Helen Margaret Kelly (Mrs. Ralph H. Thomas)

 

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Everyone knows the Valley Farm kennel, its owner Joseph B. Thomas, and his trips to Russia, to Perchino, from where he imported Borzois.

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Less is known about the fact that his brother, Ralph Hill Thomas, also took part in these journeys to Russia. He was also a co-owner of the Valley Farm kennel, and his wife, Mrs. Ralph H. Thomas, was interested in Borzois.
Let us take a closer look at her. Born Helen Margaret Kelly, she was an

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American socialite, was the granddaughter of Eugene Kelly, a wealthy banker. In December 1901, she married Frank Jay Gould, the son of millionaire Jay Gould, an American railroad

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magnate, and the brother of George Jay Gould, who owned the Furlogh Lodge Kennel in Asheville, N.Y., where he had been breeding Borzois since 1893. The first litter was born on August 5, 1893 (Sultan–Olga IV), with such well-known dogs as Vera, Czar, Czarina, etc.

In 1908, she divorced Frank Jay Gould, and in 1910 she married Ralph Hill Thomas, the nephew of the president of the American Sugar Refining Company. Ralph died young, in December 1914, at the age of only 32.
In December 1912, at the request of Mrs. Ralph H. Thomas, the official name of her Borzoi kennel was registered as Sandhurst. The kennel included Postrel of Woronzova 156 703 , imported from Russia from the kennel of Artem Boldarev.
In the following years, she participated in dog shows with her Borzois, including Ranco Valley Farm (Zyclon Perchina–Siberie OVF), Czarina II OVF, Orlik OVF, and Nayad OVF (Zyclon Perchina–Atamanka Woronzova).
At the Southampton show in 1915, she acted as a Borzoi judge. An interesting fact is that Ranco Valley Farm was sold to the American opera singer Anna Case.

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Through her third marriage, she became known as Princess Noureddin Vlora of Albania. In 1917, she married Prince Nuredin Vlora of Albania; they divorced in 1922. She married her fourth husband, Oscar M. Burke, president of the Manhattan Soap Company, in 1926. She died in France on August 2, 1952.

In a photo taken in 1913, Mrs. Ralph Thomas stands with borzois – from left Postrel Woronzova, Czarina OVF, Orlik OVF and young Nayad OVF./Andrus Kozlov

 

Year of Event:

1910

Country:

America (USA)

Personal Collections:

Source:

 

Author:

Dan Persson

Dogs:

 

Persons: