Lucas Terrier Club

Major Sir Jocelyn Morton Lucas, MC, KBE, MP was born on 27th August 1889. He was the second son of the third Baron Lucas and his family had connections with engineering and collieries. It seems he had an interest in dogs from a young age and as a boy had hunted a trencher-fed pack of Smooth Fox terriers. Before going to war in 1914 he bred, trained and exhibited Cocker Spaniels and Flatcoat Retrievers. He was educated at Eton and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst and served during the First World War as a pilot with RFC then later was given a staff appointment with 4th Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment. He was wounded during the First World War at the 1st Battle of Ypres and, subsequently, captured, spending three years in a Prisoner Of War camp. In 1918 he was transferred to Holland where he met, and became close friends with, Lieutenant Daendels of the Dutch Hussars and his wife. An article from the 1920s tells how he managed to 'enjoy a little sport, introduced the Daendels to Sealyhams and actually organised a dog show.' He and Madame Daendels imported a number of Sealyhams to Holland which they showed in partnership under the 'Cerne' affix. They campaigned four dogs to their titles in Holland, including Ch Belle of Cerne, Ch Hadley Hustle (gained 15 Challenge Certificates) and Ch Diana of Cerne. Sir Jocelyn had held the Cerne affix in 1912 when he lived at Cerne Abbas in Dorset where he bred Sealyhams, Labrador Retrievers, Spaniels and kept a pack of Beagles.

On return from Holland Sir Jocelyn began to build up his kennel once again, with the help of Miss Moira Shedden, a wire-haired wheaten terrier breeder, and W. J. Cecil Hayward, Secretary of the Fox Terrier Association. He acquired fox terriers from Olcliffe and Notts strains, Parson Jack Russell terriers, which he described as having been carried on without interruption by a few breeders ever since the death of the Parson some fifty years earlier, and whilst there had been outcrosses and fresh blood the type and characteristics remained the same.

In 1919 Sir Jocelyn bought twelve small Sealyhams from Captain Jack Howell, Master of the Pembrokeshire Foxhounds. Captain Howell described these little dogs as his 'ferrets' due to their small size and the manner in which they worked hedgerows. Later Sir Jocelyn acquired the stoat hunting Sealyham pack of the late Mr Gladdish Hulke and the foundations for the Ilmer Sealyhams were laid.

The partners were showing from Ilmer Farm, Princes Risborough and the first dog carrying their new Ilmer affix in the Stud Book is Ilmer Impression 1135AA. This dog was a son of Hadley Hullaballoo, which had won a second in Open Dog at the Bucks and District Championship Show under the great terrierman Sid Bowler. In 1925 the partnership ended and the affixes Cerne and Ilmer were discontinued. In 1929 Sir Jocelyn re-registered the Ilmer affix and by the 1930s was concentrating on Sealyhams, of which many were show dogs but all worked as a pack.

Sir Jocelyn decided to use his Sealyhams in a less than orthodox fashion - to work as a pack pushing rabbits and old pheasants out of heavy cover to waiting guns. Before he put together his pack he looked at other breeds, including spaniels but found that teams of highly trained spaniels were hard to come by and were apt to chase if not under control at all times. A spaniel with a propensity to chase, he said, could not be kept on one beat as they were too fast and if there were several of a like-mind they would be all over the covert and into the next one too. He also considered using beagles but found that whilst they provided fine shooting in gorse brakes they were useless for covert shooting as once they got on a line they couldn't be stopped.

The Sealyhams, with their short legs, were easy to keep on the beat, they packed well and worked with their master, unlike other breeds of terrier. Ten to fifteen couples were normally taken to a shoot and as they had to be transported together in the rear of a shooting-brake no quarrelsome dogs were tolerated.

The pack was invited by Sir Jocelyn's friends, Agricultural Committees and farmers to hunt difficult areas of land. Once the pack had settled they would work every clump of bushes or bramble, no matter how thick, with Master in the middle and beaters at each flank to carry game and keep the line. They could get rather lively when rabbits began springing from the undergrowth (accounting for up to 3,000 rabbits per annum) but would come back immediately to a voice, whistle or horn. Sir Jocelyn admitted that long heather or bracken did not suit the Sealyhams' short legs but they really came into their own when working rhododendrons, thorns and gorse.

