The Life and Times of John Stephen Pardy


If you have read through some of the "Newfoundlands for sale" notices from the early 19th Century (found in the Newfoundlands in Non-Fiction section of The Cultured Newf), you will have come across a fairly large number of advertisements published by the same person. The "Pardy" advertisements, which are spread over several different web pages, begin here; there will be a link at the bottom of each file taking you to the next page dealing with Pardy ads.

Many of his first advertisements in The Times of London were published anonymously, but the similarity of language and of street address clearly marked them as published by the same individual. After a couple of years his identity gradually emerges. He refers to himself in one ad as "Pardy," then shortly thereafter as "J. S. Pardy." That would be one John Stephen Pardy, who increasingly finds himself mentioned in London newspapers, but unfortunately not for reasons that have anything to do with dogs.


In the first of these non-dog newspaper mentions, The Times reports on Pardy's attempt to file, in December of 1838, a legal complaint (December 1838) against the Paul Pry gossip magazine — or against one of them, anyway, since at this time there were two scandal magazines in London with that name.

Two quick bits of background information:

1) At this time in Britain and America, low-rent gossip magazines were quite popular, and often unscrupulous or downright malicious. They published not only gossip about famous people but about ordinary citizens as well, and much of what they published was exaggerated or blatantly false. Some of these magazines, including the one Pardy tried to take action against, were known to attempt extortion, telling their victims they needed to pay a large sum to avoid having scandalous articles printed about them. That's exactly what happened to Pardy.

2) By way of quick explanation that leads to a famous Newfoundland, it should be noted that the phrase "Paul Pry" was an English slang term at the time for a person who sticks his nose into other people's business — a perfect name for gossip magazines such as this one. Indeed, "Paul Pry" was so well-known an expression in Britain that it had been used, in 1825, as the title of a very successful play (in both Britain and America) about scandalous gossip-mongering.

But it's a name that also has a notable Newfoundland connection, which goes like this: Many people regard Sir Edwin Landseer's A Distinguished Member of the Humane Society as his greatest painting of Newfoundland dogs — and the dog who modeled for that painting was named, we know from various sources, "Paul Pry."



Back to Pardy:

He took action against the Paul Pry magazine because he had somehow become one of its victims, finding scandalous and utterly untrue stories about himself published in the magazine. Matters came to a head when the gossip magazine sent him an extortion letter, demanding that he pay 50£ (almost $6,000 US in 2020) if he wanted his name to be kept out of their magazine in the future. A discussion of this lawsuit — and its aftermath — which includes The Times report of the affair, can be found here at The Cultured Newf.



Yet matters get even more complicated — perhaps "sordid" is a better term — for Pardy, who seems to have had trouble dissociating himself from the Paul Pry gossip sheet:

In 1839 Pardy, drinking in a pub, suddenly found himself assaulted by a man named Nickling, who accused Pardy of submmitting scandalous material to a weekly gossip magazine called — yup — Paul Pry. (There were, as noted above, two Paul Pry gossip magazines publishing in London at this time; Pardy was accused of submitting gossip to the same one he had tried to file legal action against a year earlier.)

Nickling felt sure Pardy was guilty because, as he claimed, Nickling had heard Pardy threaten the innkeeper, Cyrus Davis, that he would have something bad about him published in Paul Pry, and then Nickling claimed to have seen Pardy in the offices of Paul Pry a short time later.

It is not clear whether Pardy in fact gave scandalous material to that gossip magazine, but it is undeniable that while Pardy was in the police station giving his statement about being assaulted by Nickling, Cyrus Davis, the inkeeper, was brought in, and upon hearing that Pardy was the man accused of giving scandalous material about Davis to Paul Pry, immediately punched Pardy, paying no heed to the fact he was standing in a police station.

The police blotter report on this incident, from The Times, may be found here at The Cultured Newf.



