History of the breed
Many thanks to Mr John Harrison for allowing Havana & Oriental Lilac Cat Club to re publish his article on the 'A History of The Havana' that was first published in 1990.
John has been a very active member of the Cat Fancy since 1969 and became a GCCF Judge in 1986 breeding his
beautiful Orientals under the prefix Megrim since the early 70's
John has been a very active member of the Cat Fancy since 1969 and became a GCCF Judge in 1986 breeding his
beautiful Orientals under the prefix Megrim since the early 70's
A History of The Havana
The Original Oriental Variety
John S Harrison
Self-coloured brown cats have been known to exist for over 100 years, and in 1903 in "The Book of the Cat" Frances Simpson refers to SIN
LI, a cat belonging to a Mrs Davies as "a deep self-coloured chocolate brown cat. He was supposed to be one of the three Swiss Mountain Cats imported into the country". As early as 1894 a Mrs French had owned two brown cats, GRANNY GRUMPS and her son MASTER TIMKEY BROWN. During the 1920's and 30's there were various reports of self-coloured chocolate Siamese, and in 1939 Mrs Cox-Ife reported that "In the early days of the breed (Siamese) many chocolate coloured Siamese appeared on the Show bench - that is the same colour all over."
In Siamese the chocolate colouring which had been known since the early years of the century was not regarded as anything other than a 'poor
seal' by most breeders. In 1948 the late Brian Stirling-Webb traced only 13 living Chocolate Points, though many others carried the recessive gene. In 1950 the Chocolate Point (Breed No 24b) was recognised by the GCCF, and it was this final acceptance of the rich chocolate colouring which stimulated the thoughts of Mrs A Hargreaves and the Baroness von Ullmann towards the creation of a self-chocolate variety of cat.
By 1951 the Baroness Edit von Ullmann,FZS ('ROOFSPRINGER') and Mrs A Hargreaves,FZS ('LAURENTIDE') had discussed the possibilities of producing self brown cats of Foreign type, and instigated breeding programmes to achieve this aim. During the next two years Mrs Elsie Fisher ('PRAHA'); Mrs Isobel Munro Smith ('ELMTOWER'); and Dr Norah Archer ('SOMERVILLE') joined them and "The Havana Group", later to be called "The Chestnut Brown Group", was formed. The Group was soon joined by Mrs Joan Judd ('CROSSWAYS'), Mrs Dora Clarke
('CRAIGIEHILLOCH'), Mrs Dorothy Clavier,FZS ('REVEL') and Brian Stirling-Webb ('BRIARRY').
In February 1952 the Baroness mated her "genuine English alley cat", a Black called MAXIMILLIA UNTERKATZE to CH.SUSHARD (24b) as
the first-step in the breeding programme. Mrs Hargreaves meanwhile had mated her Seal Point Siamese, LAURENTIDE LUDO, to a Russian Blue, CH SILVERSHOEN BLUE PETER, and from the mating produced a Black short-hair female who was registered as LAURENTIDE EPHONE JET. In due course this cat was mated to BRIARRY SACCHARIN (24b) and produced both Blacks and Blues who were heterozygous for Chocolate colouring. It is interesting to note that these cats were registered as Breed 15 (British Black) and Breed 16a (Russian Blue). Females from this mating went to Baroness von Ullman (LAURENTIDE ARTU PETRA, Black), and Mrs Elsie Fisher (LAURENTIDE ARDUO PRISM, Black), whilst Mrs Hargreaves kept a Blue called LAURENTIDE ARETOO PEARL. On the eve of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and the conquest of Mount Everest Mrs Fisher's Black female mated to CH PRAHA MEZZO FORTE (24b) produced the Havana male PRAHA GYPKA. Shortly after Mrs Hargreaves' Blue female produced another Havana male LAURENTIDE BROWN PRIOR from a mating to her sire, Briarry Saccharin. Thus within two years Baroness von Ullmann and Mrs Hargreaves had proved the validity of their breeding programme.
However PRAHA GYPKA was not destined to be the first of the new variety, this distinction must go to Mrs Munro Smith's ELMTOWER
BRONZE IDOL. On May 14th 1952 'SUSANAH', a Black Short Haired; from a Seal Point Siamese mother, TSIU-CHOW, and a Black Long Haired moggie called PICKLES; produced a litter of four kittens, three Blacks and one Brown male. The sire of the kittens was TOMBEE, a Seal Point Siamese who had sired many Seal Point kittens and some Chocolate Point kittens. Mrs Isobel Munro Smith registered the brown kitten as ELMTOWER BRONZE IDOL. Mrs Monro Smith was very excited by the birth of this kitten and she said of him in the article which announced his birth to the World "If this brown baby is just an ordinary no-account, half-bred cat, it won't make us sad as he really is most beautiful, but, of course it would be even more exciting if he were to turn out to be a synthetic Burmese brown".
One cannot blame Mrs Monro Smith for her initial thoughts of 'synthetic Burmese', for the Burmese Cat was a very recent addition to the UK
Cat Fancy. In 1949 Mrs Lilian France from Derby had imported the females Laos Cheli Wat and Chindwin's Minou Twm, and a male Casa Gatos da Foong from the USA. In 1953 Mrs France together with Lord & Lady Aberconway (the present Christabel,Dowager Lady Aberconwy) were to import a further male Casa Gatos Darkee. The GCCF recognised the Burmese in 1952, the year of Bronze Idol's birth. Of course at this time there was only one colour recognised in the Burmese, this being the Brown, which we now know to be genetically black. The first Blue Burmese to be bred in the UK was not born until 1955, being the result of a father/daughter mating (Ch Casa Gatos Darkee x Ch Chinki Golden Gay). The first Chocolate Burmese appeared in 1969, and the first Lilac Burmese in 1971.
In August 1953 a repeat mating of Bronze Idol produced the first female 'Havana' ELMTOWER BROWN STUDY. So in 1953 there was a total
of four 'Havanas' in the World! The three males GYPKA, BROWN PRIOR and BRONZE IDOL were used by other members of The Havana Group and produced further brown kittens and carriers of the chocolate gene. Mrs Dora Clarke; still actively involved in the Fancy and a much respected Judge; mated a Seal Point Siamese called OUR MISS SMITH (Tombee x Sparks Lady Diana) to her 'Havana' half brother Elmtower Bronze Idol. On March 29th 1954 she produced CRAIGIEHILLOCH BRONZE LEAF and CRAIGIEHILLOCH BRONZE WING two 'Havana' females. Early the following year Mrs Joan Judd mated her seal Point female GENTLE MIST to Praha Gypka and on March 3rd 1995 CROSSWAYS VELVET TOY was born. Initially she was described as a 'self Seal' but later re-registered as Breed 29, Havana. Velvet Toy was the basis of the CROSSWAYS line, and in 1958 produced the female kitten CROSSWAYS HONEYSUKLE ROSE who in the ownership of Mrs Davies was destined to be the first GCCF Havana Champion.
