Kittens
History of the Siamese Cat
In 1884, Owen Gould brought to England a pair of Siamese cats from Siam as a gift for his sister Lillian. These two cats, Pho and Mia, father and mother, are 1a and 2a in the British Siamese Cat Register, but they have no "pedigree", their particulars are "unknown, imported from Bangkok". The progeny of Pho and Mia, Duen Ngai and Kalahom and Karomata, were exhibited at the Crystal Palace in 1885 and excelled all competitors, but unfortunately died after the show.
Between 1884 and the end of the century, a considerable number of Siamese cats were imported into England and are recorded in the British Siamese Cat Registers. Miss Forestier Walker, one of the founder members of the original Siamese Cat Club in England, owned Tiam O'Shian, an ancestor of Tiam O'Shian IV, who was a prizewinner at the the London Crystal Palace Shows of 1900 and 1901.
Mrs. Robert Locke founded the Beresford Cat Club in 1899 and was its first president. Mrs. Locke owned the first registered Siamese cats in America, Lockhaven Siam and Sally. Calif and Bangkok were bred from Siam and Sally Ward. It was said that Calif and Siam "carried all before them" at the Chicago show in 1902.
Probably the first Siamese cat in America arrived during the presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881) as a gift from the American consul in Bangkok to the President's wife, Mrs. Lucy Webb Hayes. Mrs. Hayes was notified that a Siamese cat consigned to her had arrived from Hong Kong on January 3, 1879. It was transported to San Francisco on the steam-powered SS Belgic, with charges prepaid by the consul in Bangkok. The cat had been placed in the charge of the ship's purser until San Francisco and thence was sent by express to Washington. After the cat's safe arrival at the White House, she was named Siam, and soon became a much-admired favorite.
Siamese cats have been featured in films, one of the most notable being the Walt Disney film, That Darned Cat starring Hayley Mills, and the cartoon film The Lady and the Tramp.