Death Of Peggy Newcombe (pennyworth) In Usa

[Avalonia]

Hi all, a note to let everyone know that a true friend of the English whippet, and a grand dame of the whippet world, Margaret (Peggy) Newcombe of the world famous Pennyworth whippet kennel died in Florida, USA on January 10th. Peggy was 80 and had been in ill health, though excellent spirits, for some time.

Peggy's life long love of whippets was manifested by a breeding program that spanned about 60 years. In the immediate period following the conclusion of WW 2 Peggy made numerous trans-Atlantic voyages to England and returned to America with the best English whippets she could talk breeders into parting with. Her earliest imports came from kennels including Seagift and Hillgarth, bringing to America and to the American whippet fancy important bloodlines carrying the creme of English whippet breeding from the Willes, Manorley and other early bloodlines. I have a wonderful photo of Peggy standing on the deck of the Queen Elizabeth II with 5 very happy whippets on leashes, returning to America from one of those trips abroad.

Peggy was particularly proud of two of her imports . Eng.& Am.Ch. Courtenay Fleetfoot of Pennyworth, who was born in 1960 was sired by the great Bellavista Barry out of Mylhorns Anita. Rickey was also a grandson of the first great whippet sire in the post war era -- Eng.Ch. Pilot Officer Prune. Rickey became the darling of the American show world and went on to become the first, and only whippet ever to go Best In Show at America's premiere dog show -- Westminster. His pedigree can be found in the background of countless American whippets today.

Her purchase of Eng.Ch. Nevedith Up Town Guy set in motion a series of events that might never have happened had Guy not been sold to America. Attending Crufts in 1988 Peggy was captivated by Up Town Guy in his ring appearance that year, and she determined to buy him. She made her way over to Nev Newton, and made her wishes clear. "Mr. is that dog for sale?" she asked. Nev recounts that he had no idea who the petite woman with the big voice and the thick American accent was, and so he replied that in fact the dog was not for sale, to which Newcombe responded "Name your price." Nev named a price he was certain would deter the persistent woman, but she was not to be deterred. "Mr." she said grabbing Nev's hand and shaking it firmly, "You just sold yourself a dog."

The sale of Up Town Guy, who was to be Nevedith's great show ring hope in the English rings of the late 1980s left the kennel bereft of anything to show. Fortunately, Up Town Guy had just recently been bred (his only English litter), to a Chilka bitch owned by the Barker family, and Nev knew there was a litter on the ground. Having to start over he resolved to see if the Guy litter had produced anything he could take out to show in the future.

He visited the Barkers and came away with two female pups out of Chilka Dairy Maid to run on and hopefully show. And so by this twist of fate the great, all time breed winner Eng.Ch. Nutshell of Nevedith came to reside at Nevedith and be shown to her 46 CCs, her Top Dog All breeds one year, and second Top Dog All breeds a second year, her RBIS at Crufts, and to serve as dam of what many consider to have been Nevedith's greatest litter -- the double J litter featuring multiple champions in England and abroad, most notably the two dogs retained by Nevedith -- Eng.Ch. Nevedith Justa Jesta and his impressive sister, Eng.Ch. Nevedith Justa Jenie.

In America Peggy delighted in the role she had played in the "unearthing" of Nutshell as she once chuckled delightedly in conversation with me. Peggy only used Guy a couple of times in her own breeding program, and he was sparing used in America because he was seen as a dilute, and for Americans in the late 80s/early 90s dilutes were not something you deliberately bred to.

It was, however, at the behest of Edith Newton that we approached Peggy with our own half Nevedith bitch, to ask if she would allow a stud service to Up Town Guy. She asked for a pedigree then graciously agreed and we thereafter shipped Cdn.Am.Ch. Amazone's Glastonbury Lily to Florida on a beastly hot summer day to be bred to Guy. When the litter was 8 weeks old Peggy flew up to Canada and stayed with us while she assessed the litter.

My heart had been lost to a wonderfully sound blue fawn brindle dog with white points and a blue mask and Peggy tried to offer some sage advice. Noting that we were new to this showing business, and even newer to breeding, she cautioned against selecting a dilute to show and breed from here in North America, particularly with the prejudice then against dilutes. "Love him" she said "And then place him in a good home where he will be loved, and forget him."

She urged us to keep one of the rich black brindle and white pups in the litter instead. Using heart instead of head I pig-headedly ignored Peggy's advice and announced I was going to keep the dog that spoke to my heart. "Well then," said Peggy, "You better start looking around for a good black brindle and white bitch to breed to him for future generations or you'll be staring down a rabbit hole", she advised.

