English Families
The Families are more numerous than lines and show a much greater tendency to reappear after years of apparent extinction. The recognised families are:
Family 1. Foundation bitch Caledon Nellie.
This is an active family in England, dormant in the US but it did produce two early ROM Shelties: Keep Goin' ROM and Ch Bil-Bo-Dot Blue Flag of Pocono ROM (male).
Family 2. Foundation bitch Ashbank Flora.
This family is dormant or extinct in England, but is the single most important family in modern US breeding, primarily through the imported bitch Ch Ashbank Fairy.
These two Families must be considered together. Family 3 is actually made up of three distinct and probably unrelated families, one of which is probably actually in Family 4. The foundation bitches are:Foundation bitch Fanny, the dam of Lily who was the dam of Chestnut Queenie, whelped in 1916. This family appears to be extinct in England, but is still active in the US.Foundation bitch Fanny, dam of Isleburgh Pansy whelped in 1925. Active in England and probably in the US as well.Foundation bitch Chestnut Sweet Lady, a Collie given a false pedigree that presented her as a daughter of Chestnut Queenie, above. Active in England; probably dormant or extinct as a female line in the US, though it contributes most of the merle genes in that country.Foundation bitch Bess, the granddam of Rubislaw Lady Fayre, the latter believed to be in fact the Collie Chestnut Sweet Lady of Family 3C. This family is mildly active in both England and the US.
Foundation bitch Lily. This family is active in both England and the US.
Foundation bitch Netherkeir Nellie. Active in both England and the US.
Foundation bitch Little Red Riding Hood. This family produced Eng Ch Uam Var of Houghton Hill, who is the head of the surviving CHE line in England, but then went dormant.
Foundation bitch Mother Hubbard. This family produced Nutkin of Houghton Hill and then went dormant in England. It may still carry on in the US, though it never produced a ROM Sheltie in the States.
Foundation bitch Gorse Blossom. Active in England; dormant or extinct in the US. This family produced several important male imports as well as one postwar bitch behind ROM pedigrees.
Foundation bitch Gypsy. Active in England, weak or dormant in the US.
Foundation bitch Teena (Collie). Weakly active in both England and the US.
Foundation bitch Inverness Mona. Dormant in England, no imports behind ROM Shelties in the US.
Foundation bitch Tivannix. Dormant in England, active in the US.
Foundation bitch Fanny, dam of Inga. Active in England, no imports behind US ROM Shelties.
Foundation bitch Ogre. Produced Peat and Eng Ch Clifford Pat, but apparently extinct as a family.
Foundation bitch Flora. Probably extinct in England, no imports behind US ROM Shelties.
Foundation bitch Queenie, the alleged granddam of Eng Ch Freshfield Fad, a bitch supposedly picked from the street dogs of Aberdeen and shown to her Sheltie Championship on a bet by a Collie breeder. The family is active today in England, but never produced an import behind US ROM Shelties.
Foundation bitch Teddy. Apparently extinct in England; no imports behind US ROM Shelties.
Foundation bitch Tresta Princess. Apparently extinct in England, no imports behind US ROM Shelties.
Foundation bitch Cora II. Apparently extinct in England and the US, but did produce one male import (Misty of Greyhill) behind US ROM Shelties.
Foundation bitch an unknown Collie, dam of the Collie Gesta. Apparently extinct.
Foundation bitch Berrie. Apparently extinct, no imports behind US ROM Shelties. Recent research has moved the old Family 25, also without current activity, into Family 21.
Foundation bitch Jaafa. Apparently extinct, no imports behind US ROM Shelties.
Foundation bitch Nellie. This family produced an important sire in Rufus of Mountfort (BB Line) but appears to be extinct as a family. No imports behind US ROM Shelties.
Foundation bitch Mottie. This is an active English family, but produced no imports behind US ROM Shelties.
Family 25 (new family).
Foundation bitch Brenda of Thule. This family produced one male import behind US ROM Shelties, but cannot be securely traced before World War II. It was recently recognised in England when it produced its first CC there in the late 80's.
Family 26 (tentative new family)
This family is active in Europe. The foundation bitch is Lotus, and the family comes down to the present through Kedale Molly, sold to Sweden in 1932. No female imports from this family are known to be behind modern US Champions, nor does it appear in the English Charts.
There is also an unnamed family, starting with Bo Peep of Greyhill, which produced the Line LJA male Can Ch Marbles of Greyhill.
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