A. N. Hartley
Encyclopedia
Annie Norah Hartley usually known simply as Norah Hartley, was a dog breeder and the first female board member of the Kennel Club
.
, Cambridgeshire
, the daughter of a Yorkshire
solicitor
and businessman who settled in the Fen country
and successfully invested into bricks. She had an elder sister and a brother, the novelist L. P. Hartley
. The family moved in 1908 to Peterborough
. Norah studied at Cheltenham
and Oxford University, graduating in literature
with honours at the latter.
s. Her first dog was a fox terrier
called Ray, but afterwards she took a passionate interest in Scottish Deerhound
s. Her first deerhound was called Silver Cloud and from then on she became a prolific breeder of the dogs, setting up a successful breeding kennels in Rotherwood. In 1982, she won the hound group at Crufts with her bitch Betsinda, a product of the kennels. Her book on the breed The Deerhound is considered the leading work on the subject by the Deerhound Club, of which she was an active member and served for many years on its committee.
Kennel club
A kennel club is an organization for canine affairs that concerns itself with the breeding, showing and promotion of more than one breed of dog...
.
Early life
Hartley was born in WhittleseyWhittlesey
Whittlesey, historically known as Whittlesea as the name of the railway station is still spelt, or Witesie, is an ancient Fenland market town around six miles east of Peterborough in the county of Cambridgeshire in England...
, Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...
, the daughter of a Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
solicitor
Solicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
and businessman who settled in the Fen country
The Fens
The Fens, also known as the , are a naturally marshy region in eastern England. Most of the fens were drained several centuries ago, resulting in a flat, damp, low-lying agricultural region....
and successfully invested into bricks. She had an elder sister and a brother, the novelist L. P. Hartley
L. P. Hartley
Leslie Poles Hartley was a British writer, known for novels and short stories. His best-known work is The Go-Between , which was made into a 1970 film, directed by Joseph Losey with a star cast, in an adaptation by Harold Pinter...
. The family moved in 1908 to Peterborough
Peterborough
Peterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority area in the East of England, with an estimated population of in June 2007. For ceremonial purposes it is in the county of Cambridgeshire. Situated north of London, the city stands on the River Nene which flows into the North Sea...
. Norah studied at Cheltenham
Cheltenham
Cheltenham , also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a large spa town and borough in Gloucestershire, on the edge of the Cotswolds in the South-West region of England. It is the home of the flagship race of British steeplechase horse racing, the Gold Cup, the main event of the Cheltenham Festival held...
and Oxford University, graduating in literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
with honours at the latter.
Career
As an adult Norah became fond of dogDog
The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...
s. Her first dog was a fox terrier
Fox Terrier
Fox Terrier refers primarily to two different breeds of the terrier dog type: the Smooth Fox Terrier and the Wire Fox Terrier. Both of these breeds originated in the 19th century from a handful of dogs who are descended from earlier varieties of British terriers, and are related to other modern...
called Ray, but afterwards she took a passionate interest in Scottish Deerhound
Scottish Deerhound
The Scottish Deerhound, or simply the Deerhound, is a breed of hound , once bred to hunt the Red Deer by coursing.- Appearance :The Scottish Deerhound resembles a rough-coated Greyhound. It is however, larger in size and bone...
s. Her first deerhound was called Silver Cloud and from then on she became a prolific breeder of the dogs, setting up a successful breeding kennels in Rotherwood. In 1982, she won the hound group at Crufts with her bitch Betsinda, a product of the kennels. Her book on the breed The Deerhound is considered the leading work on the subject by the Deerhound Club, of which she was an active member and served for many years on its committee.