Historical Timeline for Basset Hounds
900 (approximately) - St. Huberts hound appears
1561 - The first application of the word "Basset" to a breed of dog can be traced to La Vénerie, an illustrated text on hunting written by Jacques du Fouilloux in 1561. Fouilloux illustrates wire-haired bassets resembling the modern Basset Fauve de Bretagne hunting badger. (Basset referred to any breed in France and Belgium that was sixteen inches tall or shorter. At one time there were at least a dozen basset breeds in France and Belgium and others existed on other European countries.)
1785 - George Washington presented with French hounds, but no mention of bassets has been found in the diaries or letters of George Washington. Some modern scholars feel these were fox hounds. There seems to be ample evidence that the French hounds Washington received from Lafayette were a much larger breed than the Basset Hound.
1789 through 1799 - The French Revolution put an abrupt end to the ruling class in France and also most of their kennels. Many strains of dogs became extinct including the St Hubert Hound.
1797 - A few basset breeds that survived the revolution were recorded in Buffon’s book, Natural History, and in later editions.
1850s (approximately) - The two largest breeders of Bassets in France, Count Le Coutelx and M. Lane, were producing dogs of a slightly different type.
1853 - Emmanuel Fremiet, "the leading sculptor of animals in his day" exhibited bronze sculptures of Emperor Napoleon III's Bassets at the Paris Salon.
1862 - Napoleon III relaxed government censorship. The rebuilding of Paris, with its wide boulevards and new underground railroad, was almost complete.
1863 - Dog show in Paris including some Bassets aroused interest in the breed in English circles.
1866 - Lord Galway imports a pair of Le Couteulx Basset Hounds to England. He wrote a letter to Major Heseltine (later of Walhampton Basset Pack fame) and used the name Basset Hounds to describe a pair that he imported from France. They were bred either later that year or early in 1867.
1874 - Sir John Everett Millais imports the brothers Fino de Paris and Model to England from France.
1872 (approximately) - Lord Galway sold his pack of Basset Hounds to Lord Onslow.
1875 - Model exhibited for the first time in Wolverhamton, later at Crystal Palace, London
1877 - Lord Onslow imports to England from France three Le Couteulx Bassets (Fino, Finette and Nestor which are littermates).
1880 - The British Kennel Club recognized the Basset Hound as a breed
1880 - Casell’s Illustrated Book of the Dog includes a painting of Fino de Paris, Jupiter and Pallas.
1882 - Lord Onslow imports 2 Lane Bassets, Blanchette and Oriflame to England from France.
1883 - Lord Aylesford brings a pair of Bassets to his ranch in Texas, USA. The same year the British show dog, Nemours is shown at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, New York, USA
1884 - The British Basset Hound Club is established
1884 - Bassets exhibited at the Westminster Kennel Club Show, New York, USA
1885 - The first Basset Hounds, Bouncer and Countess, are registered with the American Kennel Club
1886 - 120 Bassets are shown at the Aquarium, London – inbreeding is evident
1892 - The Bloodhound dame “Inoculation” is bred to Nicholas (Ch. Forester x Psyche II) by artificial insemination. Assumed by some to be the beginning of the Basset Hound breed, but has been refuted by contemporary writers and scholars.
1913 - Due to WW I only 33 Basset Hounds are registered in England until 1933
1921 - The British Basset Hound Club was closed. A few breeders still held on to their packs and continued their breeding programs. Some Basset Hounds were imported from the United Statesto help correct problems caused by inbreeding.
1933 - The Basset Hound Club of America was started.
1937 - The Basset Hound Club of America became an American Kennel Club member club.
1954 - The British Basset Hound Club was re-established.
NOTE: This timeline contains significant events in the history of Basset Hounds. It is not intended to cover everything that happened within the time period. The webmaster may from time to time make additions to the events listed here.