Saturday 16 June 2018

Whatever happened to Don the Bulldog?

There are some occasions when It is not necessary to say more than a few words. Let me invite you to look at the face of this kindly Bulldog, Don, and then read on for the full inscription on the reverse of this photograph. After you’ve read it you must make up your own mind about what happened to Don.

Don 1904

1. Dear Don, how could I be so cruel to let you go?
The thoughtless, selfish act, has filled my heart with grief and woe.
2. Your any virtues, unalloyed; far beyond price, ought to have steeled my heart against to wicked a device.
3. To part with you has sent my heart in twain. No hope I have to see your like again.
4.Dear noble dog, so loving, so good, true & brave. O that I could think; we shall meet beyond the grave.
5. Farewell dear Don; the foolish & cruel deed was mine. That caused your noble life to cease before its natural time.
H.C.B
 

Some brief notes on the photographer Henry Finch
Finch was born in Westminster in 1874. He operated his photographic Studio at from his home at 79 Peckham Rye, London between 1987 and 1912. Census records show the house only had 4 rooms, so it must have been a bit of a squeeze to find room for the photographic studio. He died in Leicester in 1924.

Sources:

  • 1901 census Source Citation Class: RG13; Piece: 507; Folio: 129; Page: 5, Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1901 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.