First Siamese Cat Imports and Some of the Early Siamese Cat Stars

The first Siamese cat imports were the 1884 breeding pair imported from Thailand, then called Siam. Their names were Pho and Mia. A year later the pair produced three kittens called Duen Ngai, Kalohom and Khromata. The kittens were shown at the Crystal Palace in the UK where they naturally caused quite a stir. After all, they were quite different from the home-grown breeds in the UK. Champion Wankee, who was born in Hong Kong, was the first UK Siamese champion in 1898.

Mrs Locke was the first to register these new cats in the US. Her first registered cats were Lockhaven, Sally and Siam. She bred from Siam and Sally and with two of the resulting kittens (Calif and Bangkok) won many shows around the Chicago area. It is hard to get to the bottom of these early Siamese cats and it would appear that many people were actively importing these cats from Siam around the end of the 19th century.

Siamese cat history might even go back further. A naturalist called Simon Pallas found three cats in Central Russia that he described as rather dark seal points. Perhaps these were even earlier siamese cat imports from Siam, or a natural spontaneous genetic mutation that happened and was noticed in another country.

Remember the kinked tails and squints of the Siam originals? I remember that as recently as the 1960s when my aunt started her love affair with the Siamese that you still had to watch out for these 'faults' when choosing your kitten (the breed police had spoken and the consensus was that these were undesirable traits even though they were common in the original cats).

Siamese cats were first shown at the famous all glass and iron ‘Crystal Palace’ Park at Sydenham exhibition hall in England in 1885. They got a lot of press - not all of it positive - because they were so different and exclusive. Due to this publicity they became the Victorian 'must haves' as long as you could afford them! The Siamese cat lovers and breeders then took over and the world of the Siamese exploded, with more changes in appearance and color over a short time than nature had achieved over several centuries.

If this has piqued your interest then there is a book! The Traditional Siamese and the Classic Siamese Cat - A complete history of the breed by Diana Fineran, but not for you lovers of the modern style! but a great book covering the first Siamese imports and so much more.

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