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Some further sad notes: in late 1839 Pardy will plead guilty to publishing scandalous material about one John Barret Judkins in, of all publications, Paul Pry. He will be fined a token amount. More on this can be found here at The Cultured Newf


I have also come across a "lost Newfoundland" ad in The Times from August of 1839 in which the owner reports that the dog was lost in the immediate vicinity of one of the facilities used, at one point, by Pardy. (Most of the addresses given in Pardy's "for sale" ads were quite close together.) I should point out that Pardy had been accused, during his legal action against the Paul Pry gossip magazine, of being a "dog stealer." Was that just an attempt, on the part of the magazine's editor, to insult Pardy and impugn his character? Or had matters come to such a pass that Pardy was doing everything he could to raise a little cash? Impossible to say for certain. But as you can see a few paragraphs further on, Pardy did get into legal trouble for "unlawfully detaining" a Newfoundland.



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In the December 8, 1840, edition of The Times there appeared a dog-seller's ad. The address is one not associated with Pardy in any other document I have seen, but the language sounds rather like his usual rhetoric, so I'm including that ad here just as part of my research into Pardy's small role in the cultural history of the breed:

MASTIFFS, Newfoundlands, and Sporting Dogs. — A few of the most splendid description, warranted and trials allowed; as water dogs and safeguards against thieves and burglars, and to go with keepers, they are invaluable. Royalty should attend to this. Country orders supplied. Apply to the keeper, at 2, Savoy-street, Strand. N. B. The dogs must be cleared this week by order of Sessions[?].


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If the last word in that notice is indeed "Sessions," that would mean the dogs are being sold pursuant to some sort of legal order or judgment.



A couple of months later, another Pardy-like ad will appear in the February 2, 1841, edition of The Times. Again, I can't say with certainty this is Pardy, but it is possible. It features yet another new address, but the language and tone is typical of Pardy, and the "Canine Depot" the seller refers to may well be an earlier name for the "Canine Repository" that Pardy operates just a few months after this ad appears:

NEWFOUNDLAND DOGS. — On SALE, a brace, full brothers, by Oscar out of Beda, ten months old, and over the distemper; for splendour, beauty, and magnificence they are unrivalled, and as watch and water dogs and safeguards against thieves and housebreakers they are invaluable. Both merit the attention of royalty and nobility. — At the Canine Depot, 15, Whetstone-park; entrance Feathers-court, High Holborn. Country orders supplied. Letters to the keeper.


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The address in the above advertisement, "Whetstone-park," is less than a quarter of a mile from several of the other addresses Pardy used over his career as a London dog seller.



In May of 1841, Pardy will be accused of unlawfully detaining a Newfoundland. (Pardy, who is now operating from another address, seems to have become involved in the business of returning lost dogs to their owners — and perhaps I should put "lost" in quotation marks.) Pardy will be fined for assault when he attacks the man sent to his house to verify the dog's identity. The full account from The Times can be found here at The Cultured Newf.



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Pardy, identifying himself by name, posted a "dogs for sale" announcement in The Times on May 6, 1842; he mentions several breeds but not Newfoundlands. He also specifies what seems to be his new line of work, and gives an address that for the first time indicates he is not selling dogs from a stable:

DOGS, unique — On SALE, a few KING CHARLES's SPANIELS. . . . — Registry office and canine repository. Bury-street, Bloomsbury, where rooms are fitted up for the haut ton, and where also the nobility and gentry are respectfully requested to give immediate notice of all lost dogs. N. B. Mr. Pardy begs to add that T. Wilton is no longer a keeper at this establishment.


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A similar announcement appears in The Times on May 23, 1842, again with no mention of Newfoundlands:

POINTERS, Setters, Retrievers, etc. — Mr. Pardy takes leave to announce to royalty, nobility, and gentry, that he has 100 brace of SPORTING DOGS, of the very first breed and character, now arriving from the north; also field and fancy spaniels, Skye and other terriers, etc. — Canine Repository, Bury-street, Bloomsbury-square. Mr. Pardy begs to add that T. Wilton is no longer a keeper at this repository, the only bona fide registry and advertising office for the recovery of lost dogs.



Another ad, identical in wording to that above, appears on May 26 and again on May 28, 1842. Another ad, making the same claim about the "100 brace" of sporting dogs, appears on June 7, 1842, this time listing Newfoundlands as among the breeds of dogs for sale "uncommonly cheap." That ad may be seen here at The Cultured Newf.


