In the 1960’s, when my
first Labrador was virtually bigger than the child I was at the time, I was lucky
enough to be introduced, by a family friend, to Mary Roslin Williams, of the world
famous Mansergh Gundogs. It was the start of a long friendship, only ending in 1994
when Mary died. Why on earth Mary took this child with a pet Labrador under her wing,
I will never know, but she did, and without her I’ve no doubt that my life would
have been very different.
M R-W, as we all knew her, was certainly one of those rare people who stood away
from the rest. Dogs were her life, although she had other interests as well, sport
and art being a couple of them. She also loved music and was, herself, musical. Her
knowledge of dogs, and all other forms of animals and the countryside, came from
a part of time when practical experience and common sense were so much more important
than just reading books or attending seminars. Science, as we know it now, really
didn’t come into breeding dogs. Genetics, in it’s simplest form was the nearest Mary,
and other breeders of that era, would come to a scientific basis for breeding dogs.
One of the earliest things she taught me was that if you had a bitch who was small,
then you didn’t mate her to a dog who was big. You mated her to a dog who was the
correct size, and who had close relatives who were a correct size too. This could
apply to any feature that we try to breed for. Simple, isn’t it. Genetics or common
sense?
Mary was always dog mad, from being a toddler - her “best friends” were dogs and
horses. She was a keen horsewoman in her younger days and this interest lasted until
the day she died. She was an avid TV watcher of Flat and National Hunt racing in
her later years. However the dogs were to take over as her major interest throughout
her life. Her great cousin, Col. Charlie Brook, was the man responsible for Mary’s
interest in Labradors. He owned the Kinmount Kennel and a black bitch of his, Kinmount
Juno, was the first Labrador who Mary fell for. Believe it or not her first dog was
actually an Airedale bitch called Tessa. Mary was only allowed a dog when she turned
eighteen. Tessa was a present from Mary’s boyfriend at the time. Unfortunately Tessa
was then found to be in whelp. The romance did not progress! After having her litter
Tessa developed into a good shooting companion and it was she who impressed Mary’s
future husband, Glenton, when they were out shooting.
With shooting being an important part of Mary’s life she then bought a Labrador,
in 1939. Unfortunately she was not to be the Mansergh foundation because she went
blind and had to be put to sleep. After that, in 1945, Carry of Mansergh became the
Kennels’ real Labrador foundation. Of course she was black, because to Mary Labradors
were BLACK. A name given to Mary, later on, was ‘black hearted Mary’. This referred
to her love of the black Labrador, they were where her heart was.
In 1938 Mary married Glenton Roslin Williams. Glenton was a keen Gundog, Terrier
and Hound man and he also was a deputy master of the Kendal & District Otterhounds.
He and Mary ran a sporting hotel on Bodmin Moor. After the second World War they
moved back north into the old vicarage, in the parish of Mansergh, in the Lune Valley,
which of course is where the kennel name originates. At that time they had to rent
land for shooting and training but in 1948 they moved to the Lilymere Estate, near
Sedbergh, which consisted of a large house, lake, woodland and moorland for shooting
over. They built kennels with the vertical bar type of fencing. This was the most
popular type of fencing at that time, before weldmesh came along. The perfect place
to breed and train gundogs. After her husband died Mary stayed on at Lilymere for
some years.
Ch. Mansergh
Ships-Belle, Ch. M. Ooh-La-La, Ch. Nookeener Black Spark, Ch. M. Antonia
In about 1972 Mary moved into the lodge at the gates to Lilymere. The house was too
big and difficult to keep going. In the grounds of her new home Mary built a wooden
kennel block, with individual pens and a large fenced exercise paddock. I remember
when the workmen were putting it in, they didn’t make the trench they were digging,
to sink the fencing into, deep enough. Mary wasn’t satisfied, so it all had to be
done again. The Lodge was a single story building so was better for Mary to live
in. She placed a bench seat outside the kitchen door, where she spent a lot of her
time, sitting watching the dogs in their paddock and also the wildlife which came
within view. One of the funny sights I remember, at the kennels, was on hot sunny
days Mary would place large multi-coloured golf umbrellas on top of each pen fence,
to give the dogs more shade. There was a large old wooden kitchen table placed in
the paddock and the dogs loved to either sit on top of it, or lie underneath it.
Another thing they were always given were large numbers of huge bones. They loved
these and I sometimes felt, sitting on the bench, that it was like watching lions
in safari parks. However the temperament of Mary’s dogs couldn’t have been further
away from lion temperaments. The Mansergh’s were so well known for their placid,
easy going temperaments. You would never see a Mansergh jumping around, hauling Mary
into or out of a show. The sight of Mary, with half a dozen Labradors, on any old
piece of lead, quietly walking into a show, was so well known. They would then be
tied up to anything handy and there they curled up and went fast asleep until needed.
Temperament was of prime importance to Mary.
The Mansergh’s, whatever the breed, were always trained and worked, and all the Champions
in the ring gained their ‘qualifiers’. No ‘Show Champions’ allowed at Lilymere! The
Mansergh Labradors have always been black. Only blacks were kept, although a few
yellows were born over the generations but they were a rarity. Poolstead Mary Rose,
owned by the Hepworth’s, was one of the few Mansergh yellows (note not registered
as a Mansergh). She won 2 CC’s and 8 RCC’s, so nearly becoming a yellow Mansergh
title holder. I wonder what Mary would have said about that!
