Miss Eileen Snelling
(December 1912 - April, 1997)
(Khorrassan Kennel UK) Page 2
By Steve Tillotson 1997, updated 2012, 2018
Eileen and Parents |
2. EILEEN PARENTS AND HOMES ETC
Eileen Snelling was born on December 7th 1912 in a large semi-detached house in Kingsdown Avenue, Ealing, West London. She was born into a modestly wealthy family. She spoke of her own career being lots of office jobs and had to commute to the other side of London. She didn't like the commitment of a 9-5 job and would have preferred part time work.
Eileens first home Ealing, London |
In 1929, when Eileen was 17 years of age she wrote down details of her skills and interests. These included swimming and ballroom and tap dancing. She studied singing and considered taking this up professionally but claimed her voice was too weak. She also had aspirations to become a photographic model and Eileen's father commissioned a top London fashion photographer to create a photographic portfolio for her. Eileen was also a talented amateur artist, specializing in crayon sketches. She had excellent dressmaking skills and made her own outfits. She was very particular about clothes and as her photos show she always matched handbags and shoes with every outfit.
Eileens second home Caversham, Berkshire |
For most of her years, Eileen lived in a large house in Caversham, Berkshire. There was a stable block and the family also had a maid "Milly". Eileen's father, affectionally referred to as "Pop" was a Director on the board of the Ever Ready Battery Company (now part of Duracell). Eileen told the story that her mother would not let her keep the Afghan hounds in the house, so Eileen stubbornly slept in the barn with her hounds until her mother relented.
Eileen was engaged to be married three times. One of her fiances was a movie cameraman. Another, a US Forces Engineer who wanted her to live in the United States, but Eileen said she always got "cold feet" and backed out of the engagements.
Her final home was Wayside Cottage, Burghfield Common, near Reading, in Berkshire, England. It is a thatched cottage comprising two small bedrooms, a living room that ran the length of the cottage, a bathroom and a kitchen. It is set in about a fifth of an acre. Eileen had a small dog run at the rear behind the kitchen. There was a lawn to the right hand side with a well in the front garden and a garage to the left. The cottage was bordered with flowers and surrounded by hedges.
Eileens 3rd/final home Wayside Cottage,
Burghfield Common Reading, Berkshire |
Recently (in 2017) I contacted the current owners of Wayside Cottage, who were very friendly and knowledgeable about the history of the cottage. The owners moved into the cottage in 1998 and have completed a beautiful restoration job. They kindly provided some details and information. "We discovered via our architect, who contacted Reading University Library that the cottage probably originated as a smallholding circa 1620, and we have found evidence in the garden of stables and farm animal sheds. We still have the original rafters in the roof. We have retained the roses and bluebells which Eileen planted and saved a holly tree which had to be moved during the building works". The owners added they always believed Miss Snelling must have been well known because for several years after they moved in, Christmas cards arrived from all over the world for her. I explained who Eileen was and my involvement in renovation of the cottage prior to their ownership.. The current owners informed me that they have completely solved the damp problem and explained - "Due to its age the cottage was built without foundations and was built straight on top of the ground, which is the reason for the damp problems. In 2012 they had a further extension built and dug out the floors and replaced the bare earth with concrete. They also had to do repairs to the chimney breast (which formed part of Eileen's bedroom). They explained that they have always tried to keep the character of the cottage whilst enjoying a bit of modern living". The owners have done a fantastic job and likely the cottage will last another 400 years thanks to all the time, money and effort they have expended on the restoration project. They also sent me several photographs of the inside of the property, but in deference to their right to privacy I am not including those photographs in this article. Suffice to say, the cottage inside is stunningly beautiful.
Eileen, generously and unecessarily wanted to express her appreciation for my help with the various things we sorted out. She wanted me to have a iron garden ornament in the figurine of an Afghan hound. Eileen explained that it came from Eileen Drinkwater (Geufron UK) who was Eileen's mentor. I politely declined her kind offer of course. However I did obtain a pretty unique souernier
400 Year Old Nail From Eileen's Cottage |
Eileen and Juliette de Bairacli-Levy (Turkuman) were close friends and travelled together to dog shows. When Eileen was living in Upper Basildon, Juliette came to stay and decided to show off her swimming prowess and belly flopped into the river Thames, soaking everybody else on the bank! Eileen also told of how Dora Clark (Valdorern) gave pork to Juliette's dogs and Juliette (being Jewish) was most unhappy and gave the dogs soda to make them cleanse the pork from their systems. Eileen considered Dora a person of great fun. Circa 1992 Eileen wrote the following about Juliette - "I have always been a devotee of yours. Turkumans played such a great part in my breeding, through Chota Nissim of Ringbank, Turkuman Pomegranate and Turkuman Wild Kasmiri Iris "
(L-R) Chota Nissim of Ringbank, Turkuman Wild Kasmiri Iris, Turkuman Pomegranate,  |
Eileen was a member of a spiritualist church and after her parents died she used several mediums and believed she connected with her father and mother on a number of occasions. I experienced 'something' when sitting with Eileen in my kitchen one evening and going through her photographs and talking about dogs and people. Eileen suddenly sat up, looked over my shoulder and said "did you see that?" I was quite puzzled and replied - "see what?" Eileen said "a black dog just walked behind you". Maybe 20 minutes later, Eileen sat up and again looked over my shoulder and said "That black dog has just passed behind you again". I was never sure what to make of this, other than to think it was spooky.
