Early Australian Working Kelpie History

The Kelpie breed  was formed in Australia around the mid 1800's by a number of keen dog breeder. There is  more information on the formation of the breed on our 'Where did the Kelpie come from' page. This section shows the work done by the early breeders in developing the Kelpie. It is important to understand that the Kelpie was not bred from Border Collies. The first Border Collie did not arrive in Australia until 1901.

GLEESON'S  KELPIE

Jack Gleeson, a young stockman born in Ireland around the early 1840's, was working on a property called Murray Dunrobin Station in Victoria. One day he was on a visit to the adjoining property, Warrock, and noticed some puppies had been born out of a good working bitch there. The owner of the property, George Robertson, would not sell any females as he did not want others to benefit from his breeding. Mr. Robertson,  was originally from Scotland.

Soon Jack found out that a young nephew of the owner had a lovely bitch puppy from a recent litter born on Warrock Station. A number of stockmen had already made offers for the pup and were refused. Then Jack offered to buy the black and tan bitch pup. The lad would not sell her as he feared getting into trouble from Mr. Robertson. A number of offers were rejected until a lovely pony that the boy liked was offered in exchange. Jack left the area at the time of the exchange and took the young pup with him.

He named the pup, 'Kelpie'. She was a black and tan colour with some white on the chest and under her jaw. She had tan legs and erect ears that slightly turned over at the tips. Her ears were said to go up and down as she worked. Jack next went to Ballarook Station which was also in that western Victoria area and it was there he broke-in and trained Kelpie during the shearing season. The Kelpie name is a Celtic word for a mythical watery ghost that called people to streams and drowned them. It often appeared in the form of a horse or a woman.

Jack later named another of his dogs 'Corby' after Celtic mythological ghosts and spirits. Gleeson's Corby was a red dog and was later owned by Jack Murray, an Aboriginal Woolongongh stockman. Gleeson's last pup was said to be Wylie, a small, rough-haired black dog.

 Warrock Station where Gleeson's Kelpie was bred is now a historic site open to visitors and is a short drive from the town of Casterton. The well built brick dog kennels are still standing. Every year the town holds a three day Kelpie Festival which includes Australia's biggest working dog auction.

NOTE: This is the official version of the breeding of Gleeson's Kelpie. Another reported version suggests that Gleeson's Kelpie was the product of a Dingo sire. (See the section on Dingoes).

RUTHERFORD AND TULLY SHEEPDOGS

Jack stayed in Victoria for a couple of years and then met up with his friend Mark Tully and was given a black dog called Moss that was a Rutherford strain sheepdog.  These dogs were not Border Collies but were one of more than 500 breeds of working sheepdogs that existed in Britain during the 1700'S and 1800'S.

In the northern highlands of Scotland they were sometimes called, North Country Colleys. Mr. Ross Rutherford, a descendant, told us that they often called them 'Kildonan Clean Bred Collies'. In Australia, they were sometimes referred to as Rutherford sheepdogs although a line of them were referred to as Tully's right through to the early 1900's because of their strong association with Robert and Mark Tully.

TULLY'S MOSS

Later Jack Gleeson mated Tully's Moss and Kelpie together. Tully's Moss was also later mated to Kelpie's daughter, Kings Kelpie and produced a black and tan dog known as Kings Clyde, owned by Henry King. Kings Clyde won a sheepdog trial at Hay in the early 1800's.

Jack Gleeson next went to work on a property called 'North Bolero', near Ardlethan in NSW, as an overseer and became known for his good working dogs. This property was managed by the Quinn family and John Quinn who later to become famous for his Kelpies, was a young boy on the property at the time.

THE ELLIOT AND ALLEN PARTNERSHIP

The partnership of Elliot and Allen imported two high class sheepdogs from Scotland in approx. 1869, to their property, Geralda Station near Young in NSW. These sheepdogs were a male and female called Brutus and Jenny. Jenny had half pricked ears and a longish coat. They were both  black and tan in colour. They were mated on the voyage out to Australia and shortly after arrival, Jenny whelped. Two of the pups were a reddish colour and the others were black and tan. One of these pups was called Caesar. 

Not long after Brutus and Jenny arrived, Brutus won a Sheepdog Trial at Young,  NSW, in 1871. The following year, 1872, Brutus again won the same trial.

The partnership of Elliot and Allen only ever had this one import of sheepdogs as Elliot was killed in an accident.   William Allan left the Young district in 1874, and took his dogs to Queensland.

KINGS KELPIE

When Jack Gleeson was working on 'North Bolero', he was able to use  Caesar (Brutus X Jenny) to mate to his Kelpie. One of the pups (also a black and tan) from this mating he gave as a present to Mr. Charles Thomas. King who was managing Woolongongh Station, Humbug Creek, between Condobolin and Ungarie.

He decided to call her Kelpie after her mother. In some early references she was referred to as Young Kelpie and even Kelpie II but soon became known as as Kings Kelpie. After her excellent performance at the 1879 Forbes Trial people, often referred to the strain of dogs as Kelpie's pups, or just Kelpies and the name has stayed ever since.

Henry (Harry) King, a brother of Charles King also bred Kelpies and we know he won a trial at Wagga around 1881  with a kelpie called Red Jessie. Walter King (one of the original King family) said later that Red Jessie was the greatest trial dog he ever saw. Red Jessie was quoted as being the same breeding as Kings Clyde but from a later mating. From reports it seems that Harry King was very interested in Sheepdog Trials and was well known as a top competitor.

 

THE FAMOUS FORBES TRIAL OF 1879

In 1879, a sheepdog Trial was advertised to be held along with a big show at Forbes in the the Central west of NSW. The dogs entered some of the best dogs in the country and included Jack Gleeson's Corby, Gibson's Tweed and Bet, and Mr. Charles King's Kelpie, bred by Jack Gleeson from Kelpie and Caesar.

The trial awarded a equal first prize to Kings Kelpie and Gibsons Tweed. The prize money was 20 Guineas (£20, and 20 shillings). The trial was watched by hundreds of spectators.

Charles Gibson originally came from Tasmania to NSW. Mr. Gibson sent down to his uncle in Tasmania for Tweed, especially to work in this trial. This fact got a lot of publicity and showed the public just how serious the competitors were.

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 Jack Gleeson  married Mary Ryan in 1878 when he had moved to North Yalgogrin. Mary Ryan's sisters, Kate and Grace also married into families that are well known in the formation of the Kelpie breed. Kate (Elizabeth) married Henry (Harry) King, whose father owned Woolongough Station. Grace married Pat Cox, whose father John Cox, owned North Yalgogrin Station, where Jack Gleeson later worked as Superintendant.

Jack Gleeson moved from North Bolero to North Yalgogrin and then finally to Lake Cowal as manager. When he moved to Lake Cowel he left his old dogs with friends and took a young Kelpie called Wylie. He told his good friend, Robert MacPherson that he thought Wylie was going to be as good as her mother, old Kelpie. Shortly afterwards he died of hepatitis, just two years after he was married, in 1880. He was only 36 years old at the time and left behind a wife and a son, Denis John Gleeson, who was only a few months old. His son, who also called himself John Gleeson, died in 1965.