Lionel
Hamilton-Renwick
It
is with great sadness that Pharaoh Hound owners will have
heard of the death of Lionel Hamilton Renwick. The breed in
this country and indeed all over the world owes him a great
debt of gratitude. As a gifted animal artist he had a natural
ability for assessing sound, graceful, animals and this surely
must have attracted Lionel to the Pharaoh Hound.
In 1968 when visiting the islands of Malta and Gozo he looked
at over a hundred dogs. He once related "as soon as I
set eyes on (one dog) Tico standing on a stone wall silhouetted
against the blue Mediterranean sky I knew my quest was over.
This was the dog I had dreamed about." Lionel imported
three other hounds at the same time and along with the late
Mrs Pauline Block was responsible for establishing the breed
in the British Isles. His bitch, Birling Zahara, had the distinction
of being the first Pharaoh Hound to grace the, then, red carpet
at Crufts in 1971. Subsequent offspring of his were exported
throughout the world.
Lionel helped to establish the Pharaoh Hound Club and was
its Chairman for seven years, and has been its President for
the last twenty-five years. In 1976 following a heart attack
he had to give up keeping bigger dogs and with much regret
he parted with his Pharaoh Hounds. This did not mean losing
his interest or enthusiasm for the breed, and as a championship
judge he always held very strong views about the character,
breeding, and presentation of the breed when showing. His
interest in the Pharaoh Hound Club has never diminished and
he will be greatly missed.
Dr Brian Sproule,
Vice-President of the Pharaoh Hound Club
Alexander
(Sandy) Schwartz
OUR
DOGS is sorry to record the death, following a long illness,
of Sandy (Alexander C) Schwarz, co-owner of the Nowich Terrier
Fairewood Frolic who won the Westminster Show in 1998.