We kept our boy who went on to become Cdn.Ch. Glastonbury (our kennel name before we selected Avalonia) Victoria n' Albert (Victor), but we also took Peggy's advice and went shopping for a bitch to match her description, settling on a Canadian bred, heavily black brindled and white bitch out of Plumcreek/Morshor lines. We bred her to Victor twice, and together the produce 7 champions for us, including Cdn.Ch. Avalonia Wheatfield Waving, who went from Canada to Finland in 1998 where he was World Winner 98 in Helsinki, under Espen Engh, and in the ownership of Jarmo Vuorinen there added a Finnish and Norwegian championship title to his Canadian and World titles.

The day after the World Show we got a phone call from Peggy in Florida. "Is that dog who won in Finland yesterday one of Guy's grandchildren?" she asked. I confimed that Nicholas was, indeed, a Guy grandson. "Congratulations" she said, obviously delighted. And then because she obviously could not resist, she chortled, "Glad you had at least enough good sense to take some of my advice".

Peggy's kindness in letting two neophytes -- my son Mick and I -- breed our very first litter from her greatly loved Guy, gave us the foundation that supports our breeding program today. We owe Peggy the earth.

Peggy, we shall so greatly miss you!

Lanny Morry

 

[Tesa]

Am sorry to hear you have lost your friend. She sounds like a wonderful woman, and a great lost to the whippet world.

 

[Juley]

Fascinating reading, what a great lady and what a wonderful tribute to her. I have a tear in my eye reading it.

 

[Karen]

Great Lady who will be missed by many who knew her or knew of her in the world of Whippets.

 

[Dusilla]

Sorry to hear about the loss of your friend and a great whippet person. Your writing is a touching read.

 

[Zephyr]

Sorry to hear about the death of your friend, Peggy, she sounds a fascinating person - thank you for your wonderful anecdotes - they are always so interesting and informative. :thumbsup:

 

[dragonfly]

There is a terrific 12 page profile of Peggy and the Pennyworth kennels in the current issue of the Sighthound Magazine.

Sighthound Magazine

It has masses of great photos of her dogs and lists of top sires she and Claire have bred and the story of their lives in the breed. The magazine is well worth the subscription for that alone. Peggy was a remarkable lady.

Cathie

 

[05whippet]

So sorry to hear of the death of Peggy,she was very obviously a good friend and a wonderful Whippet person who will be sorely missed by many.

It is a very touching read.

 

[Avalonia]

There is a terrific  12 page profile of Peggy and the Pennyworth kennels in the current issue of the Sighthound Magazine. Sighthound Magazine

It has masses of great photos of her dogs and lists of top sires she and Claire have bred and the story of their lives in the breed. The magazine is well worth the subscription for that alone. Peggy was a remarkable lady.

Cathie

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I think that is a brilliant idea Cathie. I would not want anyone to think that Peggy was a great close friend because we were not. But we were very well acquainted, and we shared more than a few tears of remembrance of our decade and a half of a friendship carried on over distance.

The last time I saw Peggy was at an American dog show a couple of years ago, but I had a wonderful long conversation with her a year ago about this time when I was staying in Treasure Island, Florida escorting and caring for my elderly Mum, a handful of years older than Peggy, during a vacation to escape the horrors of Canadian winter for three weeks, and I called Peggy in New Port Richey to chat about old times.

As I noted in my first posting, I first met Peggy in person when she came to Canada to see our litter out of Up Town Guy. She stayed with us three days during which we drank more bottles of champagne and fine wine than I care to remember, and she regaled us with more than four decades worth of priceless information about the whippet breed, in England, and in America and Canada during her stay. It was a fabulous time for us to meet and enjoy to the fullest, this icon of the breed in America.

In the truest sense of the word this visit ensured that Peggy served as one of the mentors we came to trust and rely on to guide us ably into the world of whippets from that point henceforth. In response to our questions, she commented incredibly un-judgementally on what were doing in our breeding program and what we planned to do, asking pointed questions that served the purpose of making us think of, and evaluate, directions we were thinking of pursuing. She never said never, and she never said you must do. She was completely unjudgmental, but her pointed questions served to identify, and then illuminate areas she was clearly concerned that we address. It was an amazingly wise approach, really a stroke of genius, because it worked!