There appears to have been some divergence of opinion in the degree of 'Foreign Type' required in the Havana and there was certainly a
considerable difference in type between the cats from Susanah, and those from the Siamese/Russian lines, the former being considerably core cobby in type. Because of this, and the fact that his grand-sire 'Pickles' was a long haired cat, several of the early breeders chose not to use either BRONZE IDOL or his offspring in their breeding programmes, a fact which was to be of profound importance in later years.
The Russian Blues of the 1950's had suffered badly as a result of outcrossing to Siamese after World War II, and the Breed Standard had been
re-written in 1950, it virtually described a cat of Siamese appearance. In 1965 the Standard was to be changed back to reflect that of the 1930's. To add a little more to the confusion the Russian Blue which had been introduced possibly as early as 1860 competed at shows with the British cats in a class for "Blue" cats and between the two World Wars was referred to as "Blue, Foreign" as distinct from "Blue, British". The name 'Russian' wasn't finally adopted until 1939. (This explains why British Blues are Breed No 16, and Russian Blues are Breed No 16a.) The cats used in the 'Havana' breeding programmes were therefore very much self-Siamese in appearance.
The first Havanas exported to the USA were comparatively cobby and the early USA breeders developed their 'Havana Browns' along different
lines, they opted for the more cobby type rather than the elegance which the majority of British breeders aimed for. This is the reason why today the Havana cat of the United Kingdom is the Oriental Chestnut of the USA, and the USA Havana Brown a far more cobby cat complete with a distinct nose break!
As the 1950's progressed more breeders joined the Group and in 1958 the GCCF granted recognition to the variety designating it Breed No 29.
The Governing Council however did not accept the requested name of 'Havana', and instead it was dubbed the CHESTNUT BROWN FOREIGN. There was a strongly held view that the name 'Havana' would have connotations of the fur trade due to the existence of the Rabbit of the same name! In 1958 at the Midland Counties Cat Club Show in Birmingham Miss Kit Wilson awarded the first Challenge Certificate to ELMTOWER CHILE. At Croydon Cat Club Show in the same year Mrs Janet Newton awarded the second Challenge Certificate to ELMTOWER SMALL CHANGE. In 1959 CROSSWAYS HONEYSUCKLE ROSE won CC's under Miss Val Prentis and Mrs Newton at Midland and Croydon shows respectively, and in 1960 she won two more, another from Mrs Newton, and that all important third Certificate from Mr Brian Stirling-Webb which made her up to CHAMPION CROSSWAYS HONEYSUCKLE ROSE.
By 1959/60 other breeders had joined the ranks of Chestnut Brown Foreign breeders including Mrs Sybil Warren, whose well known SENLAC line was descended from a half-pedigree Black SH called CHILI (sometimes referred to as CHILI ME TOO). This female mated to Mrs Beryl Stewart's Siamese stud BOLNEY KEGA produced a Black called BAGHEERA (sometimes referred to as SENLAC BAGHEERA) who was registered as
Breed No 26, Any Other Variety Short Haired Cat. The number of Chestnut Brown Foreigns was growing at a good pace and most breeders seemed well satisfied with the way the breed was developing.
UNFORTUNATELY ALL WAS NOT WELL.
In the mid and late 1950's various 'Havanas' had been exported to the USA and Continental Europe. In 1961 news filtered through from the USA
of a high incidence of foot deformities in kittens from the original UK stock. After some investigation and discussion amongst breeders here in Britain, it became clear that these deformities were not unknown here too in some lines. It spelled disaster for the new variety. "Split-Hand", sometimes called "Split-foot", so called because it only affects the front feet, shows a very wide range of affection, from severe abnormality to visual normality, with the result that many affected cats easily passed as normal. "Split-Hand" is inherited as a dominant, but unfortunately because of the range of the degree of deformity appears to have a more complex mode of inheritance.
As a result of this disastrous episode interest in the variety waned, and the number of breeders decreased dramatically. By the mid 1960's the
variety which had been developing in such a promising was stagnating, though the interest was kept alive by breeders such as Mrs Sybil Warren; Miss Swyer, ELVYNE; Mrs Pat Kirby, CRUMBERHILL; Mrs St.Erme Cardew, STERME; and Mrs Beryl Stewart, SWEETHOPE. Cats under these prefix appeared on the showbench including the SENLAC Champions BRONZE CHARMER, ROSEMARY, CHATTERBOX, CANDY BOX, COFFEE BUD, COFFEE BEAN, COFFEE BERRY, HEIDI, and BRONZE CHIMES.
The Chestnut Brown Foreigns of this period was to play a vital role in the development of another breed of cat, this being the CORNISH or GENE
1 REX. A Chestnut Brown female ANAVIS CASTANEA AVELLANO belonging to Miss Susan Watts (now the much respected breeder and Judge Mrs Susan Luxford-Watts) was mated to the Black Rex male DU-BU LIQUORICE bred by Mrs Agnes Watts, Susan's Mother. From the sibling mating of the resultant AMASKA HANS and HARRIET a Brown Cornish Rex was produced, this cat AMASKA MUSCATEL was destined to feature strongly in the pedigrees of future Cornish Rex.
In the late 1960's the Chestnut Brown Foreign attracted many followers and began to reach new heights of popularity. The cause of the re-newed interest was a small brown kitten born on April 29th 1967, nothing more than a by-product of a Foreign White breeding programme. Miss Patricia
Turner had mated a Foreign White female SCINTILLA CHU PAO to a Lilac Point Siamese, SCINTILLA CROESUS and produced a self chocolate kitten of distinct Siamese body type. Miss Turner, ever a breeder of foresight, recognised this kitten for what she was and registered her as a Chestnut Brown Foreign under the name of SCINTILLA COPPER BEECH. The importance of this chance kitten in the development of the Oriental varieties (in 1967 no more than the very faintest twinkle even in Pat's eye!!) cannot be overstated. There can be few, if any Orientals alive today that do not have CH SCINTILLA COPPER BEECH in their ancestry. In 1967 her importance to the Chestnut Brown Foreign was vast, in that she was free from all 'taint' of defect and a cat of greatly improved type and good rich coat colouring.
