Adverts: 0161 709 4576 - Editorial: 0161 709 4550
Mail Order: 0161 709 4562 - Subs: 0161 709 4575 - Webteam: 0161 709 4567
Unit 1.01a Boat Shed, 12 Exchange Quay, Salford, M5 3EQ
Trophy owner calls for information

Issue: 16/10/2020

161020-connaught

A shield bought in a junk shop in Stockport in the north west 20 years ago for £5 has led to an investigation about its origins and a call for further information.
Inscribed on the shield are, ‘Ladies Kennel Association – The Connaught Sheld – Won by Campbell – Crystal Palace – 1900.’ There are shamrocks, a harp and a coat of arms also in evidence and it is proving to be a bit of a mystery.
Dog groomer Maxine Mellish posted on Facebook a picture of the shield asking if anybody knew anything about it.
OUR DOGS Rough Collie Breed  writer Carole Smedley took up the challenge and she has found out that the HRH The Duchess of Connaught was President of the Ladies Kennel Association in 1900.
Her investigations found that the Duchess was Princess Louise Margaret and also the Duchess of Strathearn. The name Connaught is also the name of the Masonic Lodge connected to the Kennel Club and there are many rooms in London that bear that name.

Committee

Carole told OUR DOGS, ‘I got involved because Maxine found it in her loft and asked me about it because I am on the committee of the LKA and it was presented to the LKA she asked if I knew anything about it.
‘That was pre-Covid and I had asked Cara in the Kennel Club library if she had a catalogue for 1900, which she had. But that shield is not listed in the summer show so obviously it is in the later show for which I can’t get access to a catalogue now the Kennel Club library is closed.
‘What we discovered from the catalogue was that the HRH Duchess of Connaught was also the President of the LKA.
‘It’s interesting and we would like to know more.’
Maxine told OUR DOGS how she managed to own the shield, ‘My ex-husband’s uncle bought it for me. He found it in a junk shop.
‘It’s just the shield, that has obviously come off a wooden plaque. I knew nothing about it. He just bought it for me. He said, “I thought this is something to do with dogs. I thought you might be interested.” He bought it me about 20 years ago.
‘I have never been able to find any information about it. I didn’t know what breed it was for or is it for something Irish because of the shamrocks on it. Carole found some other stuff on it.
‘I posted it on Facebook and Carole picked up on it and did some research with the Kennel Club and found out all about the Lady Connaught.
‘She was amazing, I couldn’t believe it when she sent me an e-mail with all that in. I thought it was just a bit of a plaque, I didn’t think it had that much history.
‘It’s on my shelf at home amongst all my Rough Collies, amongst my ornaments.

Intrigued

‘I like history, I was just intrigued to the mystery of it because obviously it is not new and I was just interested to see if Connaught was a dog? I didn’t know if it was a kennel name or what it was.
‘It is the mystery of it. It has got shamrocks, it has got the Irish harp on it. Is it an Irish breed?
‘It’s silver, it must have been very expensive at the time. Who won it? How on earth did it end up in a junk shop in Stockport?
‘How on earth did it make its way to Stockport? Because It is obviously from the London area and its ended up in s junk shop in Stockport. My ex-husband’s uncle paid £5 for it and it is worth more than that in scrap silver.
‘It’s fascinating to wonder where it has been throughout its 120 years. Which dog won it? Who was the owner? And what breed was it?
‘It’s a real mystery and it is a beautiful piece. Why has it been discarded to a junk shop?
‘It’s obviously been prised off something. There are holes in it so I am assuming it was attached to something, I am assuming wood but I have no idea. Was (Campbell) the person or the dog, we don’t know. Is the owners name, the dogs name or a kennel name, you don’t know.
‘I find it fascinating, why wasn’t it mister or HRH or somebody esquire? Because that would have been the normal language.
‘I’d love to know what it means, who Campbell was and how the hell it ended up in Stockport. I find it all totally amazing. It is an unusual piece with a lot of work in it.’
If anyone has any information about this please e-mail news editor Adam Williams – awilliams@ourdogs.co.uk.


Please write your comment in the box below...
Comments are moderated and will appear after moderation

Name: