Who was
Lord Richard Llewellin Purcell Llewellin
of Tergwynt, Letterstone, Pembrokeshhire, South Wales.
by Michael J. Bloodgood

1840 - 1925

The Llewellin name prominently appears in Welsh history books, but no connection has been found to Richard Llewellin since Llewellin was not his inherited surname.

Richard's given name was Richard Llewellin Purcell. It's thought Llewellin was his mother's maiden name. Richard was one of three sons, and the others were not given the Llewellin surname. Richard Llewellin Purcell was born in 1840 and died in 1925. He was buried in the Churchyard of St. John the Baptist Church in Stapleton. Stapleton is a small village south of Shrewsbury, England. His father was William Purcell of Clifton County Gloucester.

Richard got his BA degree in 1863 from Oxford University and got his MA degree in 1868. He studied law at Lincoln’s Inn, London, but there is no record of him actually practicing law or working in any occupation other than a landlord.

He was evidently an independently wealthy man by inheritance and enjoyed the sporting life. His brother, Lionel Thomas Purcell, was also a graduate of Exeter in 1872 entering into the church in various locations as Rector and Vicar. 

Richard officially changed his name in 1872 when he was 30 years old by adding Llewellin as his surname. It is believed that Llewellin was his mother's maiden name and his inheritance was likely from his grandfather on his mother's side, with the conditions that he add Llewellin as his surname. His full name from then on was Richard Llewellin Purcell Llewellin, but he was also known as Richard Purcell Llewellin as well as Richard Llewellin.

In his last will, he left about 68,000 English Pounds and all his land with his brother, Rev. Lionel Thomas Purcell, as his main beneficiary. There is a beautiful Baptist Church still on the land today. In today's currency buying power terms, he would certainly have been a wealthy man.

Richard was a very tall man for his time, standing about 6 feet 6 inches tall and was apparently quite intimidating in his appearance with a full beard. He never married and from several reports, he was known to be uncomfortable around the fairer sex. However, he did have the same housekeeper for many years, and upon his death he entrusted his valuable dogs to her with instructions to transfer them ALL over to Lord William Humphrey (see "Who was Lord William Humphrey's" web page). It's not known if Lord Humphrey paid her for them or she simply just gave them all to him, but nonetheless, Mr. Humphrey was the beneficiary of all of Llewellin's last Setters, the overwhelming majority being his life's work,  his personal, pure Dashing Bondhu strain with a few remaining old Setters of the Wind'em strain no longer used for breeding.

 

Richard Llewellin with two of  his personal Setters

Llewellin had a great passion for bird shooting and gun dogs and owned and rented shooting moors throughout the British Isles. It was here that he tested and developed his  own personal, amazing strain of Setters known as Dashing Bondhu Setters for over 50 years. They became a huge sensation in his own lifetime and still remain so today.

In British Setter circles, reference is still made to the "Great Triumvirate" today, meaning, the three great men of the Setter world and the passing of the torch. Of course, Sir Edward Laverack, being the first, Lord Richard Purcell Llewellin, being the second, and his good friend Lord William Humphrey being the third. I would like to add Alfred O. King Sr. to that list as he purchased pure Dashing Bondhu Setters from Humphrey's grandson in the mid 60s after William Humprey's death, and Al King bred them pure for over over 40 years until his passing. We (Mountain View Kennel) purchased all our Setters from Al & Drenda King to continue Sir. Llewellin's pure Dashing Bondhu bloodline.

Just to show how much Sir. Edward Laverack respected Sir. Richard Llewellin, he dedicated his book, The Setter, to Lord Richard Purcell Llewellin which is quoted as follows:

To
R. LL. PURCELL LLEWELLIN, Esq.
of Tergwynt, Letterstone, Pembrokeshhire, South Wales,
WHO HAS ENDEAVOURED, AND IS STILL ENDEAVOURING
BY SPARING NEITHER EXPENSE NOR TROUBLE,
TO BRING TO PERFECTION THE 'SETTER',
THIS LITTLE VOLUME IS DEDICATED
BY HIS SINCERE FRIEND AND ADMIRER,
EDWARD LAVERACK.

Note: The Setter was the first dog breed book written and was written long before the Setter was separated into different breeds by color/location. As all "Setters" were one breed for many years with black and tans, solid red, red & white, white, chestnut & ticked, tri-color, and beltons of all colors, etc..

Sir Humphrey shows much praise and deep respect for Richard Llewellin in his manuscript. Sir Llewellin must have had great respect for William Humphrey, leaving all his pure Dashing Bondhu Setters to him upon his death, showing the great respect these gentlemen had for one another.

The history and early development of the American Llewellin Setter strains have been recorded very well in the writings of our good late friend, Alfred O. King Sr. of Arkansas, both in his book and online. For more information on all of the many Llewellin Setter strains developed, I would refer you to reading his excellent book, What is a Llewellin Setter, by Alfred O. King. You can also read some of Al's writings with his permission on our "Llewellin Setter History" page.

Dashing Swan Bondhu, bred by William Humphrey (Note: high head and tail and similarity to our Setters today)

For more info on the development of Llewellin's personal Setter strain in England and Ireland, please read "The Dashing Bondhu Line."