'Copper' passed into the hands of Mrs Pam Wilding, now a popular GCCF Judge, in whose ownership she became a Champion. On November 2nd 1968 'Copper' produced a litter of kittens sired by CH TIJHA ARES (24c) …… a litter which was to have a tremendous impact on the Cat Fancy. The litter included CH DANDYCAT HULA DANCER (29), CH DANDYCAT BROWN BEAR (29) and DANDYCAT IVANHOE (Foreign 'Lavender'). 'Hula' went to Mrs Angela Sayer to found the supremely successful SOLITAIRE Chestnut Brown Foreign/Havana line. 'Brown Bear' ventured up to Lancashire to Mrs Beryl Stewart, and 'Ivanhoe' stayed at home with Pam & Ted Wilding. The following year, 1969, Copper produced a litter from CH WINCEBY IMPERIAL (24c) which included CH DANDYCAT ZULU WARRIOR (29) who joined his brown sister at Hunting Grove. A later litter to WINCEBY DANDY produced CH DANDYCAT WHISTLING RUFUS (29) who stayed at home with Pam & Ted. Through these offspring CH SCINTILLA COPPER BEECH was to exert a tremendous influence on the development of the present day Orientals.
In 1970 co-incidental with the upsurge of interest in the Chestnut Brown Foreign the GCCF amended the varietal name of Breed No 29 to the
HAVANA. In 1971 'The Chestnut Brown Group' became 'The Havana Cat Club', sadly by this time most of the originators of the breed were no
longer involved.
It is interesting to note that during the 1950's the mixture of chocolate and blue colouring produced 'lavender' or 'lilac' coloured kittens.
Mrs Hargreaves developed a line of 'Lavender Self Short Hairs' and in 1957 had cats of second generation, notably LAURENTIDE PYRAMID and LAURENTIDE QUANTA, both were sired by LAURENTIDE PEARLUSTRE. 'Quanta's' dam LAURENTIDE PARABOLA was also the dam of LAURENTIDE HYPERBOLA, the mother of Pyramid. Mrs Elsie Fisher bred a 'lilac' called PRAHA ALLEGRO AGITATO, who was seen at many shows during the decade. It must also be remembered that the Lilac Point Siamese was not recognised at this time, and many of the first Lilac Points to be recorded in Britain were also bred by Mrs Hargreaves. Accordingly very many modern Siamese can be traced back to the
matings which produced the first Havana!
By 1970 'The 'Foreign Lavender Group' had been formed under the Chairmanship of Mrs Angela Sayer to foster the development of the
lavender/lilac counterpart of the Havana. Mrs Betty Harrison (HARISLAU) now a Senior Oriental Judge was the Secretary. The Treasurer and Recorder were Mrs Val Gane (BURDACH) and Mrs Pam Wilding. The other members of the Group were Mrs McLean Inglis (CEE DEE EM); Mrs Sheila Garnett (ANDERIDA); Mrs Monica Buttery (SAMSARA); Tony & Sheila Clayton (SIAVANA); Miss Margery Gamble (MANSEL); and Mrs Adams (ARTINIAN). These were the ten active breeders who were responsible for the application for recognition of the 'Foreign Lavender' which was placed before the April meeting of the Governing Council in 1973. It is amusing to note that the application which was made through the good offices of the Colourpoint, Rex Coated & AOV Club requested that the variety be recognised as either the 'Lavender Shorthair' or 'Foreign Lavender Shorthair' and specifically asked that it not be called either 'Self Lilac' or 'Foreign Lilac' …….. of course we all know that Breed No 29c is the Foreign Lilac! (Later renamed Oriental Lilac).
Five years later in June 1977 the Foreign Lilac was granted Championship status. The first Foreign Lilac to gain title in early 1978 was
CH BURDACH CARTAGENA, a female owned and bred by Mrs Val Gane, closely followed by Mrs Andrea Martyr's male CH MANNEQUIN TITUS. The Foreign White, so important in the 'new wave' of Havana & Lilacs, also gained Championship Status in June 1977, and in November 1977 the first Foreign White Champion was made up, this being my own CH SCINTILLA JOU-LIN, who was of course bred by Miss Pat Turner.
From the beginning of 1970 it is difficult to separate the development of the Havana & Foreign Lilac as they were so often bred in tandem. Two of Mrs Betty Harrison's stud cats CH HARISLAU LITTLE OTTER and CH HARISLAU FLYING FOX were both products of breeding programmes for
the Lilac and not the Havana. After the mid 1970's it is virtually impossible to separate the two colours from the other emerging Breed No 26
Foreign/Oriental colours - Black, Blue and Spotted Tabby in the four colours.
Mrs Angela Sayer's numerous cats included Siamese in all colours, as well as the Havanas. In addition to DANDYCAT HULA DANCER and
ZULU WARRIOR she had also acquired FLORENTINE M'BELE bred by Mrs Maggie Hyde. M'Bele was a descendant of the Chestnut Brown Foreigns bred in the 1950's. In Mrs Sayer's hands this trio was to produce a dynasty of Havanas which were destined to spread throughout the World. Angela Sayer turned out such beauties as the SOLITAIRE Champions ALOHA, MANEKI NEKO, KAAHAMANU, KAMAMALU (Mrs Ann Imlach), PIKAKE (Mrs Betty Harrison), TIARE TAHITI, SUNSLIPPER (Mrs Doreen McAlister), and KAI EMI (Miss LJ Hutchinson). Of equal importance were those beloved Breed 26 cats that stem from the same source and were to play such a major part in the future of not only the Havana and Lilac but all the other colours. These cats included ALOHA's Lilac litter mates ARCHIL (Mrs Betty Harrison) and AMETHYST; and her 'Egyptian Mau', now Breed 38 litter mates ATTABOY and AMULETTE all of who were green eyed cats of outstanding type, and would all have made Champion had the title been available to them.
At this time another "new" line of Havanas was being developed, one which was greeted by the Cat Fancy with; to say the least; very mixed
reactions! The line was founded on CH SOUTHVIEW UNACASSIOPEIA (29) who was bred by Mrs Maureen Silson in 1969, and later passed on to Tony & Sheila Clayton along with her son CH SOUTHVIEW DUAKYLIN (29). Mrs Joan Waite (SAKAS) in Devon owned a daughter of Unacassiopeia CH SOUTHVIEW DUAEBONY (29). These three cats were of extremely good type and excellent colour, so why on earth was there so much opposition to them from so many Havana breeders of the time? Roy and Maureen Silson were well known for their 'experimental' breeding had played a major part in the development of the Red Point Siamese. CH SOUTHVIEW UNACASSIOPEIA was from a mating between
KERNOW GERZA and an imported cat called ANARTS MIIKO. Miiko was registered in this United Kingdom as Breed 32c ( which was Any Other Colour, though it subsequently was changed and the Number designated to Cream Point Siamese). It was some time before it became widely known that Miiko was registered in the USA as an Albino Siamese. It was the fact that MIIKO was a 'Recessive White" which caused so much consternation and much examination of pedigrees! KERNOW GERZA bred by Mrs Pam Everley, he was sired by TRANBY RED TUTANKHAMEN (23a); now called a Sorrel Abyssinian but in those days known as Red Abyssinian: and his dam a Seal Point Siamese.
