George Augustus Graham
George Augustus Graham (born August 6, 1833 in Bath , † October 21, 1909 in Rednock House in Dursley , Gloucestershire ), better known as Captain Graham , was a British cynologist who from 1862 revived the breed of the Irish Wolfhound and a systematic one Breeding established. All Irish Wolfhounds living today are descended from animals he bred.
Life
Graham came from a Scottish officer family and joined the British Army in 1852 after completing school at Cheltenham College , where he achieved the rank of captain . During his service with the 28th Native Infantry he was stationed in India and took part in the suppression of the Sepoy uprising on the British side . In 1859 he resigned, returned to Europe and in 1862 acquired Oaklands House in Dursley , which he renamed Rednock House after the Scottish ancestral home of his family .
After returning to Europe, Graham was initially interested in the Deerhound , but soon developed an interest in the Irish Wolfhound, in which he recognized a close relative of the Deerhound. Based on the study of the sources available at the time, he came to the conclusion that the breed as such was extinct, but that enough genetic material was still available to enable back- breeding . To this end, he sought in Ireland dogs that resembled his presentation of the Irish Wolfhound as possible, and crossed them with heavy Deerhounds from Glengarry - line and with (then much heavier built) Great Danes ( Great Danes ), Borzoi and other dogs. These breeding efforts led to the establishment of the British Irish Wolfhound Club in 1885 , which, under Graham's chairmanship , worked out a breed standard that essentially continues to this day.
reception
At the Rednock Comprehensive School, which now stands on the site of Rednock House, a plaque was unveiled for Captain Graham to mark the centenary of his death in 2009. At the same time, his grave, restored with donations from around the world, was rededicated in Dursley Cemetery.
Publications
- The Irish Wolfhound . Dursley 1879. New editions 1885 (revised), 1939, 1971, 2005 (1939 and 1971 together with Edmund Hogan's The Irish Wolfdog )
- Pedigrees of Scottish Deerhounds . Dursley 1894, reprinted 1990
- Irish Wolfhound Pedigrees 1859-1906 . Published posthumously in 1959, reprinted in 1980
Web links
- Information on Captain Graham in the Dursley Local History Guide
- Special tribute is paid at Rednock School to be credited for saving dog breed
- Captain Graham and the resuscitation of the breed on irishwolfhounds.org
- Capt. Graham's The Irish Wolfhound 1885 on irishwolfhoundarchives.ie
Individual evidence
- ↑ Article on Graham's breeding activities
- ↑ Photo and text of the memorial plaque ( memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ The Restoration of Captain Graham's Grave ( Memento of the original from August 27, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Report on the festivities on irishwolfhoundclub.org.uk
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Graham, George Augustus |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Graham, captain |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Scottish officer and cynologist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 6, 1833 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bath |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 21, 1909 |
| Place of death | Rednock House, Dursley , Gloucestershire |