A similar ad appears on August 12, 1842, with no mention of Newfoundlands:

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The identical ad runs again on August 13 and 18, 1842.



Matters get a little complicated for Pardy a very short while later, for on August 20, 1842, he place the following ad in The Times in which he basically announces a fire sale because he is losing his facility:


POINTERS and SETTERS at five guineas a brace, worth 20 guineas, warranted, SELLING OFF to consequence of a notice of ejectment; also Sussex and other spaniels, at two guineas a brace; vermin killing terriers, at one guinea; various other dogs to pay expenses, and several to be given away. Now's the time — only a few days to clear the valuable lot. — Canine Repository, Bury-street, Bloomsbury-square. N. B. The nobility and gentry are requested to give immediate notice of all lost dogs.



On August 24, Pardy republished that ad with no changes, but immediately below it was another Pardy ad in which he seems to be acting as a broker for a scientist interested in starting some sort of kennel:

CANINE. — A Pathologist is forming a kennel of the most rare and valuable species of dogs, totally excluding all others. The experience of many years has given him a competent knowledge, and perhaps his judgment stands unrivalled thus [?] much to prevent trouble from mongrels. He is desirous of PURCHASING some fine specimens of the ALPINE and ENGLISH MASTIFFS, some boarhounds, bloodhounds, deerhounds, wolfhounds, and others of the petite and giant. Address, pre-paid, to Mr. Pardy, Bury-street, Bloomsbury.


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On August 22 and 25, 1842, Pardy re-published the above "fire sale" ad with no changes. On September 26, 1842, Pardy will again run that ad with only one change, an additional sentence tacked on at the end: "A splendid mastiff on sale."



The September 5, 1842 edition of The Times has this ad by Pardy, a version of the "fire sale" ad although it makes no specific mention of "ejectment" — and there is no mention of Newfoundlands. Note that the address has not changed, and he is still inviting "the nobility and gentry" to report any lost dogs:

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The above ad repeats verbatim on September 10, 1842.



In late 1842 and even into early 1843 Pardy continues to run ads offering dogs for sale, although a couple of those make reference to the proprietor's "retiring from the canine world." Then, on January 13, 1843, he places an ad in The Times that announces he is not retiring in consequence of an "arrangement":

DOGS. — Important Notice. — The Proprietor of the Canine Repository, Bury-street, Bloomsbury-square, has the honor to announce to his patrician supporters, that in consequence of an arrangement with a noble duke his retirement will not take place this season, and that he has now on SALE the most splendid KENNEL of DOGS, of every species extant. Country orders supplied. Letters to the keeper. Immediate notice is requested of all lost dogs.

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That ad will repeat verbatim on January 27.



Yet if Pardy did actually have some special arrangment with a nobleman, it sure didn't last long, for the following ad appeared on February 13, 1843, in The Times and definitely suggests Pardy's financial situation is getting grimmer:


DOGS. — Public Notice. — In consequnce of a continuation of ejectment the proprietor of the Canine Repository, Bury-street, Bloomsbury-square, finding that he cannot longer uphold, has at length finally determined to SELL OFF all his valuable STOCK of DOGS at ruinous prices, solely to pay law expenses, the keep, and keeper's wages. N. B. The registry office open as usual for the recovery of lost dogs.


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Pardy, in serious financial straits by this point, has to relocate his "Canine Repository," as the following ad in The Times for March 22, 1843, indicates:

DOGS, of Fashion and Character. — The most splendid KENNEL in Europe, petit and gigantic, comprising about 100 brace of every species extant. Menageries and country and shipping orders supplied. Canine Repository, Bury-street, Bloomsbury-square, removing to the Blue Lion-yard, Gray's-inn-road. N.B. The Public Registry Office is open daily, as usual, for the recovery of lost dogs, of which all losers should give immediate notice.


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This new address is quite close to Pardy's previous locations, less than half a mile or so. "Blue Lion-yard" refers, I believe, to property associated with the Blue Lion pub (in existence since at least 1805 and still a going concern) located on Gray's Inn Road.