There are moments you remember why Peggy becames the great whippet person she became and for me, one of them was waching her judge the American Whippet Club national show in Frederick, Maryland, in the early 1990s. She drew the hugest entry of whippets world wide to date for that show -- more than 600 whippets, including close to 100 American champions in the special class (the class where champions, who do not compete against non champion dogs may be exhibited). I was in utter awe watching her judge so many dogs over three days, beginning with the individual dog and btich classes and then moving on to the best of breed competition, where only the best non champion bitch (called Winners Bitch in the USA and Canada), and the best non-champion male (called Winners Dog), were eligible to competeagainst a huge class of American champion dogs.

As a breeder/judge of long standing in America Peggy had developed a long list of likes and dislikes, that extended not just to other people's breeding programs, but occasionally to some of the other people responsible for those breeding programs as well. This is to be expected where the same major kennels compete against each other head to head, year to year, for top dog honours. You defend your type, you do not like to see someone new moving in on turf you have long considered to be your particular domain. And this was perhaps true in the world of hte early 1990s where Pennyworth was in descendancy, and the Sporting Fields kennel from Pennsylvania was very much in the ascendancy.

You see this sort of rivalry world wide and it was no surprise that it was no different in America, where the past was colliding with the future. There was a lot of talk amongst exhibitors and observors, before the judging of the champions began, about whether Peggy was up to the task. Peggy's honest judging at the AWC National at Frederick, Maryland, showed Peggy's class, and Peggy's commitment to the breed because it was exemplary and because it was completely unpolitical.

When the huge champions class made its way around the ring many of the dogs I, and everyone there, quickly assessed the dogs and considered them, and their types, in terms of what we knew the Pennyworth type was and where Peggy's preferences would likely fall.

What caught my eye was a petite, nearly white bitch on the leash of someone I did not know,who outmoved every other dog in her part of the lineup as she made her way around the ring. I watched Peggy and saw that Peggy was watching that same bitch more as well. The judging of the huge champions group took hours, but when the white bitch came to Peggy and I watched Peggy going over her, I realized this bitch was a real prospect in Peggy's eyes.

At the conclusion of this seemingly endless procession of champions Peggy had to make her cuts -- for Best of Breed, Best of Opposite Sex, Awards of Merit, Best of Winners (best non-champion), and cut she did, eliminating dogs from the ring that were not in consideration, before settling on a group of about a dozen dogs, who were clearly contenders for BOB honours. The petite white bitch was till amongst them.

It was amazing to see the almost architectural detail with which Peggy then selected dogs and then positioned them pn the floor of the ballroom of the hotel in which the show was held. We were confused at first and then we realized what she was doing -- she was selecting her Awards of Merit and assembling them in a chevron pattern, , before selecting dogs that would be her BOB and BOS.

And then, she was down to two whippets -- and she pointed her finger at the lovely white bitch I had seen her watching intently through the entire judging process and she awarded her Best of Breed.

The bitch -- American Ch. Sporting Fields Chosen One -- was on the lesh of a handler unknown to Peggy. She had picked the dog entirely on the basis of her qualities without any knowledge of who owned her. The owners turned out to be Donnie and Debbie Butt of the now world famous Sporting Field kennel, and for many, the arch rivals of Pennyworth in the American show ring.

In several conversations in the years after that show Peggy was intensely proud of the fact she had judged the dogs, not the faces at the end of the leash, and we spoke of it several times in the years following that show. My admiration of her eye, and of her talent as a breeder and judge was never so high as at that moment. But that was Peggy Newcombe. Honest to the breed.

My last face to face meeting with Peggy came at the American Whippet Club national specialty at Greensboro, North Carolina, a handful of years ago. Peggy's health was failing (indeed we had heard months before she was failing fast and I was honestly surprised to find her at the showing and looking so good), but with good medical attention Peggy, by then using a motorized scooter to propel her around the hotel and the showring, was in top form to watch Espen Engh judge the breed at that show. I spent several wonderful hours with Peggy reminiscing about her visit to Canada, her calls and advice given freely to us over the years, and her lifelong experience with whippets. She was, as ever, wonderfully gracious and unprepossessing and kind, and I thanked her, again and again and again, for being there to give advice, to act as a sounding board, and to be non-judgmental while she asked just the right questions as we pursued our course in whippets over the time since we had bred to her Guy.

When I asked her what advice I could give new generations of whippet people she said simply -- and I paraphrase here "Lanny, pass it on. Pass on your knowledge, pass on your passion, share what you know generously in knowledge that what your are doing, or saying, may benefit someone searching for answers."