From CH SOUTHVIEW DUAKYLIN and ASHARON OPEL, a Siamese of impeccable pedigree, Tony & Sheila Clayton bred some magnificent
Havanas of which the CHAMPIONS SIAVANA FETICHE (Mrs J Waite), FEU FOLLETTE, and RANI were outstanding examples of the variety. This
line was responsible for the origins of the Foreign/Oriental Cinnamon, Breed No 37k, for from the Abyssinian TRANBY RED TUTANKHAMEN the Orientals gained the recessive light brown allele responsible for the colouring of the Sorrel Aby, and the Cinnamon. [From this line the Oriental also gained the allele for Ticked Tabby Pattern which lead to the creation of the Oriental Ticked Tabby]. Cats with pedigrees containing Anarts Miiko spread quite rapidly and the GCCF, following considerable debate, introduced a Registration endorsement, registrations of Miiko's descendants were 'over-stamped'. The Havana,Foreign and Oriental Cat Association (now the OCA) did much to help and advise breeders
on test matings and eventually many lines based on these superb Havanas were cleared as being free from the recessive. In fact to 'clear' a line one only had to mate a suspected carrier to a Siamese and continue the line from the coloured offspring, for any self coloured kittens were by definition free from the 'problem' …… but goodness me did it cause a fuss!!!
Of the lines tracing here origins to the cats of the 1950's Mrs Monica Buttery's were the most successful and many SAMSARA cats feature in the pedigrees of the 1970's. Mrs Buttery had acquired CH SENLAC BRONZE CHIMES and by use of her well known Siamese stud cats, and the Solitaire cats produced a distinctive line. In the North of England the SWEETHOPE line of Jim & Beryl Stewart continued until they separated in 1972. CH DANDYCAT BROWN BEAR and his Chocolate Point companion DINWOODIE ORANSHEE went to Mrs Margaret Shaw in Taunton to found the ZAMAAZI line. CH SWEETHOPE CHICO, initially owned by Mrs Jackie Allday, was one of Brown Bears 'Northern' sons, his dam being SWEETHOPE IQUIQUI (29) whose pedigree traced back to Mrs Warrens BAGHEERA and the cats of the 1950's. One of CHICO's most successful matings was with TOTISUKIANA a Chocolate Point Siamese daughter of CH SUNJADE CHOCOLATE DOMINO. This pair produced the Havana CHAMPIONS BASTRA MIQUEL and BASTRA RODRIGUES, and GRAND CHAMPUION BASTRA INNOCENCIA, the first Havana
to gain this title. These three cats were most successful at shows in the North of the country but were not seen in the South. Meanwhile down in Somerset BROWN BEAR and ORANSHEE went on to produce CH ZAMAAZI QUENITO (Mrs Prue Critchley, SYLBA) and CH ZAMAAZI ZOLITAIRE (Mrs Andrea Martyr, MANNEQUIN). Mrs Margaret Shaw had also acquired SAMSARA KASSA and SAMSARA TULEKA descendants of CH SENLAC BRONZE CHIMES.
During the mid 1970's yet another ripple of consternation 'ruffled the feathers' of many Havana & Foreign Lilac breeders who were trying to develop 'pure' lines of Havana and Foreign Lilac. The Havana breeders surely did have a propensity for storms in tea cups!!! Following her
acquisition of SCINTA CELESTE and SCINTASILVA SUE, the result of a Siamese / Chinchilla mis-mating, Miss Patricia Turner instigated a breeding programme not only to develop the potentially beautiful Smokes, Silver Tabbies and Pastels (now Shaded), but also to study the
inheritance of the responsible alleles. Whilst many were prepared to accept cats bred from the Self-coloured AOV's, they were not happy with those bred from the Tabbies, and more especially from the Pastel breeding programme. One Breeder, Betty Harrison the Secretary of the Havana Cat Club and a Senior Oriental Judge, was quite happy for her son to have Cream Selfs and Torties in her prefix was not prepared to have the Silvers introduced into her line. Her son, John who was the Chairman of the Havana Cat Club, and now also a Judge was therefore compelled to register a prefix in order to breed Silvers, and ironically came back to breeding Havanas - from Silvers! There were a few
arguments at home!
One of the major objections to cats bred from the Silvers was the possibility that they would introduce 'unsound' coats. It was known that the Melanin Inhibitor had a wide range of expression, so that with the Pastels for example some were classified as 'Light Phase' and others as 'Dark Phase'. It was also known that in the Smokes, some were so intense that they appeared to be normal Selfs and were dubbed 'overlaps'. There was some justification to the objection, and it was a genuine concern. In 1974 I had SCINTILLA KAFFY OLE from Miss Pat Turner. KAFFY was a Caramel Pastel (Dark Phase), a little animal of interesting colour and amusing type! From her only litter, which was sired by CH HARISLAU FLYING FOX and registered under the SCINTILLA prefix, I kept a most attractive Chocolate Silver female, SCINTILLA KALLISSIMA. In her first litter, sired by HARISLAU TARKA (29), she had a Chocolate Smoke male who I kept simply as a pet; a Lilac Silver Spotted/Shaded called MEGRIM CLOUDIE CHRYSTALLES who went to Mrs Marie McAdam to found the FOLKLORE line of Spotted Tabbies; and a Havana female I really didn't want, but simply couldn't part with! This kitten MEGRIM CHARLOTTE BROWN had the most wonderful top of head with perfect ear placement, she also had the most outstanding green eye colour either Mother or I had seen. Her eye colour was so outstanding that I just felt I had to keep her, and I kept her solely to breed with my Red Smokes. Unfortunately 'Charlie' refused to mate with either of my Red studs and was
eventually mated to one of Mothers Havanas. From this queen I bred down to 3rd and 4th generation Havana - and never managed to mate her to a Red Smoke! I was satisfied that the Silver did not introduce any unsoundness into the coats of Self cats. Other breeders must have been satisfied as well for several breeders had my Havanas, Mrs Val Gane (BURDACH); Mrs Prue Critchley (SYLBA); Mrs Rhona Pring (LIZANNE) and even Mrs Betty Harrison!
By the end of the 1970's it is impossible to discuss the development of the Havana as a distinct variety, for an increasing number of Havanas were produced from matings between cats neither of which were Havana. At this time too most breeders of the Havana had cats whose origins could be traced back to more than one source, and were blending together the early lines. Because of the early outcrosses it was now possible to trace Havana pedigrees back to Long Hairs, British, Manx, Russian, Burmese, Abyssinian, Devon Rex, Cornish Rex, Siamese and goodness only knows how many good old fashioned 'Farmyard Moggies'.