In ad in The Times of April 7, 1843, Pardy announces, with his customary rhetorical flourishes, that the relocation of the Repository has taken place:

DOGS of FASHION and CHARACTER. — The proprietor of the canine repository, Bury-street, Bloomsbury, takes leave to announce to his patrician supporters that he has finally REMOVED to those desirable, airy, and matchless premises, the Blue Lion-yard, Gray's-inn-road, where the nobility and gentry are supplied as usual. N.B. The register office for the recovery of lost dogs, of which immediate notice should be given to the keepers. Country orders supplied.


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An ad in The Times of May 20, 1843, implies business as usual at the new location although Pardy has in fact filed for bankruptcy protection by this point. Also of note here is that the ad referes to "keepers," plural, though again that may just be Pardy using the "royal we."

DOGS on SALE. — Public Notice. — Removal. — The Canine Repository and Register Office for the recovery of Lost Dogs is removed from Bury-Street, Bloomsbury, to the Blue Lion-yard, Gray's Inn-road, where the nobility and gentry are supplied with every species of fashion and character extant. Orders should now be booked for sporting dogs, as 10 braces weekly are arriving from Yorkshire, all warranted. Letters to the keepers, and give immediate notice of all lost dogs.


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Yet a mere 5 months later, the Repository is relocating again. From the October 10, 1843, edition of The Times comes an ad in which Pardy claims to be "the original repositorian," although from what I can tell Pardy took over the Repository from T. Wilton, so this claim may be inaccurate:

DOGS EXTRAORDINARY. — The original canine repositorian, late of Bury-street, Bloomsbury-square, having returned from the continent with Cerberus the giant dog of the Alps, begs to announce he has resumed his official duties, and is REMOVING his matchless KENNEL to No. 23, stables, opposite the Running Horse, Davies-street, Berkeley-square, where every species of canine is on sale. The only register-office for the recovery of lost dogs, which are instantly traced. Letters to the keeper.


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This location is a little more than a mile and a half from Pardy's previous location in the Blue Lion Yards; in other ads Pardy will refer not to the Running Horse but to "Davies-mews, Davies-street." I believe that is the same location as in the ad immediately above. (The Running Horse tavern has been in existence since 1738 and continues to this day in the same location on Davies Street in the Mayfair district of London.)



Pardy placed an ad in The Times on May 1, 1844, which indicates he has moved yet again but is still selling dogs; that ad can be seen near the bottom of this page here at The Cultured Newf.

Another ad, placed in The Times on May 7, 1844, makes no mention of any specific breeds, and indeed implies that he is now more of a dog broker than a direct seller.

DOGS found and DOGS on SALE. — The original canine repositorian and projector of the celebrated register office, from Bury-street, announces his return to Whetstone-park, Lincoln's-inn-fields, where he undertakes to find all lost dogs in town or country, and where also every species, petit and gigantic, is always on sale. 100 couple of beagles, hariers [sic], and foxhounds at a day's notice. Letters to the manager, at home daily from 10 to 6, the first stable from Great Turnstile.


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This location is about a quarter of a mile from several of Pardy's earlier addresses — he's back on very familiar ground. The above ad repeats verbatim on May 8 and 9, 1844.


I have found no further advertisements in The Times that I can be completely certain were published by Pardy, but there is the following: some of the published legal notices regarding his bankrupty identify him as living in "Portland-place". At about the same time (1844), some advertisements appear in The Times from an unidentified person selling dogs from a Portland Place address, and making pains to point out his exemplary character.

Here is one of those ads, from The Times of September 2, 1844, in which the keeper not only remarks on his character but indicates he is in search of a job:

DOGS, Pointers and Setters. — A keeper having high testimonials of character, and good conduct, and a reference in town, has for SALE some highly broken POINTERS and SETTERS, warranted in every respect, and possessing all the requisites necessary for a true sportsman. On view at Cavendish-mews north, Charlotte-street, Portland-place. Trials allowed, and the keeper also wants a place.


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Could that be Pardy? Sure, but it could also be someone else, perhaps someone new to London looking for work. Several advertisements from September of 1845 (the 11th and the 17th) offer dogs for sale and also mention that the keeper is looking for a "place." The latter of those ads identifies the seller as "F. Martlew." So the above ad is likely not Pardy.


