Kay Hill
IT was with very great sadness that I received a letter from Kay’s niece telling me of her death on 18 August, following a wonderful celebration of her 100th birthday; she then became tired and rather weary of life.
Kay and I had been close friends since the early fifties and I owe her much for my successful breeding programme, and for her support generally.
Her prefix, ‘Hambleton’, which appears in many Siamese pedigrees, will trigger recollection of her many outstanding cats - Hambleton Simon being just one of them.
Genetic knowledge obtained from her involvement with race horse breeding in the Yorkshire Dales, was invaluable to her, and also in the advice she was able to give to others.
Suffering from arthritis, Kay’s latter years were spent in a retirement home in the lovely Yorkshire countryside she so loved, and where she could still have contact with horses, dogs and cats.
With a keen alert brain, she continued to enjoy life and kept abreast of the “goings on” in the Cat Fancy.
Her loss will be considerable.
Joan Judd
I NEVER had the pleasure of meeting Kay Hill personally, but I have heard a great deal about her and her wonderful Siamese which she bred under the Hambleton prefix. I was very sorry to learn that she had died at the grand age of 100 years.
Hambleton cats were renowned for their stamina, clear colour and good body conformation. Kay was lucky enough to have lived on a stud farm in her early years, and listened to the breeders and owners discussing the pedigrees of their bloodstock. Kay realised that the care taken in the breeding of horses with particular attention to their bloodlines, could be transferred to cat breeding, and it was on this basis that the Hambleton cats were bred. Probably her most well known cat was Hambleton Simon, who sired many other good Siamese and some of his progeny went all over the world. Hambleton cats will be found behind most of today’s cats. Kay’s first breeding queen was Beechcroft Minette, who had many of the famous bloodlines in her pedigree, among them de Listinoise, Larchwood, Prestwick and Abingdon.
Kay was also a prime mover in getting cat shows spaced, so that a cat who was unlucky enough to pick up an infection at one show, would not be incubating it at the next and thus able to infect other cats. She was also an enthusiastic supporter of Joan Judd in the forming of the Feline Advisory Bureau.
Kay could trule be called ‘one in a million’ with her care for, and love of cats, the Siamese world is the poorer for her loss.
Valerie Sheldrake
ViewPoint
Change of address
PLEASE note that I have now moved to a new bungalow that myself, my husband, and the cats and dogs are all appreciating.
It was a mammoth task, but with a lot of help from the Cat Fancy in South Wales, it went fairly smoothly.
My new address and telephone number for judging/stewarding is: 19 Heathwood Road, Heath, Cardiff CF14 4JL. Tel. 029 2062 5999.
Lyn Hudson, Orbis Persians