Peggy Newcombe walked the walk -- she provided the advice and the mentoring generations of American (and Canadian) whippet people sought. And she urged others to do the same.

And that is likely her single greatest contribution to the whippet world... she gave back, freely and thoughtfully, in non-judgmental observations, wisdom and advice, far more to the breed than she likely ever took from it.

My earnest hope is that all of us who learn at the feet of masters become generous enough to share what we learn and pass it on -- for the good of our hearts, and the good of the breed we so love.

Lanny Morry

 

[Tesa]

My heart had been lost to a wonderfully sound blue fawn brindle dog with white points and a blue mask and Peggy tried to offer some sage advice.  Noting that we were new to this showing business, and even newer to breeding, she cautioned against selecting a dilute to show and breed from here in North America, particularly with the prejudice then against dilutes.  "Love him" she said "And then place him in a good home where he will be loved, and forget him." 
She urged us to keep one of the rich black brindle and white pups in the litter instead.  Using heart instead of head I pig-headedly ignored Peggy's advice and announced I was going to keep the dog that spoke to my heart.  "Well then," said Peggy, "You better start looking around for a good black brindle and white bitch to breed to him for future generations or you'll be staring down a rabbit hole", she advised.

We kept our boy who went on to become Cdn.Ch. Glastonbury (our kennel name before we selected Avalonia) Victoria n' Albert (Victor), but we also took Peggy's advice and went shopping for a bitch to match her description, settling on a Canadian bred, heavily black brindled and white bitch out of Plumcreek/Morshor lines.  We bred her to Victor twice, and together the produce 7 champions for us, including Cdn.Ch. Avalonia Wheatfield Waving, who went from Canada to Finland in 1998 where he was World Winner 98 in Helsinki, under Espen Engh, and in the ownership of Jarmo Vuorinen there added a Finnish and Norwegian championship title to his Canadian and World titles.

The day after the World Show we got a phone call from Peggy in Florida.  "Is that dog who won in Finland yesterday one of Guy's grandchildren?" she asked.  I confimed that Nicholas was, indeed, a Guy grandson.  "Congratulations" she said, obviously delighted.  And then because she obviously could not resist, she chortled,  "Glad you had at least enough good sense to take some of my advice".

.

Lanny Morry

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When I asked her what advice I could give new generations of whippet people she said simply -- and I paraphrase here  "Lanny, pass it on.  Pass on your knowledge, pass on your passion, share what you know generously in knowledge that what your are doing, or saying, may benefit someone searching for answers."
Peggy Newcombe walked the walk -- she provided the advice and the mentoring generations of American (and Canadian) whippet people sought. And she urged others to do the same.

And that is likely her single greatest contribution to the whippet world... she gave back, freely and thoughtfully, in non-judgmental observations, wisdom and advice, far more to the breed than she likely ever took from it.

My earnest hope is that all of us who learn at the feet of masters become generous enough to share what we learn and pass it on -- for the good of our hearts, and the good of the breed we so love.

Lanny Morry

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And so you have taken Peggy's advice again Lanny. From one who listens thank you

 

[doris]

wow, what a legacy to leave, sounds like she was a facinating woman

 

[lizzyb]

A great loss to the whippet world .

As always Lanny an interesting read and fitting obituary to a wonderfull lady

 

[aslan]

Thank you Lanny for a wonderful tribute to Peggy.

I did not know her and never met her but anyone who has studied their breed history knows of the 'legend' of Courtenay Fleetfoot of Pennyworth and Peggy's dogs' influence on the breed in America.

You brought a tear to my eye too - and I am glad you had the privilege to have the guidance and acquaintance of such a wonderful whippet lady.

 

[~JO~]

Thanks for such a well written post Lanny - a wonderful tribute to a very special whippet woman. I found this incrredibly interesting and it sounds like Peggy was a real character

 

[~JO~]

There is a terrific  12 page profile of Peggy and the Pennyworth kennels in the current issue of the Sighthound Magazine. Sighthound Magazine

It has masses of great photos of her dogs and lists of top sires she and Claire have bred and the story of their lives in the breed. The magazine is well worth the subscription for that alone. Peggy was a remarkable lady.