Today the Havana is no longer a 'Breed' but is only a Variety of Oriental. As the new colours were produced we accepted that they were simply
different colour varieties; initially we called them "Foreign Shorthairs of Siamese Type" and then we adopted the BREED title 'Oriental'. The one thing that is quite definite is that the Havana was the first of the Oriental tribe of cats.
©
John S Harrison
31st December 1989
The Original Oriental Variety
John S Harrison
Self-coloured brown cats have been known to exist for over 100 years, and in 1903 in "The Book of the Cat" Frances Simpson refers to SIN
LI, a cat belonging to a Mrs Davies as "a deep self-coloured chocolate brown cat. He was supposed to be one of the three Swiss Mountain Cats imported into the country". As early as 1894 a Mrs French had owned two brown cats, GRANNY GRUMPS and her son MASTER TIMKEY BROWN. During the 1920's and 30's there were various reports of self-coloured chocolate Siamese, and in 1939 Mrs Cox-Ife reported that "In the early days of the breed (Siamese) many chocolate coloured Siamese appeared on the Show bench - that is the same colour all over."
In Siamese the chocolate colouring which had been known since the early years of the century was not regarded as anything other than a 'poor
seal' by most breeders. In 1948 the late Brian Stirling-Webb traced only 13 living Chocolate Points, though many others carried the recessive gene. In 1950 the Chocolate Point (Breed No 24b) was recognised by the GCCF, and it was this final acceptance of the rich chocolate colouring which stimulated the thoughts of Mrs A Hargreaves and the Baroness von Ullmann towards the creation of a self-chocolate variety of cat.
By 1951 the Baroness Edit von Ullmann,FZS ('ROOFSPRINGER') and Mrs A Hargreaves,FZS ('LAURENTIDE') had discussed the possibilities of producing self brown cats of Foreign type, and instigated breeding programmes to achieve this aim. During the next two years Mrs Elsie Fisher ('PRAHA'); Mrs Isobel Munro Smith ('ELMTOWER'); and Dr Norah Archer ('SOMERVILLE') joined them and "The Havana Group", later to be called "The Chestnut Brown Group", was formed. The Group was soon joined by Mrs Joan Judd ('CROSSWAYS'), Mrs Dora Clarke
('CRAIGIEHILLOCH'), Mrs Dorothy Clavier,FZS ('REVEL') and Brian Stirling-Webb ('BRIARRY').
In February 1952 the Baroness mated her "genuine English alley cat", a Black called MAXIMILLIA UNTERKATZE to CH.SUSHARD (24b) as
the first-step in the breeding programme. Mrs Hargreaves meanwhile had mated her Seal Point Siamese, LAURENTIDE LUDO, to a Russian Blue, CH SILVERSHOEN BLUE PETER, and from the mating produced a Black short-hair female who was registered as LAURENTIDE EPHONE JET. In due course this cat was mated to BRIARRY SACCHARIN (24b) and produced both Blacks and Blues who were heterozygous for Chocolate colouring. It is interesting to note that these cats were registered as Breed 15 (British Black) and Breed 16a (Russian Blue). Females from this mating went to Baroness von Ullman (LAURENTIDE ARTU PETRA, Black), and Mrs Elsie Fisher (LAURENTIDE ARDUO PRISM, Black), whilst Mrs Hargreaves kept a Blue called LAURENTIDE ARETOO PEARL. On the eve of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and the conquest of Mount Everest Mrs Fisher's Black female mated to CH PRAHA MEZZO FORTE (24b) produced the Havana male PRAHA GYPKA. Shortly after Mrs Hargreaves' Blue female produced another Havana male LAURENTIDE BROWN PRIOR from a mating to her sire, Briarry Saccharin. Thus within two years Baroness von Ullmann and Mrs Hargreaves had proved the validity of their breeding programme.
However PRAHA GYPKA was not destined to be the first of the new variety, this distinction must go to Mrs Munro Smith's ELMTOWER
BRONZE IDOL. On May 14th 1952 'SUSANAH', a Black Short Haired; from a Seal Point Siamese mother, TSIU-CHOW, and a Black Long Haired moggie called PICKLES; produced a litter of four kittens, three Blacks and one Brown male. The sire of the kittens was TOMBEE, a Seal Point Siamese who had sired many Seal Point kittens and some Chocolate Point kittens. Mrs Isobel Munro Smith registered the brown kitten as ELMTOWER BRONZE IDOL. Mrs Monro Smith was very excited by the birth of this kitten and she said of him in the article which announced his birth to the World "If this brown baby is just an ordinary no-account, half-bred cat, it won't make us sad as he really is most beautiful, but, of course it would be even more exciting if he were to turn out to be a synthetic Burmese brown".
One cannot blame Mrs Monro Smith for her initial thoughts of 'synthetic Burmese', for the Burmese Cat was a very recent addition to the UK
Cat Fancy. In 1949 Mrs Lilian France from Derby had imported the females Laos Cheli Wat and Chindwin's Minou Twm, and a male Casa Gatos da Foong from the USA. In 1953 Mrs France together with Lord & Lady Aberconway (the present Christabel,Dowager Lady Aberconwy) were to import a further male Casa Gatos Darkee. The GCCF recognised the Burmese in 1952, the year of Bronze Idol's birth. Of course at this time there was only one colour recognised in the Burmese, this being the Brown, which we now know to be genetically black. The first Blue Burmese to be bred in the UK was not born until 1955, being the result of a father/daughter mating (Ch Casa Gatos Darkee x Ch Chinki Golden Gay). The first Chocolate Burmese appeared in 1969, and the first Lilac Burmese in 1971.
In August 1953 a repeat mating of Bronze Idol produced the first female 'Havana' ELMTOWER BROWN STUDY. So in 1953 there was a total
of four 'Havanas' in the World! The three males GYPKA, BROWN PRIOR and BRONZE IDOL were used by other members of The Havana Group and produced further brown kittens and carriers of the chocolate gene. Mrs Dora Clarke; still actively involved in the Fancy and a much respected Judge; mated a Seal Point Siamese called OUR MISS SMITH (Tombee x Sparks Lady Diana) to her 'Havana' half brother Elmtower Bronze Idol. On March 29th 1954 she produced CRAIGIEHILLOCH BRONZE LEAF and CRAIGIEHILLOCH BRONZE WING two 'Havana' females. Early the following year Mrs Joan Judd mated her seal Point female GENTLE MIST to Praha Gypka and on March 3rd 1995 CROSSWAYS VELVET TOY was born. Initially she was described as a 'self Seal' but later re-registered as Breed 29, Havana. Velvet Toy was the basis of the CROSSWAYS line, and in 1958 produced the female kitten CROSSWAYS HONEYSUKLE ROSE who in the ownership of Mrs Davies was destined to be the first GCCF Havana Champion.
