Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

George Augustus Graham (6 August 1833 – 21 October 1909) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer, historian and

dog breeder Dog breeding is the practice of mating selected dogs with the intention of maintaining or producing specific qualities and characteristics. When dogs reproduce without such human intervention, their offspring's characteristics are determined by ...

. He is best known for reviving the Irish Wolfhound from extinction and establishing the modern breed standard. All present-day Irish Wolfhounds are descended from his wolfhounds, bred between 1863 and 1885.

Early years and family

Born on 6 August 1833 in

Bathwick Bathwick is an electoral ward in the City of Bath, England, on the opposite bank of the River Avon to the historic city centre. Bathwick was part of the hundred of Bath Forum. The district became part of the Bath urban area with the 18th cent ...

, George Augustus Graham was the son of Col. Charles Graham , who served in the First Ava War, and his wife Mary Ann Graham. He was educated at

Cheltenham College ("Work Conquers All") , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent School Day and Boarding School , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head , head = Nicola Huggett ...

. He was of

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

descent, his family belonging to the Rednock branch of

Clan Graham Clan Graham (''Greumaich nan Cearc'' ) is a Scottish clan who had territories in both the Scottish Highlands and Lowlands, with one main branch Montrose, and various cadet branches. The chief of the clan rose to become the Marquess and later Duk ...

. In 1863, Graham married Lydia Caroline Potter, with whom he had seven children.

India

In 1852, Graham was commissioned in the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

Bengal Infantry The regiments of Bengal Native Infantry, alongside the regiments of Bengal European Infantry, were the regular infantry components of the East India Company's Bengal Army from the raising of the first Native battalion in 1757 to the passing int ...

and dispatched to India to serve with the 11th Native Infantry in

Barrackpore Barrackpore (also known as Barrackpur) is a city and a municipality of urban Kolkata of North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is also a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA ...

, north of

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

. In October 1854, he was promoted to lieutenant and in March 1857, took part in the

Bozdar Buzdar () is a clan of Baloch people, Baloch tribe Rind (Baloch tribe), Rind, living in Balochistan, Pakistan, Balochistan, Sindh and Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab provinces of Pakistan. They mostly live in Sulaiman Mountains, Koh Suleiman. Buzdar peop ...

Expedition under the command of Sir Neville Bowles Chamberlain against the Baloch tribe which was raiding the Punjab. After this punitive expedition, he was awarded the India General Service Medal. Graham played an important role in the

Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the fo ...

, serving with his regiment during the infamous mutiny, and was promoted to captain – the rank he was later always known by. He was proficient in Hindustani. While in India, Graham had developed a passion for historic

sighthound Sighthounds, also called gazehounds, are a Dog type, type of dog, hounds that hunt primarily by sight and speed, rather than by scent and endurance as scent hounds do. Appearance These dogs specialize in pursuing prey, keeping it in sight, an ...

s and was particularly fond of

Scottish Deerhound The Scottish Deerhound, or simply the Deerhound, is a large breed of sighthound, once bred to hunt the red deer by coursing. In outward appearance, the Scottish Deerhound is similar to the Greyhound, but larger and more heavily boned with a rough-c ...

s. In early 1862, he returned to England and bought the renamed Rednock House, near

Dursley Dursley is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in southern Gloucestershire, England, almost equidistant from the cities of Bristol and Gloucester. It is under the northeast flank of Stinchcombe#Stinchcombe Hill, Stinchco ...

Irish Wolfhound

The original Irish Wolfhound was declared

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

in the early 19th century by most authors. This was due to several factors, including the extinction of

wolves in Ireland The Grey wolf (''Canis lupus'') was an integral part of the Irish countryside and culture, but are now extinct. The last wild wolf in Ireland is said to have been killed in 1786, 300 years after they were believed to have been wiped out in Englan ...

, war and persecution, and over-exportation abroad. In 1863, Graham travelled to Ireland in order to gather the last remaining Irish wolfhounds, and in

County Kilkenny County Kilkenny ( gle, Contae Chill Chainnigh) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the South-East Region. It is named after the city of Kilkenny. Kilkenny County Council is the local authority for the cou ...

, he acquired several hounds both claimed to descend from strains going back to the wolfhounds of old. Another dog, named "Faust", was sold to Graham in Cheshire by an owner who alleged that it had original wolfhound blood. He attempted to breed using only a select group of these "true-bred" Irish wolfhounds, but with a gene-pool too small this was largely unsuccessful. In the following years, Graham persisted and had formed the opinion that the Irish Wolfhound could be revived and or recreated by selectively breeding large Glengarry strain

s, which he believed were derived earlier from the Irish Wolfhound. The

Great Dane The Great Dane is a large sized dog breed originating from Germany. The Great Dane descends from hunting dogs from the Middle Ages used to hunt wild boar and deer, and as guardians of German nobility. It is one of the largest breeds in the world ...

, also thought to be descended from wolfhounds imported to the Holy Roman Empire, was among several large breeds Graham reluctantly used to create the modern Irish Wolfhound. In 1885, his results were met with a breed standard, approved and ratified by the Kennel Club. Graham is widely credited as having saved the Irish Wolfhound from extinction and creating the modern breed.Graham, George Augustus: The Irish Wolfhound

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, George Augustus 1833 births 1909 deaths Dog breeders British soldiers British people of Scottish descent British military personnel of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 People from Dursley