Dr Elliott kept Jacobins since he was a boy. It was in 1901 that he commenced in ernest to establish a high class exhibition stud with six pairs of blacks purchased from John Hawley, and which included two cocks, one winner of 1st Birkenhead and one which was 1st Liverpool. In addition to these twelve birds there was a baby which the Doctor brought home in his pocket. It turned out to be a wonderful stock hen, mother of the best youngsters for several years. Also in 1901 two pairs of blacks were purchased from that excellent judge of a Jacobin Mr Herbert Smith (Trumpeter fame).
Reds came from Mr Arthur Burnet. One cock won the "Dairy" of 1901 for Dr Elliott, his first classic win. On his way home he visited Mr Burnet and bought a red hen to mate to the "Dairy" winning cock. This hen won at the palace the following month, beating her late owner who was second. Speaking of that hen of long ago the Doctor said: "She was good all round, solid feathered, and with an enormous hood, the like of which is rarely seen today. I bought Burnets second at three times the price I had paid for my hen, which proved to be the more successful breeder of the two.
Birds of Mr John Frames strain were then introduced to the stud. Mr Frame had the best coloured reds ever seen at the time.
Early in the century the Doctor went in for yellows seriously, buying from John Waters, Charlie Hill and Arthur Burnet. Whites also attracted his attention and he procured stock from Burnet, Cobbe, Grundy and Waters. And since then he has devoted the whole of his attentions to four colours Reds, Yellows, Blacks and Whites.
A notable purchase was Mr W.E. Horsfall's collection of reds and yellows four or five years later, when that very successful breeder of Jacobins was, unfortunately, taken ill.
In 33 years the name of Elliott has never been anything but prominent in the Jacobin story, and all the great honours that a Jac can secure have at one time or another been awarded to his exhibits, and often they have achieved fame when in competition with other breeds of pigeons, of which the following are notable examples:-Olympia 1923-Reserve Best Pigeon [4,000 exhibits], Palace,1924-Best opposite sex in show; Olympia 1924-Best adult pigeon; Edinburgh,1924-Best Jacobin;
York1929-Reserve Best adult bird in show; Bingley,1933-Best Pigeon; York,1934-Reserve Best Pigeon.
I could quote many other instances of outstanding achievements. For instance, at the Palace Dr Elliott won 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in adult white hens with three sisters, each of which has won at the "big glass house" in its turn. At York, the team won three firsts, four seconds, two thirds, N.P.A certificate Best Red, Yellow and A.O.C, and cup for Best Pigeon. Best Jacobin in Show was secured frequently.
The single largest price the doctor has ever received for a single bird is £40, (a labourers annual income).
As is usually the case, some seasons have been better than others, but there have been no bad seasons. Always has the quality of the stud been maintained. Dr Elliott has done battle season after season with all the great Jacobin breeders for over 30 years, and annually his birds have given a good account of themselves. Outstanding Jacobins of Dr Elliotts career were the following-
Yellow hen,1928-3019, which was the Best Jacobin bred at Ashley House.
A black hen claimed at the Palace in 1909 at the catalogue price of £40, conditionally on the Doctor showing her in Scotland and where she won the cup for Best Jacobin.
Black cock Best Pigeon in show Olympia in either 1923 or 1924, bred from a Carson hen (America). His sister won the adult hen class the same year. The Jacobin lofts at Stepney Road Scarborough 1950 White Cock 1933-1725. 1st Crystal Palace, 1934 1st and cup Best Pigeon
York, 1935. Black Hen, 1934-1830. 1st Crystal Palace, 1935. Yellow Cock,1933-1712.1st Crystal Palace 1933 and 1935.1st Dairy 1935. Yellow Cock 1933-1762.1st Crystal Palace 1933.1st Derby 1933.
No man has greater knowledge of a Jacobin. Unlike most of the successful breeders of livestock of all kinds with whom I have been acquainted, the doctor did not believe in close in-breeding, and he never mated father to daughter, son to mother, or sister to brother. More distant relatives he will put together if their visible properties make them suitable as mates.
