page_title: The Kennel Club
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: The Kennel Club / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Photograph of British MP and Founder/President of the Kennel Club.
context_page_description: The Kennel Club is the official kennel club of the United Kingdom. It is the oldest recognised kennel club in the world. Its role is to oversee various canine activities including dog shows, dog agility and working trials. It also operates the national register of pedigree dogs in the United Kingdom and acts as a lobby group on issues involving dogs in the UK. Its headquarters are on Clarges Street in Mayfair, London, with business offices in Aylesbury.
  The Kennel Club registration system divides dogs into seven breed groups. The Kennel Club Groups are: Hound group, Working group, Terrier group, Gundog group, Pastoral group, Utility group and Toy group. As of 2020, the Kennel Club recognized 218 breeds of dog.
  The Kennel Club licenses dog shows throughout the UK, but the only dog show it actually runs is Crufts. The show has been held since 1928 and attracts competitors from all over the world. It is held every March at the NEC, Birmingham, and includes the less formal Scruffts show for crossbreed and mixed-breed dogs. The Kennel Club also holds the Discover Dogs event in London every autumn.
context_section_description: The Kennel Club was founded in 1873 after Sewallis E. Shirley became frustrated by trying to organize dog shows without a consistent set of rules. Since the first dog show in 1859, shows had become increasingly popular. Shirley is listed as an exhibitor of Fox Terriers at the Birmingham Dog Show Society show in 1865. Together with a group of other gentlemen, he organized the First Grand Exhibition of Sporting and Other Dogs held at Crystal Palace in June 1870. The show was not a financial success and the organizers had to make up the loss.
  This seems to have been the trigger for Shirley to call a meeting with 12 others who had an interest in judging and exhibiting pedigree dogs. The meeting, in 1873, agreed to set up the Kennel Club. It was held at 2 Albert Mansions, Victoria Street, London, a small flat with only three rooms. All business was conducted from there until a move to Pall Mall in May 1877.
  It was decided they would be responsible for publishing a Stud Book and the first volume was published and ready to be distributed in December 1874. It listed pedigrees of dogs competing at shows from 1859 and also included a "Code of Rules for the guidance of Dog Shows and Field trials"
  Shirley was appointed as chairman at the first annual general meeting of the Kennel Club on 1 December 1874.
  
  The Kennel Club saw particular change under the chairmanship of John MacDougall during the period 1981 to 1996. Among the changes he helped introduce were the revamping of the Club's constitution, the development of the Junior Organisation to encourage youth participation in the sport of dog showing, and the creation of the library and the charitable trust. It was also under his stewardship that the registration system became computerized.
caption: Sewallis Shirley, the founder of the Kennel Club
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