Charles Cruft left college in 1876 with no desire to join the family jewellery business. Instead he took employment with James Spratt, who had set up a new venture in Holborn, London, selling 'dog cakes'.
He soon became a travelling salesman with Spratt's, and in 1878 he was invited to organise the canine section of the Paris Exhibition.
In 1886 he took over the management of the Allied Terrier Club Show, which was held at the Royal Aquarium in Westminster. It was in 1891 that the show was renamed Crufts and moved to the Royal Agricultural Hall in Islington.
© Haydn Thompson 2017