Rhiannon Promotions The Universal Cavalier Special Issue 2013 | Page 32

T

he question is often
asked if you were to
put together a dinner
party and invite
Cavalier people, past
and present, who would they be? I’m
sure without a doubt that one of the
guest on that list would have to be
Mrs. Hewitt (Amice) Pitt.




There were many dedicated breeders
involved in the development of
Cavaliers, names who should be wellknown to the serious fanciers of the
breed, such as Miss Mostyn Walker,
Mrs. Jennings (Plantation), Madam
Harper Trois Fontaines (de Fontenay),
the sisters Mrs. Daphne Murray
(Crustadale) and Mrs. Katie Eldred
(Turnworth) among others. But one
of the truly driving forces had to be
Mrs. Hewitt Pitt.
Mrs. Hewitt (Amice Pitt) was a
granddaughter of the artist Sir John
Everett Millais, a Pre-Raphaelite artist
and a president of the Royal
Academy. Her father was Sir Everett
Millais who studied for his doctor’s
degree in order to further his work
with blood hounds and bassett
hounds. He helped establish bassett
hounds in England in the 1880’s. He
was a member of The Kennel Club.
It was from her father’s efforts that
she developed a strong belief in linebreeding.


By Anne Marie Rasmussen

She was a lover of music, horses and
dogs. Before her involvement with
Cavaliers she was a successful
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