Who was
Richard Llewellin Purcell Llewellin
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 not known if Llewellin was his mothers maiden name or not, but Richard was one of three sons and the others were not given the Llewellin name. Richard Llewellin Purcell was born in 1840 and died in 1925. He is 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 other occupation.

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. In his last will he left about 68,000 English Pounds with his brother as beneficiary. In today's currency buying power terms he would certainly have been a multi Millionaire.

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. She then transfer them all over to Mr. William Humphrey (see Who was William Humphrey's web page) at Richard's instructions. It's not known if Mr. Humphrey paid her for them or she simply just gave them all to him, but non-the-less Mr. Humphrey was the beneficiary of all of Llewellins last Setters majority being his Dashing Bondhu strain with a few remaining old Setters of the Wind'em strain.

 

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 amazing own personal strain of Setters known as the Dashing Bondhu's which became a huge sensation in his own lifetime.

In British Setter circles reference are made to the” Great Triumvirate”, meaning, the three great men of the Setter world and the passing of the torch. Of course Edward Laverack, being the first, Richard Purcell Llewellin, being the second and his good friend William Humphrey being the third.

Edward Laverack dedicated his book "The Setter" to Richard Purcell Llewellin and Llewellin left all his remaining Setters to Mr. Humphrey upon his death, showing the great respect these gentlemen had for each other.

The history and early development of the American Llewellin Setter strains have been recorded very well in the writings of our good friend Alfred O. King Sr. of Arkansas both in his book and on-line. 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 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 the Llewellin' personal Setter strain in England and Ireland, please read  "The Dashing Bondhu Line".