Of course when Dr Elliott was debating the subject of breeding with other fanciers he was always able to produce in support of his opinions magnificent evidence in the form of the many champions he has bred and the strength and quality of the stud. I venture to say, however, that no man could have produced so many winners, all of such excellent type and excellent feather properties, had he not possessed, as the Doctor, a gift for selecting the correct mates either from birds in his own possession or birds purchased by him. He has undoubtedly got an intuition for picking the right speciman to enable him to achieve any particular object; and even if the Doctor was not an avowed in-breeder I do think he can be fairly described as a line breeder.
To him pedigree is of very minor importance compared with appearance, where as with so many of us pedigree always calls for great consideration. I could enlarge on this topic, but my object here is not to describe outcrossings, etc. Suffice to say that, whether one agreed or disagreed with any of the Doctors views on in-breeding, the results of his efforts have been sufficient to satisfy anyone, as they must have satisfied him that is if an ambitious fancier can ever be satisfied.
I should say that at the present time the Ashley house Jacobins constitute the largest stud of this breed in the world, just as the Doctor makes the most entries in his section of the classic shows and usually secures a large proportion of the prizes.
At times his stud consisted of 161 birds [66 cocks and 95 hens] in all colours except blues, the numbers being 17 black cocks, 25 black hens, 19 white cocks, 25 white hens, 14 red cocks, 10 red hens, 15 yellow cocks, 26 yellow hens, 1 strawberry cock, 7 dun hens, and 2 splash hens.
A great collection, though not so large as the Doctor has sometimes had in his aviaries. Actually he has bred from fewer birds than he did in days gone by. He usually would mate up 30 to 35 pairs. The stud had been reduced partly owing to sales, there was always a demand for the Elliott product. Nevertheless, even if smaller the stud was of by no means inferior in so far as the number of birds of super-excellence is concerned. It contained some of the finest yellows and whites living, also several very good blacks, reds were few in number, as so many have been sold, it was his intention to gradually build them up again.
By the way, and reverting to the Doctors breeding methods, he does not believe in colour crossing, being content almost invariably to mate white to white, yellow to yellow and so on. As is seen from the pedigrees given, whites and yellows predominate, although in all the colours which constitute this stud there are excellent specimens, I think Doctor Elliott would agree it is whites and yellows that have brought him the greatest fame.
The Ashley House Jacobins are renowned for hood and length and solidity of feather, good carriage and small bodies. The birds whose portraits grace these pages are all magnificent examples of this extraordinarily successful stud and all living proof of all that I have written about the Doctors abilities as a breeder.
Dr. Elliott has ever prefered exhibiting to judging, and yet he judges most capably when he can be pursuaded to serve in that capacity. He made his debut as "Wearer of the Ermin". At the Crystal Palace in 1905, and in the same year he was married. He still talks with relish of the dinner held on the first night of the show to celebrate those two notable events, and when a party of jolly fanciers gathered around a very festive board. These fellows included Messers Arthur Burnet, Cato Mawson, James Purdon, George Raynor, Ted Buckfitt, Arthur Blakeley, and Albert Williment.
The Doctor had been elected President of the Jacobin Society several times, and he was elected President of the Old Pigeon Club in 1908.
Of the many stories the Doctor can tell of the "good old days" the following is typical- It was the occasion of the Jacobin Society's Club show held at the Lambert Baths, London, in 1914, after the great war had commenced. He left Cudworth in thick fog with a big team of birds. "When I reached St. Pancras, "he says, "It was a real `pea souper` and very late at night. I was stranded with nine baskets. Taxi men refused to leave the Station. Eventually I bribed a lorry driver to drive me to the Baths, where I arrived just as Pat Harrower and the Stewards were about to leave. I penned my birds and at long last reached my hotel." Dr Elliotts team did big things next day when 555 Jacobins were penned. The largest ever exhibition of the breed to this day.