It has been wrongly written elsewhere that Eileen was a member of the "Land Army" during WWII. During the Second World War Eileen left London to stay at a farm for safety from the Blitz. not as a Land Army worker..Mud, a smelly farm and burly farm workers were not on the list of things she appreciated. Needless to say, she complained very strongly to her parents and shortly thereafter returned home.
Eileen's father was not active in either war. However, he felt bad that his frailty and poor health prevented him from doing service. In his final days, Eileen did not visit her father in the hospice, explaining that he wouldn't have recognized her and she wanted to remember him as he was when he was fit and well. This caused further angst and distance between her and her mother.
Traditionally, Eileen and her parents would go to dog shows together. Sometimes, Eileen and her father would travel to shows on their own. On one such outing Clair Race (Rifka) asked Eileen "who's the old boy?" who was with her. Eileen explained it was her father! Eileen's mother was a well-known figure at shows and handled Ch Moonbeam of Khorrassan on many occasions.
Southern Afghan Hound Club Show 1953
Eileen and her mother handling |
During WWII the Kennel Club imposed a 25 mile radius limit for anybody driving to dog shows. This was part of petrol rationing regulations in England during war time. People got around this limitation by the use of 'accommodation addresses'. If they had to travel out of the limit they simply gave their address on the entry form as being within the area that the show was being held. Eileen stated that Colonel and Mrs Whitworth (who bred wire fox terriers - one of Eileen's other breeds) reported her to The Kennel Club for going out of the radius limit and she had to give her prize money and cards back.
In 2011, Bo Bengston commented to AHT - "Hers were some of the first English Afghans I admired in the Dog World Annuals of the late 1950s and she was the first kennel I wrote to asking if I could get a summer job as kennel help. She answered very politely and thought it was a good idea until she realized I was male as she only had girls working in the kennel".
Eileen disbanded her kennels in 1962 and wrote about it many years later - "At the height of my success I had to disband my kennels to nurse a sick mother. Having to part with much loved dogs is an experience not to be recommended. On my mother's passing I started again and did a considerable amount of winning with Khorrassan Socrates, but had trouble in picking up my blood lines and very reluctantly bred my last litter." Eileen resumed breeding in late 1968 after the kennel had been inactive for nearly 6 years. She did not breed in the interval but did acquire several hounds, presumably to keep her blood lines close by for an eventual return to breeding.
Eileen received a legacy when her mother died. However, the majority of the estate was willed by her mother to various animal charities including the RSPCA, NCDL and Blue Cross. From thet legacy Eileen received she was able to purchase Wayside Cottage, but the amount was modest and provided insufficient income for Eileens needs over the long term. Eileen provided a dog grooming service (all breeds) locally, which generated a small income, and she was still doing this when I first met her in her early 80's. Somehow she got by, but it was a struggle, and she could never afford proper repairs to her 350 year old thatched cottage. Despite the challenges, Eileen succeeded in coming back with her Khorrassans after her mother died and continued her activity in the breed for another 10 years or so.
MY INVOLVEMENT WITH EILEEN
I first met Eileen at her home in the late 1980's when I visited her with my wife. We were welcomed in and sat down in front of a nice cosy fireplace, Eileen went into the kitchem and returned with a pot of tea and china cups and some little pastries she had baked for us. I love these old fashioned visitor courtersies. As an aside, when I visited Doggie Hubbard at his home when he was also in his 80's, I was similarlty greeted with a hot pot of tea and some cakes. The purpose of the visit with Eileen was my interest in Afghan hound pedigreesin. I had developed a computer database of pedigrees and had nearly all Eileen's Afghans on the database. Eileen was amazed that I could bring up a pedigree on any/all of her Afghans and trace the pedigrees back to breed origins. We spent the entire afternoon exploring and discussing pedigrees, dogs and people.