There appears to have been some divergence of opinion in the degree of 'Foreign Type' required in the Havana and there was certainly a
considerable difference in type between the cats from Susanah, and those from the Siamese/Russian lines, the former being considerably core cobby in type. Because of this, and the fact that his grand-sire 'Pickles' was a long haired cat, several of the early breeders chose not to use either BRONZE IDOL or his offspring in their breeding programmes, a fact which was to be of profound importance in later years.
The Russian Blues of the 1950's had suffered badly as a result of outcrossing to Siamese after World War II, and the Breed Standard had been
re-written in 1950, it virtually described a cat of Siamese appearance. In 1965 the Standard was to be changed back to reflect that of the 1930's. To add a little more to the confusion the Russian Blue which had been introduced possibly as early as 1860 competed at shows with the British cats in a class for "Blue" cats and between the two World Wars was referred to as "Blue, Foreign" as distinct from "Blue, British". The name 'Russian' wasn't finally adopted until 1939. (This explains why British Blues are Breed No 16, and Russian Blues are Breed No 16a.) The cats used in the 'Havana' breeding programmes were therefore very much self-Siamese in appearance.
The first Havanas exported to the USA were comparatively cobby and the early USA breeders developed their 'Havana Browns' along different
lines, they opted for the more cobby type rather than the elegance which the majority of British breeders aimed for. This is the reason why today the Havana cat of the United Kingdom is the Oriental Chestnut of the USA, and the USA Havana Brown a far more cobby cat complete with a distinct nose break!
As the 1950's progressed more breeders joined the Group and in 1958 the GCCF granted recognition to the variety designating it Breed No 29.
The Governing Council however did not accept the requested name of 'Havana', and instead it was dubbed the CHESTNUT BROWN FOREIGN. There was a strongly held view that the name 'Havana' would have connotations of the fur trade due to the existence of the Rabbit of the same name! In 1958 at the Midland Counties Cat Club Show in Birmingham Miss Kit Wilson awarded the first Challenge Certificate to ELMTOWER CHILE. At Croydon Cat Club Show in the same year Mrs Janet Newton awarded the second Challenge Certificate to ELMTOWER SMALL CHANGE. In 1959 CROSSWAYS HONEYSUCKLE ROSE won CC's under Miss Val Prentis and Mrs Newton at Midland and Croydon shows respectively, and in 1960 she won two more, another from Mrs Newton, and that all important third Certificate from Mr Brian Stirling-Webb which made her up to CHAMPION CROSSWAYS HONEYSUCKLE ROSE.
By 1959/60 other breeders had joined the ranks of Chestnut Brown Foreign breeders including Mrs Sybil Warren, whose well known SENLAC line was descended from a half-pedigree Black SH called CHILI (sometimes referred to as CHILI ME TOO). This female mated to Mrs Beryl Stewart's Siamese stud BOLNEY KEGA produced a Black called BAGHEERA (sometimes referred to as SENLAC BAGHEERA) who was registered as
Breed No 26, Any Other Variety Short Haired Cat. The number of Chestnut Brown Foreigns was growing at a good pace and most breeders seemed well satisfied with the way the breed was developing.
UNFORTUNATELY ALL WAS NOT WELL.
In the mid and late 1950's various 'Havanas' had been exported to the USA and Continental Europe. In 1961 news filtered through from the USA
of a high incidence of foot deformities in kittens from the original UK stock. After some investigation and discussion amongst breeders here in Britain, it became clear that these deformities were not unknown here too in some lines. It spelled disaster for the new variety. "Split-Hand", sometimes called "Split-foot", so called because it only affects the front feet, shows a very wide range of affection, from severe abnormality to visual normality, with the result that many affected cats easily passed as normal. "Split-Hand" is inherited as a dominant, but unfortunately because of the range of the degree of deformity appears to have a more complex mode of inheritance.
As a result of this disastrous episode interest in the variety waned, and the number of breeders decreased dramatically. By the mid 1960's the
variety which had been developing in such a promising was stagnating, though the interest was kept alive by breeders such as Mrs Sybil Warren; Miss Swyer, ELVYNE; Mrs Pat Kirby, CRUMBERHILL; Mrs St.Erme Cardew, STERME; and Mrs Beryl Stewart, SWEETHOPE. Cats under these prefix appeared on the showbench including the SENLAC Champions BRONZE CHARMER, ROSEMARY, CHATTERBOX, CANDY BOX, COFFEE BUD, COFFEE BEAN, COFFEE BERRY, HEIDI, and BRONZE CHIMES.
The Chestnut Brown Foreigns of this period was to play a vital role in the development of another breed of cat, this being the CORNISH or GENE
1 REX. A Chestnut Brown female ANAVIS CASTANEA AVELLANO belonging to Miss Susan Watts (now the much respected breeder and Judge Mrs Susan Luxford-Watts) was mated to the Black Rex male DU-BU LIQUORICE bred by Mrs Agnes Watts, Susan's Mother. From the sibling mating of the resultant AMASKA HANS and HARRIET a Brown Cornish Rex was produced, this cat AMASKA MUSCATEL was destined to feature strongly in the pedigrees of future Cornish Rex.
In the late 1960's the Chestnut Brown Foreign attracted many followers and began to reach new heights of popularity. The cause of the re-newed interest was a small brown kitten born on April 29th 1967, nothing more than a by-product of a Foreign White breeding programme. Miss Patricia
Turner had mated a Foreign White female SCINTILLA CHU PAO to a Lilac Point Siamese, SCINTILLA CROESUS and produced a self chocolate kitten of distinct Siamese body type. Miss Turner, ever a breeder of foresight, recognised this kitten for what she was and registered her as a Chestnut Brown Foreign under the name of SCINTILLA COPPER BEECH. The importance of this chance kitten in the development of the Oriental varieties (in 1967 no more than the very faintest twinkle even in Pat's eye!!) cannot be overstated. There can be few, if any Orientals alive today that do not have CH SCINTILLA COPPER BEECH in their ancestry. In 1967 her importance to the Chestnut Brown Foreign was vast, in that she was free from all 'taint' of defect and a cat of greatly improved type and good rich coat colouring.
'Copper' passed into the hands of Mrs Pam Wilding, now a popular GCCF Judge, in whose ownership she became a Champion. On November 2nd 1968 'Copper' produced a litter of kittens sired by CH TIJHA ARES (24c) …… a litter which was to have a tremendous impact on the Cat Fancy. The litter included CH DANDYCAT HULA DANCER (29), CH DANDYCAT BROWN BEAR (29) and DANDYCAT IVANHOE (Foreign 'Lavender'). 'Hula' went to Mrs Angela Sayer to found the supremely successful SOLITAIRE Chestnut Brown Foreign/Havana line. 'Brown Bear' ventured up to Lancashire to Mrs Beryl Stewart, and 'Ivanhoe' stayed at home with Pam & Ted Wilding. The following year, 1969, Copper produced a litter from CH WINCEBY IMPERIAL (24c) which included CH DANDYCAT ZULU WARRIOR (29) who joined his brown sister at Hunting Grove. A later litter to WINCEBY DANDY produced CH DANDYCAT WHISTLING RUFUS (29) who stayed at home with Pam & Ted. Through these offspring CH SCINTILLA COPPER BEECH was to exert a tremendous influence on the development of the present day Orientals.
