jack’ Russell was born in Dartmouth in 1795. His father was also a clergyman, and had his son educated at Plympton Grammar School, Blundell’s School in Tiverton and finally at Exeter College, Oxford. He was said to have kept a small pack pf hounds whilst at school (though obviously not on the school premises), but it was while he was out walking in a village near Oxford one day that he came across ‘Trump’, a white terrier bitch, which later became the progenitor of the Jack Russell terrier. It actually belonged to the local milkman, but Jack insisted in buying it on the spot.
Keen on fox-hunting, he was in search of a fox terrier that was easily distinguishable from its quarry, could keep up with the hunt, and chase out the foxes that had gone to ground without in fact injuring them, thus giving them a ‘sporting chance’ above ground. He prided himself in the fact that his own dogs never tasted blood. He was a founding member of the Kennel Club, though never showed his own dogs, on the grounds that his dogs and the show dogs were ‘as the wild eglantine differs from a garden rose’.
As well as being an enthusiastic hunter and dog-breeder, he was also well-known as a clergyman.
He was nominated to the curacy of Georgenympton and ordained in 1819, became a priest in 1820, married an admiral’s daughter, Penelope Incledon-Bury, in 1826, and , in 1832, he became rector of the parish of Swimbridge, in North Devon, where he remained for nearly half a century, and where he continued to hunt, until a year before his death.
He was renowned for his kindness, particularly towards gypsies, who were not universally liked, but who wandered into his parish from time to time. On one occasion, in return for his support, gypsies guarded his house when it was rumoured he was about to be burgled; and when Edward Boswell, the King of the Gypsies, was on his death-bed, asked that a Spanish silver coin of the reign of Charles III, that he had greatly prized, be given to the Rev Jack for the sympathy he had shown over the years to himself and his fellow travellers.
His sermons were notably short by Victorian standards, but this was probably due to the fact that he kept a horse tethered outside the church during the service.
His reputation as ‘The Sporting Parson’ gave him national fame, and he became friendly with the Prince of Wales ( later to become Edward VII) and his wife, and was once invited to Sandringham for Christmas one year, where he danced with Princess Alexandra at the New Year’s Ball, while the midnight bells chimed.
In 1879, he moved to Black Torrington, also in North Devon, where he received greater pay, but regretted moving, and died three years later, aged 87. He was buried back in Swimbridge, where his funeral was attended by huge crowds.
Such was his fame at his death, that even the New York Times carried his obituary.
He was buried in the churchyard opposite the pub, next to his wife, who predeceased him by five years. There is even a signpost in the churchyard, pointing to his grave, as many people, including owners of Jack Russell terriers, like to visit it today. His expensive sporting pursuits meant that his estate was much depleted at the time of his death
Some time after his death, the name of the local pub, which he was known to have frequented, was changed to ‘The Jack Russell Inn’, which still flourishes, is filled with memorabilia of Parson Jack, and has a sign outside which features ‘Trump’, the original Jack Russell terrier.
Ironically, the churchyard has a sign outside saying, No Dogs Allowed.
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