As an aside, Pardy was not the only London dog seller to more-or-less vanish from the pages of The Times: by the mid 1840s, advertisements of dogs for sale, by both commercial sellers and private individuals, became much less frequent.



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ADULTERY TRIAL


As if matters couldn't get any more tangled or sordid.... Pardy appears, in a personal rather than professional sense, in The Times again in 1845 (though, as you can see below, his name also appeared in various London legal newspapers regarding his filing for bankruptcy in 1843), and when Pardy does return to The Times, it's a doozy: he is named in an adultery case. Whether or not he was actually the person who claimed, in this matter, to be Pardy the dog seller, is uncertain.

This case, Clowes v. Clowes, was heard on April 15, 1845; the account in The Times was published the next day. The lawsuit sought to annul a marriage on the grounds of fraud and adultery, the husband alleging that his mistress-turned-wife had both misrepresented her identity and then bore a child which she falsely claimed was his. The wife, in turn, alleged desertion and cruel treatment, harassments of various sorts that left her so poor that she was "driven, or rather entrapped. . . into the commission of adultery with a person who went by the names of Cooper, Pardy, and Godfrey, and who kept, or was connected with, a place for the sale of dogs, called the Canine Repository, in Bury-street, Bloombsbury-square." The report does specifically note the "suspicious conduct" of Mrs. Clowes, who was only 21 when this matter transpired, "in receiving the visits of an elderly gentleman, who made her presents, and was once admitted into her bedroom." The judge, remarking also that there was no evidence Mrs. Clowes ever suffered from destitution, found in favor of the husband and granted the divorce.

Was the "elderly gentleman" J. S. Pardy, or someone using his identity? He was not called as a witness in the trial, so it is impossible to know for sure.


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BANKRUPTCY PROCEEDINGS


Pardy's fortunes certainly seemed to be on the wane, his stable-work, dog-selling and dog-rescuing activities apparently bearing no fruit, for he filed for bankrupty, as per the following legal notice published in a London legal newspaper, The Jurist, on May 13, 1843:

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A brief legal notice in The Spectator, May 13, 1843, shows Pardy, "Gray's Inn Road, dog dealer" declaring insolvency on May 12.


The following appeared in another London paper that published legal proceedings, the London Gazette for May 16 of that year:

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And this, from another London legal publication:

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Another notice appeared in The Law Times for Saturday, May 20, 1843, in which it seemed Pardy attempted, unsuccessfully, to have his debts cleared:

The insolvent, a dog dealer, applied for his final order, and was opposed on several grounds.
EVANS, C., was of opinion that he was a trader, and as his debts exceeded 300£, his case could not be entertained.

An application was made on the part of the insolvent, by Mr. Woodruffe, to alter a debt stated in the schedule in order bring the debts under 300£. An adjournment was asked to prove that the debt was capable of alteration, and it was that other commissioners had allowed amendments.

EVANS, C., said he should not allow such an alteration, as it might be resorted to in all cases when insolvents found themselves opposed. — Petition dismissed, on the ground of being a trader in dogs owing more than 300£



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Similar notices appeared in other London newspapers and legal journals in May and June of 1843.


On July 8, 1843, a notice appeared in The Law Times noted that Pardy was given 3 months to try to resolve matters with his creditors:

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A notice in The Jurist for December 30, 1848, reported that Pardy was ordered to appear in court on January 12, 1849:

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A very similar notice — some of the language is legal boilerplate — had appeared in The Times two days earlier; it provided a little more information regarding Pardy's current residence and occupation: "27, Clipstone-street, Portland-place, carrying on business at 3, Conway-mews, Hampstead-street, Fitzroy-square, both in Middlesex, stablekeeper and commission agent for the sale of horses."

On the morning of January 12, 1849, The Times carried a brief item listing those who were appearing in "Insolvent Debtor's Court" that day; Pardy is among those listed, appearing at 10am.

On April 2, 1849, a brief note appears in The Times regarding Pardy's hearing being adjourned:

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Pardy's situation seems to have bottomed out, for he was later imprisoned for debt (a common practice in Britain at the time, not abolished until 1869), as the following legal notice from the London Gazette (January 23, 1849) makes clear:

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I have been able to find no further information about Pardy.




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.john stephen pardy