In 1970 co-incidental with the upsurge of interest in the Chestnut Brown Foreign the GCCF amended the varietal name of Breed No 29 to the
HAVANA. In 1971 'The Chestnut Brown Group' became 'The Havana Cat Club', sadly by this time most of the originators of the breed were no
longer involved.
It is interesting to note that during the 1950's the mixture of chocolate and blue colouring produced 'lavender' or 'lilac' coloured kittens.
Mrs Hargreaves developed a line of 'Lavender Self Short Hairs' and in 1957 had cats of second generation, notably LAURENTIDE PYRAMID and LAURENTIDE QUANTA, both were sired by LAURENTIDE PEARLUSTRE. 'Quanta's' dam LAURENTIDE PARABOLA was also the dam of LAURENTIDE HYPERBOLA, the mother of Pyramid. Mrs Elsie Fisher bred a 'lilac' called PRAHA ALLEGRO AGITATO, who was seen at many shows during the decade. It must also be remembered that the Lilac Point Siamese was not recognised at this time, and many of the first Lilac Points to be recorded in Britain were also bred by Mrs Hargreaves. Accordingly very many modern Siamese can be traced back to the
matings which produced the first Havana!
By 1970 'The 'Foreign Lavender Group' had been formed under the Chairmanship of Mrs Angela Sayer to foster the development of the
lavender/lilac counterpart of the Havana. Mrs Betty Harrison (HARISLAU) now a Senior Oriental Judge was the Secretary. The Treasurer and Recorder were Mrs Val Gane (BURDACH) and Mrs Pam Wilding. The other members of the Group were Mrs McLean Inglis (CEE DEE EM); Mrs Sheila Garnett (ANDERIDA); Mrs Monica Buttery (SAMSARA); Tony & Sheila Clayton (SIAVANA); Miss Margery Gamble (MANSEL); and Mrs Adams (ARTINIAN). These were the ten active breeders who were responsible for the application for recognition of the 'Foreign Lavender' which was placed before the April meeting of the Governing Council in 1973. It is amusing to note that the application which was made through the good offices of the Colourpoint, Rex Coated & AOV Club requested that the variety be recognised as either the 'Lavender Shorthair' or 'Foreign Lavender Shorthair' and specifically asked that it not be called either 'Self Lilac' or 'Foreign Lilac' …….. of course we all know that Breed No 29c is the Foreign Lilac! (Later renamed Oriental Lilac).
Five years later in June 1977 the Foreign Lilac was granted Championship status. The first Foreign Lilac to gain title in early 1978 was
CH BURDACH CARTAGENA, a female owned and bred by Mrs Val Gane, closely followed by Mrs Andrea Martyr's male CH MANNEQUIN TITUS. The Foreign White, so important in the 'new wave' of Havana & Lilacs, also gained Championship Status in June 1977, and in November 1977 the first Foreign White Champion was made up, this being my own CH SCINTILLA JOU-LIN, who was of course bred by Miss Pat Turner.
From the beginning of 1970 it is difficult to separate the development of the Havana & Foreign Lilac as they were so often bred in tandem. Two of Mrs Betty Harrison's stud cats CH HARISLAU LITTLE OTTER and CH HARISLAU FLYING FOX were both products of breeding programmes for
the Lilac and not the Havana. After the mid 1970's it is virtually impossible to separate the two colours from the other emerging Breed No 26
Foreign/Oriental colours - Black, Blue and Spotted Tabby in the four colours.
Mrs Angela Sayer's numerous cats included Siamese in all colours, as well as the Havanas. In addition to DANDYCAT HULA DANCER and
ZULU WARRIOR she had also acquired FLORENTINE M'BELE bred by Mrs Maggie Hyde. M'Bele was a descendant of the Chestnut Brown Foreigns bred in the 1950's. In Mrs Sayer's hands this trio was to produce a dynasty of Havanas which were destined to spread throughout the World. Angela Sayer turned out such beauties as the SOLITAIRE Champions ALOHA, MANEKI NEKO, KAAHAMANU, KAMAMALU (Mrs Ann Imlach), PIKAKE (Mrs Betty Harrison), TIARE TAHITI, SUNSLIPPER (Mrs Doreen McAlister), and KAI EMI (Miss LJ Hutchinson). Of equal importance were those beloved Breed 26 cats that stem from the same source and were to play such a major part in the future of not only the Havana and Lilac but all the other colours. These cats included ALOHA's Lilac litter mates ARCHIL (Mrs Betty Harrison) and AMETHYST; and her 'Egyptian Mau', now Breed 38 litter mates ATTABOY and AMULETTE all of who were green eyed cats of outstanding type, and would all have made Champion had the title been available to them.
At this time another "new" line of Havanas was being developed, one which was greeted by the Cat Fancy with; to say the least; very mixed
reactions! The line was founded on CH SOUTHVIEW UNACASSIOPEIA (29) who was bred by Mrs Maureen Silson in 1969, and later passed on to Tony & Sheila Clayton along with her son CH SOUTHVIEW DUAKYLIN (29). Mrs Joan Waite (SAKAS) in Devon owned a daughter of Unacassiopeia CH SOUTHVIEW DUAEBONY (29). These three cats were of extremely good type and excellent colour, so why on earth was there so much opposition to them from so many Havana breeders of the time? Roy and Maureen Silson were well known for their 'experimental' breeding had played a major part in the development of the Red Point Siamese. CH SOUTHVIEW UNACASSIOPEIA was from a mating between
KERNOW GERZA and an imported cat called ANARTS MIIKO. Miiko was registered in this United Kingdom as Breed 32c ( which was Any Other Colour, though it subsequently was changed and the Number designated to Cream Point Siamese). It was some time before it became widely known that Miiko was registered in the USA as an Albino Siamese. It was the fact that MIIKO was a 'Recessive White" which caused so much consternation and much examination of pedigrees! KERNOW GERZA bred by Mrs Pam Everley, he was sired by TRANBY RED TUTANKHAMEN (23a); now called a Sorrel Abyssinian but in those days known as Red Abyssinian: and his dam a Seal Point Siamese.
