The English Setter Club was first
formed at a meeting held on the 24 August 1974, by a small group of
interested people, during the Fido National Dog Show in Wellington.
These people all resided in the central North Island and they
continued to run the Club quite successfully until the last recorded
meeting in October 1976. By this time, several of the committee
members had transferred to other parts of the country, and there
were too few living close enough together to keep the Club
functioning. Shortly after this the Club went into recess for
approximately 18 months.
Early in 1978, Gary Doyle was approached by several English
Setter owners and asked if he would be interested in restarting the
Club. As a result of this, the first General Meeting of the reformed
Club was held at Riccarton House in Christchurch, on 31 August 1978.
Since this first meeting the Club has gained strength, and while the
Committee is still based in Christchurch, the Club Rules have been
written so as to allow the Committee to be domiciled in any part of
the country, with voting being done via a postal system.
The Club held its first Open Show in October 1980, a second in
May 1981, and the first Championship Show was held on 26 August
1981, during the National Dog Show in Wellington. Since then, a
Championship Show has been held alternately in the North and South
Islands. More recently, additional Shows have been held in
conjunction with a special "Setter Weekend" in the central North
Island.
Over the years, our English Setters have had many successes, not
only in the Show ring, but also in Field Trials and Obedience
competition. In a first for our breed, Best in Show at the 1981
National Dog Show was awarded to Ch Glengordon Chatterbox (Velvin).
Since the show title of Grand Champion was introduced, three English
Setters have qualified - Gr Ch Ballymore Call Me Blue (James), NZ Gr
Ch/Aust Ch Pamploma Chilworth Lad (Imp Aust) (Culverwell), and NZ Gr
Ch Tarquin Llexington (Imp Aust) (van der Meer, Bowey, Watt), but
there are also several others who have been very close to achieving
this award.
Today the English Setter Club continues to thrive in its own
small way, with a fairly stable core of members. Our breed may be
well down the popularity list as far as registrations go, but our
members have proved that our dogs can hold their own in all facets
of the dog world.