Manserghs
at play
Mary had run her dogs in
Field Trials successfully, before making up her first Champion in the showring, and
these same dogs were shown as well as used as picking-up dogs. Indeed Mary achieved
something quite special when she entered her first Field Trial - she won it with
‘Carry of M’. Approximately 15 Mansergh Labradors won FT awards. There was also success
with winning the Gordon Setter Open Stake, with a Gordon, and some success with Irish
Setters as well. Her husbands Cockers had plenty of success too, including in the
Championship Stake. Mary and her team were always kept busy, picking up, long after
she gave up Trialing. Even in her later years, when moving around became more difficult
for Mary, she would train her young dogs from her bench outside the kitchen. Any
which couldn’t learn even the most basic of retriever work (a very rare thing in
a Mansergh) would be on its way.
Mary had a direct line of seven black Mansergh Champions. CH’s Midnight, Bumblikite,
Damson, Antonia, Ooh La La, Ships Belle and Mayday. Not many kennels could say they
have seven generations of Champions. Two of Mary’s very favourite dogs were the Champions,
Midnight and Bumblikite. Mary was always striving to breed a Labrador which fitted
the standard. Her dogs had to have typical Labrador heads, their coats were superb
weather resisting coats with no feathering, of the type we rarely see to day, they
had to have otter like tails and their overall conformation had to be correct. Mary
knew that if they were not made right then they would not survive years of work.
Mansergh bone was always good, but never overdone as some are today. Their substance
was what they were born with, not what they were fed to look like, as we do it these
days in many cases. In the later years Mary had a problem with the more modern judges
going for the bigger, more overdone type of Labrador. She hated to see this but she
was determined to keep breeding the type of dog she had always bred and believed
was the genuine typical Labrador. She would never follow fashion in either her choice
of stud dog or in the type of puppy she would run-on. Manserghs were slow to mature.
They had a decent length of leg but were not leggy, they had a good depth of chest
but were not overdone in this respect. They had a good reach of neck too. These
features were an advantage, not a disadvantage, in a working dog. The heads in Labradors
were also changing, but not the typical Mansergh.
Mansergh
Spring Songstress
They had the kindest of expressions with a brown or hazel eye (Mary would not stand
for an over dark eye, a round eye, or a small triangular eye either), with a decent
length of muzzle, enough stop, broad but not broad by todays standards skull, and
flatter cheeks than we see on todays dogs. No possible resemblance to Rottweilers
in the Manserghs. Perish the thought. The Manserghs always had a good shoulder.
Ch.
Midnight of Mansergh
Ch.
Mansergh Ships Belle
When at a show Mary always had a constant stream of people wanting to talk to her.
She would sit herself where it suited her and people would come to her, to chat if
they were her great friends, to ask questions if they were keen to learn (do they
do this now?), or to just pass the time of day. I can imagine that there were many
times when she would just have liked to have sat quietly and watched the judging
but she was always willing to talk to people, and help them when needed. She was
always especially patient with people who really wanted to learn. She had strong
views but she was not outspoken. If she had something to say then it would be put
to us in a quiet way that always made you think about what exactly was her point.
She would never talk about ‘nothing’, it was always something worth talking about.
Mary wrote several books, the best known being the ‘Dual Purpose Labrador’ and ‘Advanced
Labrador Breeding’. The ‘Advanced’ book has become a must for people in all breeds,
not just Labradors, as it applies to most breeds and breeders. Recently it has been
re-published in America, under the title of ‘Reaching For The Stars’. by Doral Publishing,
and is available from Bookworld International. Mary also wrote for Dog World, for
many years, writing down to earth articles with many amusing stories along the way,
taking over ‘Bench and Field’ from Warner Hill, and starting the ‘Northern Topics’
column.
She was passed to award CC’s in sixteen different breeds, and Best in Show at Gundog
Group Championship shows. She was much in demand all over the world and judged the
Gundog Group at Crufts. She was also an A Panel Retriever Field trial judge and officiated
at Bloodhound Trails too.
Ch.
Mansergh Mayday
Probably Mary’s proudest moment in the ring was when, in 1984, she won Best in Show
at The Labrador Club’s ‘Ruby’ Championship show. I know, personally, that she held
that win very dear to her heart, as she did with Midnight’s Best Gundog Dog at Birmingham
and Bumblikite’s Best Gundog at Bath Championship show.
For her last few years Mary moved south to live in The Granny Flat of her daughter,
Anne’s house near the lovely Malvern Hills in Worcestershire, England. This was very
convenient for the Three Counties Showground, and after the shows held there we would
go back to Mary’s for tea and talk.
Mary’s daughter, Anne, is a highly successful Border Terrier breeder, and has bred
and made-up Elkhound Champions as well as judging. Mary’s son, James, has top class
working Cockers, and awards CC’s in Otterhounds. The Cockers come down from his father’s
foundation, Fidget, some 60 years ago. He no longer Trials them now but regularly
works them.
A lady of great character, Mary was the ‘sort’ we don’t have today in the breed.
Losing her was a great loss to the breed, and to those of us who knew her well. There
will never be another Mary, but for those of us her knew her then we must be grateful.
Anne Taylor (Fabracken)
Thank You to Anne Taylor
for this wonderful piece of writing!