A few years after the above visit I heard that Eileen was hospitalized having fallen at home and fractured her Pelvis. I visited her in hospital and invited her to come and stay and convalesce with me and my wife when the hospital was ready to discharge her.. A trivia/fun story - I remember visiting Eileen in Reading hospital. She seemed to think it was more like a "hotel" and when the nurse would come along and ask her what she wanted for a meal, she first asked to see the menu, then asked for various sauces/condiments and explained how she liked her food cooked etc. At the end of the day of course she got the standard hospital kitchen meal/s.. I think she quite successfully terrified the young nurse that day.
I developed a close friendship with Eileen (but her independence was always apparent and respected) and soon discovered that she was experiencing a particularly difficult set of circumstances in her life. She was now in her mid 80s and her cottage was becoming derelict due to the lack of maintenance. The main problems with the cottage were caused by water leaking through the roof above Eileen's bedroom and damp in all the walls, floors and ceilings throughout the cottage. We obtained a grant from Reading District Council to remedy these problems within the limitations of the modest grant funds. I assumed the role of "Project Manager" commisioned and supervised the contractor who did a good job and totally revitalized the inside of her beautiful little cottage, new kitchen/bathroom units, freshly decorated throughout etc.
As mentioned previously, Eileen stayed with me and my family after leaving hospital in order to convalesce and while the builders renovated her cottage. Eileen still had three Afghans at this time - a dog Masoud (Khorrassan Agenor), a bitch Sita (Talos Delta Dawn of Khorrassan) and a bitch, (their daughter) Khorrassan Persephone. At the time of her fall which resulted in her being hospitalized (and before I became involved), Eileen's Afghans had been placed in a local kennel (very well cared for, loved by the staff), but the cost of kenneling was beyond the financial resources of Eileen, so I negotiated with social services and persuaded them to pick up the kennel costs. I then worked with the late Liz Brooks (Secretary of the Afghan Hound Association) to secure temporary kennel accommodation via the AHA. A problem for the AHA at the time was that we had no idea how long (and therefore the cost) that AHA kenneling would be needed. Eileen was very grateful to the AHA for taking a big financial risk and helping her out at her desperate time of need. A nice irony to the rescue was that Joan Wonnacott (Isfahan) was the AHA rescue officer, and Joan's first Afghan hound was - Zeena of Khorrassan. Joan was especially pleased to help out her old friend. Eileen was very happy that her beloved hounds had gone to Joan's. BTW Joan informed me that Zeena was quite the pheasant catcher. The Isfahan dog runs had 6' tall chain link fences, the pheasants would fly over the dog runs, but Zeena would leap up and catch them in mid air above the runs.
In transporting Eileen's precious cargo to and from Joan's I felt a huge responsibility, a bit like a driver for Brinks security transporting zillions of dollars of gold or a precious work of art. Upon arrival Joan let the hounds into one of her fenced paddocks, they were so happy to have such an expanse of ground to run around in, this must have been doggy heaven to them. When Liz and I returned a few weeks later, the Khorrassans were already in the paddock awaiting us. We walked in and they all came bounding up as if we were their best friends. They were clearly very happy at Joan's, (but they hadn't caught any pheasants during their stay)….
3 EILEENS START IN DOGS
Eileen wrote that she always adored animals but dogs were her special love. She stated that she entered the world of dogs in the mid-late 1930's breeding and exhibiting Wire Fox Terriers and Poodles. Eileen explained that her kennel name came from the city of Khorasan in Persia; she doubled the s and r to create the name Khorrassan, she explained also that her small breeds were named Khorrassan xxx whereas her Afghan hounds were xxx of Khorrassan.
While attending a dog show in 1943 Eileen saw her first Afghan hound and was hooked for life. Eileen brought her first Afghan hound, a puppy - Natara of Westover, home on a train during an air raid. She bred her first litter in 1944, and made her first champion up in 1951. A decade after starting out, Miss Snelling's kennel housed 7 Champion Afghan hounds. Miss Snelling's kennel won CC's at Crufts five times, (twice going BOB), won both dog and bitch CC's at LKA in 1949, won a total of 41 CC's, 35 reserve CC's and gained 34 stud book entries and was a dominant force throughout the 1950's. In noting the huge number of CC's and RCC's Eileen won we should be aware that today there are 30+ pairs of CC's on offer per year, but back in the 50's there were only 12 sets of CCs per year on offer which makes Eileen's achievements all the more remarkable. Eileen exported her stock to several countries, including the USA, Canada, Argentina, Australia, Europe and India, many of which became champions overseas.
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