This somewhat shabby canine gentleman is known as Station Jim. From 1894-1896 he collected funds that went towards charities for needy railway workers, or the orphans of those employees who were killed in the days of steam trains.
Based at Slough Station in Berkshire, on the Great Western Line from Paddington, Jim can be found on Platform 5 where his glass case has a collection slot ~ still raising funds from doggy heaven.
This noble fellow is London Jack. He worked at Paddington Station from 1894-1900.
Jack raised more than £450 during the course of his lifetime. Like Jim, he went on to collect even more when he was dead and his body then stuffed. Today, Jack can be seen on display at the National History Museum in Tring which contains many other examples of nineteenth century taxidermy.
These remind me of the taxidermy museum that used to be at Jamaica Inn on Bodmin Moor. There was a stuffed dog just like these, and some bloke was standing there videoing it for about five minutes. I don't know if he was expecting it to do a trick or something.
ReplyDeleteI've never been to the Tring Museum, even though it's only a few miles away from me.
Caro, you are absolutely right!
ReplyDeleteIn 1996, Jack was sent to Potter's Museum at Jamaica Inn, then ended up on a internet auction site before being homed at the Natural History Museum in Tring - where there are several galleries full of stuffed animals! I've never been but it looks fascinating - if not a little macabre.
Your lovely post on taxidermy lends itself to plotting ... perhaps Mr. Russeau should have a bevy of stuffed creatures, should we ever visit his abode.
ReplyDelete88 Letters - yes, very much a Victorian form of household decoration and excellent for use in plot!
ReplyDeleteThe book I had translated into Russian has a stuffed crow (not that anyone but the Russians and me know that), and the story I'm working on now has a stuffed monkey...in fact, just off to see if I can find a pic of something similar to post.
Oh! This reminds me of my visit to The Museum of Everything in London in which two rooms were devoted to taxidermy. Aren't these dogs gorgeous and probably very beloved.
ReplyDeleteKate - I had another post lined up about the Museum of Everything (with Peter Blake curating?) and lost it...I must try to do something else on that show though - it looked fascinating and brought together some wonderful examples of Victorian taxidermy.
ReplyDeleteLondon Jack was at WATERLOO not Paddington. There were at least three other London Jack's at the station plus a number of other London & South Western stations had them (Southampton, Eastleigh, Aldershot, etc.) there being at least fifteen collecting for the L&SWR Orphanage at Woking by 1916
ReplyDeleteFred Neill
Dear Unknown,
ReplyDeleteCouldn't comment last night as I was travelling, but have now checked my material and the National History Museum definitely has London Jack listed as being at Paddington. Perhaps there were others at Waterloo too.
I think it's incredible that these dogs were used to and we able to raise money for these good causes when alive. Dogs are so intelligent and responsive to the humans who train them. Even if Station Jim and London Jack didn't know exactly what they were part of, I'm sure they realized they were doing something of more importance than performance tricks and they probably felt some pride about that. It would make a great story, too. I think the "stuffed" part of it is a little macabre, but it's nice that they are commemorated, so to speak.
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