Few of the Sealyhams gave tongue on scent and some were even mute on the view, so he added an old-fashioned short-legged cocker which gave tongue like a hound and a couple of beagle/cocker hybrids. They mixed well with the Sealyhams and the extra music helped push the rabbits to waiting guns.

Sir Jocelyn stated in his publicity material, 'You should buy an Ilmer Sealyham because, unlike the purely show dog, every Ilmer Sealyham is bred for brains as well as looks, and looks as well as brains ........There is nothing to stop a congenital idiot becoming a show bench champion...... No adult is kept and bred from unless it is intelligent, bold and friendly.' He also stated that 'Captain Lucas is prepared to back a team of not less than 10 couples or more than 15 of his pedigree Sealyham Terriers underground to badger, in water to otter etc. on land to stoats, rats etc. against any breed pedigree or not, from one kennel.' At that time his kennels were in Rotherby in Leicestershire and his adverts also gave details of many well known dogs he had owned, bred or were descended from his stock. He also bought in a great number of dogs and puppies for re-sale and inclusion into his pack. One of his best purchases was made when he was living at Peamore, near Exeter, in the 1920s. This dog was Champion Edwalton Chum, a dog which weighed only 16 lbs, at a time when specimens of 27 lbs were finding favour with exhibitors. Then in 1933 he bought a number of Sealyhams from the kennels of the late Colonel Williamson, including Ch Rawnsley Rosaline, Rawnsley Reveller and Rawnsley Rufus but only Rufus would work so the other two were quickly sold on. His own Ilmer Sealyhams began training for work at approximately 5 months of age and any that did not show promise were sold to pet homes. Those that looked as though they would make the grade were incorporated into the pack at a year old.

The Ilmer Sealyhams were much sought after and were sent all over the world. Owners included Princess Margaret (Ilmer Johnny Boy), three owners of Derby winners, E. Phillips Oppenheim, the famous author, who owned five, Sir Alfred Hitchcock who had four and Fred Karno of Fred Karno's Army fame who had three. Time Magazine of July 2nd 1951 reported 'Britain's Sir Jocelyn Lucas, Tory M.P. for Brentford and Chiswick and part-time dog breeder, received an order for one of his female Sealyhams from a satisfied customer in Moscow who already has a male one: Soviet Propagandist Ilya Ehrenburg.'

On 20th December 1933 Sir Jocelyn married Lady Edith Kekewich (née Cameron), widow of Sir Trehawke Kekewich, and in 1936, after the death of his father, Edward, (his older brother Thomas had been killed in France on 16th June 1917, aged 30), he succeeded to the title. At that time he had established the Ilmer kennel at Watford By Pass, renting the premises from Mrs Dixon of the Gunthorpe affix.

Sir Jocelyn was at that time an active member of the Auxiliary Fire Service in London and in 1940 he became Liaison Officer (Welfare), Dominion Forces, London Command.

In an e-mail James Lucas, a family member, imparted the following information about his relative: 'Sir Jocelyn was an active member of the Auxiliary Fire Service in London throughout the Blitz and sometimes attended debates in the House of Commons all wet and filthy in his uniform fresh from the fires. He was also Chairman of the Royal Overseas League and introduced countless Empire Servicemen to the House. It was for this service that he was Knighted - so he was twice a Sir! After the 1945 Socialist landslide victory for Mr Attlee he was the only Conservative left sitting for a Dockyard seat!'

He represented Portsmouth South as MP from 1939 - 1966. When he was first elected as Conservative MP for Rochester and Chatham in 1959, Julian Critchley fully expected ministerial advancement and loved to recall his early conviction that it was denied him because he was espied by Sir Jocelyn Lucas, who by then was a senior Conservative backbencher, wearing suede shoes. "I was later told," he wrote, "that suede shoes were worn only by homosexuals (which I am certainly not), actors and double- glazing salesmen, but no one had bothered to tell me."

In 1944 Sir Jocelyn joined the Kennel Club. In 1946 he was co-opted onto the Committee, later to be selected and served until 1975 when he became Vice President. He served on the House Committee from 1946 - 1959 and in 1949 was co-opted onto the Field Trial Committee. He was made an Honorary Life Member of the Kennel Club in 1979.

Sir Jocelyn's wife, Edith, died in a fire at their home in London on 21st January 1956. On 20th October 1960 he married again to Thelma De Chair (née Arbuthnot) and lived outside Romsey in Hampshire. After the sudden death of his second wife on 23rd June 1974 he moved to a nursing home where he died on 2nd May 1980.