From CH SOUTHVIEW DUAKYLIN and ASHARON OPEL, a Siamese of impeccable pedigree, Tony & Sheila Clayton bred some magnificent
Havanas of which the CHAMPIONS SIAVANA FETICHE (Mrs J Waite), FEU FOLLETTE, and RANI were outstanding examples of the variety. This
line was responsible for the origins of the Foreign/Oriental Cinnamon, Breed No 37k, for from the Abyssinian TRANBY RED TUTANKHAMEN the Orientals gained the recessive light brown allele responsible for the colouring of the Sorrel Aby, and the Cinnamon. [From this line the Oriental also gained the allele for Ticked Tabby Pattern which lead to the creation of the Oriental Ticked Tabby]. Cats with pedigrees containing Anarts Miiko spread quite rapidly and the GCCF, following considerable debate, introduced a Registration endorsement, registrations of Miiko's descendants were 'over-stamped'. The Havana,Foreign and Oriental Cat Association (now the OCA) did much to help and advise breeders
on test matings and eventually many lines based on these superb Havanas were cleared as being free from the recessive. In fact to 'clear' a line one only had to mate a suspected carrier to a Siamese and continue the line from the coloured offspring, for any self coloured kittens were by definition free from the 'problem' …… but goodness me did it cause a fuss!!!
Of the lines tracing here origins to the cats of the 1950's Mrs Monica Buttery's were the most successful and many SAMSARA cats feature in the pedigrees of the 1970's. Mrs Buttery had acquired CH SENLAC BRONZE CHIMES and by use of her well known Siamese stud cats, and the Solitaire cats produced a distinctive line. In the North of England the SWEETHOPE line of Jim & Beryl Stewart continued until they separated in 1972. CH DANDYCAT BROWN BEAR and his Chocolate Point companion DINWOODIE ORANSHEE went to Mrs Margaret Shaw in Taunton to found the ZAMAAZI line. CH SWEETHOPE CHICO, initially owned by Mrs Jackie Allday, was one of Brown Bears 'Northern' sons, his dam being SWEETHOPE IQUIQUI (29) whose pedigree traced back to Mrs Warrens BAGHEERA and the cats of the 1950's. One of CHICO's most successful matings was with TOTISUKIANA a Chocolate Point Siamese daughter of CH SUNJADE CHOCOLATE DOMINO. This pair produced the Havana CHAMPIONS BASTRA MIQUEL and BASTRA RODRIGUES, and GRAND CHAMPUION BASTRA INNOCENCIA, the first Havana
to gain this title. These three cats were most successful at shows in the North of the country but were not seen in the South. Meanwhile down in Somerset BROWN BEAR and ORANSHEE went on to produce CH ZAMAAZI QUENITO (Mrs Prue Critchley, SYLBA) and CH ZAMAAZI ZOLITAIRE (Mrs Andrea Martyr, MANNEQUIN). Mrs Margaret Shaw had also acquired SAMSARA KASSA and SAMSARA TULEKA descendants of CH SENLAC BRONZE CHIMES.
During the mid 1970's yet another ripple of consternation 'ruffled the feathers' of many Havana & Foreign Lilac breeders who were trying to develop 'pure' lines of Havana and Foreign Lilac. The Havana breeders surely did have a propensity for storms in tea cups!!! Following her
acquisition of SCINTA CELESTE and SCINTASILVA SUE, the result of a Siamese / Chinchilla mis-mating, Miss Patricia Turner instigated a breeding programme not only to develop the potentially beautiful Smokes, Silver Tabbies and Pastels (now Shaded), but also to study the
inheritance of the responsible alleles. Whilst many were prepared to accept cats bred from the Self-coloured AOV's, they were not happy with those bred from the Tabbies, and more especially from the Pastel breeding programme. One Breeder, Betty Harrison the Secretary of the Havana Cat Club and a Senior Oriental Judge, was quite happy for her son to have Cream Selfs and Torties in her prefix was not prepared to have the Silvers introduced into her line. Her son, John who was the Chairman of the Havana Cat Club, and now also a Judge was therefore compelled to register a prefix in order to breed Silvers, and ironically came back to breeding Havanas - from Silvers! There were a few
arguments at home!
One of the major objections to cats bred from the Silvers was the possibility that they would introduce 'unsound' coats. It was known that the Melanin Inhibitor had a wide range of expression, so that with the Pastels for example some were classified as 'Light Phase' and others as 'Dark Phase'. It was also known that in the Smokes, some were so intense that they appeared to be normal Selfs and were dubbed 'overlaps'. There was some justification to the objection, and it was a genuine concern. In 1974 I had SCINTILLA KAFFY OLE from Miss Pat Turner. KAFFY was a Caramel Pastel (Dark Phase), a little animal of interesting colour and amusing type! From her only litter, which was sired by CH HARISLAU FLYING FOX and registered under the SCINTILLA prefix, I kept a most attractive Chocolate Silver female, SCINTILLA KALLISSIMA. In her first litter, sired by HARISLAU TARKA (29), she had a Chocolate Smoke male who I kept simply as a pet; a Lilac Silver Spotted/Shaded called MEGRIM CLOUDIE CHRYSTALLES who went to Mrs Marie McAdam to found the FOLKLORE line of Spotted Tabbies; and a Havana female I really didn't want, but simply couldn't part with! This kitten MEGRIM CHARLOTTE BROWN had the most wonderful top of head with perfect ear placement, she also had the most outstanding green eye colour either Mother or I had seen. Her eye colour was so outstanding that I just felt I had to keep her, and I kept her solely to breed with my Red Smokes. Unfortunately 'Charlie' refused to mate with either of my Red studs and was
eventually mated to one of Mothers Havanas. From this queen I bred down to 3rd and 4th generation Havana - and never managed to mate her to a Red Smoke! I was satisfied that the Silver did not introduce any unsoundness into the coats of Self cats. Other breeders must have been satisfied as well for several breeders had my Havanas, Mrs Val Gane (BURDACH); Mrs Prue Critchley (SYLBA); Mrs Rhona Pring (LIZANNE) and even Mrs Betty Harrison!
By the end of the 1970's it is impossible to discuss the development of the Havana as a distinct variety, for an increasing number of Havanas were produced from matings between cats neither of which were Havana. At this time too most breeders of the Havana had cats whose origins could be traced back to more than one source, and were blending together the early lines. Because of the early outcrosses it was now possible to trace Havana pedigrees back to Long Hairs, British, Manx, Russian, Burmese, Abyssinian, Devon Rex, Cornish Rex, Siamese and goodness only knows how many good old fashioned 'Farmyard Moggies'.
Today the Havana is no longer a 'Breed' but is only a Variety of Oriental. As the new colours were produced we accepted that they were simply
different colour varieties; initially we called them "Foreign Shorthairs of Siamese Type" and then we adopted the BREED title 'Oriental'. The one thing that is quite definite is that the Havana was the first of the Oriental tribe of cats.
©
John S Harrison
31st December 1989