Cathie

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Thanks for that Cathie, I have now subsribed to this magazine and wow, what a fantastic article on Peggy & Claire. Some of her thoughts on the breed now and for the future are such wise words - I think I may post a few paragraphs on here for all to see :thumbsup:

 

[Avalonia]

Thanks for that Cathie, I have now subsribed to this magazine and wow, what a fantastic article on Peggy & Claire. Some of her thoughts on the breed now and for the future are such wise words - I think I may post a few paragraphs on here for all to see :thumbsup:

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My first issue of Sighthound Magazine arrived yesterday and I was delighted too to see the lengthy article on Peggy. I gather much of the interview was carried out with Claire and at least in reference to Multi Ch. Nevedith Up Town Guy and his litters in North America there appears to be a bit of a mistake, because Up Town Guy was used by two Canadian breeders, the other being Heather Dansereau of Devonair. In fact, a male from her litter out of guy produced Am.Cdn.Ch. Devonair Mitchell Frank who won the Whippet Club of Canada National Specialty. I know Peggy apparently had a problem with the mouthes in the litter she produced from guy but our dogs and the Dansereau dogs had good correct bites. Peggy and I had several conversations on this and I remain convinced the problem originated with the dam she used.

We still have a Guy line going strong here. I am clipping a photo of our blue boy Avalonia Dom Perignon, sired by Cdn.Ch. Avalonia Victoria n' Albert, a son of Guy, out of a bitch who was out of Avalonia Victoria Regina, a Guy daughter.

Lanny

 

[Macha]

Peggy Newcombe used to live in New Hampshire, which is almost as far north as you can go from Florida without crossing the border to Canada. I suppose she moved to sunny Florida for health reasons, but how long ago and did she take her whippets with her? Did she still have some dogs at the time of her death?

I saw Peggy at shows late 1960s (when I was a teenager), but often her dogs were handled by a professional handler from NY state, Bob Forsythe. Is he still alive?

I've been interested to see that another person I remember slightly from my time in the US, Cal Perry, is still involved with whippets.

 

[Avalonia]

Peggy Newcombe used to live in New Hampshire, which is almost as far north as you can go from Florida without crossing the border to Canada. I suppose she moved to sunny Florida for health reasons, but how long ago and did she take her whippets with her? Did she still have some dogs at the time of her death?
I saw Peggy at shows late 1960s (when I was a teenager), but often her dogs were handled by a professional handler from NY state, Bob Forsythe. Is he still alive?

I've been interested to see that another person I remember slightly from my time in the US, Cal Perry, is still involved with whippets.

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I recently subscribed to The Sighthound Magazine after seeing a post about its launch on this site. My first issue arrived about 10 days ago (issue 2), and by pure coincidence it contains a lengthy feature article on Pennyworth and some wonderful photos of Peggy and some of her most famous dogs.

According to this article Peggy disbanded the kennel in Newington in late 1969 and moved to Sarasota, Florida in the first part of 1970. By the time we made contact with her to arrange a stud service to Up Town Guy at the start of the 1990s Peggy had moved approximately north of there to a place called New Port Richey on the Florida Gulf Coast. This is where she continued to live till she died.

Re Robert S. Forsyth, he is certainly well known over here as an all breed judge. As you note, his career in dogs began as a professional handler and in the years post handling he has judged all over the world. With his wife, Jane Kamp Forsyth they became American dogdom's most famous married couple of professional handlers until they retired from handling in the early 80s and became judges. Both Bob and Jane handled BIS winners at the US's most prestigious show, Westminster Kennel Club (which will be held next Monday and Tuesday in New York.)

As an interesting side note, one of the dogs which will be shown at Westminster next week is a Scottish Deerhound, MBIS Thistleglen Margot, which is co-owned by Pennyworth Kennels and the breeder. Handled by Lesley Potts (daughter of Ivy of Klondyke fame) Margot is a top contender to take the hound group and make the BIS lineup next week.

Finally, re Cal Perry. I first met Cal at the AWC National that was judged by Peggy in Maryland in 1992, and last saw him -- had my motel room next door to his in fact -- three years/now going on four years ago at the American Whippet Club national specialty in Greensboro, North Carolina. He is healthy and still full of zest for the breed, and he is in fact still breeding (for those who do not know Appraxin is his affix). There cannot be many people who have bred and shown whippets in the United States for as long as Cal Perry. He and Peggy were good friends and Cal used many of the dogs Peggy imported from England to the USA. The earliest pedigree I have of one of Cal's dogs -- out of Tantivvey Diver of Pennyworth as it happens, was born in 1972 but I am pretty sure his breeding program was launched in the 1960s. Guys like Cal should write a book about the changes they have seen in the breed over their lifetime in it. He could certainly chronicle the history of the American whippet based on his role in it, in a fashion few could hope to do.

Lanny