Obituary

Elizabeth Biggie

On behalf of Mrs.E.Biggie’s family, below are details of the funeral arrangements -

Late Mrs. E. Biggie

Mrs. Elizabeth (Betsy) Biggie, nee Glover, passed away peacefully on the 2nd January, 2010 aged 88, beloved wife of the late Cdr. John Biggie RN.

Funeral to be held at Horn Hill Village Hall, Rickmansworth Lane, Chalfont St. Peter Bucks on Tuesday 26th January at 13.30 followed by her burial

At The Garden of Rest, Denham Lane, Chalfont St., Peter, Bucks.  No flowers, donations to the British Heart Foundation, c/o Fakenham & District Funeral Service, Weasenham Manor, Fakenham Road, Weasenham St. Peter, Norfolk, PE32 2TF Tel. 01328 838838.

Following the funeral on Tuesday 26th January, 2010 there will be a gathering at The Dumb Bell Pub, Horn Hill  which Elizabeth and her husband John ran for 14 years.  All are very welcome.

Jean Murchison – Hon. Secretary – The Siamese Cat Club.

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Judge & President of the Siamese Cat Club

It is with great sadness I have to report the passing of Elizabeth in the early hours of 2nd January, 2010 – she had been suffering from ill health for some time and had been in and out of hospital.  At  present, we have no details of her funeral but when these are to hand I shall arrange for them to be published on GCCF website together with an Obituary.

Jean Murchison – Hon. Secretary – The Siamese Cat Club

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Elizabeth had served on the Siamese Cat Club Committee since the 1960’s and had on behalf of the Club served as Chairman,Vice Chairman and Represented the Club on the SCJAC and GCCF as Representative and Delegate for many years.  Elizabeth was  senior Judge of Siamese and had been since 1973 and also  Full Judge of many other breeds.
Her knowledge and input to the Club was enormous, and she will be greatly missed, rarely missing a meeting.  We were delighted when she was elected to be our President, and know she was very honoured to hold this post..  Elizabeth  bred over the years many Champions and beautiful cats under her Prefix Linton, Blue points being her favourites.

When finishing judging she was always around to speak and guide exhibitors, particularly novices and to impart her knowledge as a breeder and past exhibitor – albeit despite  being a judge she continued to show Siamese for many years.  In the latter years she still owned Siamese which she adored.  One in the last year got lost and  Elizabeth sat in a chair at the front door all night for several nights calling her until  eventually her beloved pet found her way home.    We shall miss her dry sense of humour and her being with us, and will forever be honoured to have served with her on Committee.  Chairman, Committee and members send their deepest sympathy to her family at this very sad time.

THE SIAMESE CAT CLUB

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I first met Elizabeth in the early 1970’s when a novice exhibitor,  and was fortunate to become friends with her when I joined the SCC Committee.  Over the years if we were judging at the same show, we travelled together, had our meals together and enjoyed each others company – discussing all the cats we had judged during the day.  Elizabeth had a dry sense of humour which was much appreciated, especially on the long journeys by rail and road.  So many comical incidents happened when we were travelling which made our trips that much more enjoyable.  Sadly due to her health, she was unable to judge as she would have wished and I know just how much she missed the cats and fellow judges.  The last time she judged was at 2008 SCC Show when she was fortunate to have her son Jamie and his wife Judy  to bring her to the show and steward for her – which made up for the times she was unable to judge. 

Under her Prefix Linton she bred and showed many cats, making them into Champions – which produced very many prize winning offspring .  Elizabeth adored her Siamese and always said what would life be without them.  Despite not breeding Elizabeth still had Siamese girls as pets who gave her much joy.  I consider I was fortunate to have known her for so many years and will miss not chatting to her on the phone and trying to keep her up to speed with the Fancy.

My deepest sympathy to her family.   Jean Murchison

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Foreign White Cat Society

The Officers, Committee and Members of the Foreign White Cat Society are greatly saddened to hear of the passing of our club President Mrs Elizabeth Biggie.

Elizabeth was a long time life member of the FWCS playing an active part in the running of the club until her illness in the past year stopped her doing so.

One of the ‘Great Ladies’ of the cat fancy who will be sorely missed. Our deepest sympathy to her family.

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It is with a great deal of sadness that I was informed of Elizabeth’s death, she had been ill for some time and had been in hospital for a period also

She was one of our most senior judges on the Siamese list and also a Senior Judge on a number of other breed lists, I feel sure a great number of exhibitors will remember her with great deal of fondness. 

Elizabeth or’ Betsy’ as you were allowed to call after suitable number years acquaintance if you were fortunate, had a wonderful sense of humour and bred a number of quality Siamese, under her Linton Prefix, this was synonymous with Blue Points which were her main love but with Lilac Points thrown in for good measure on occasion also. 

She served on the committee of a number of Siamese Clubs, filling a number of posts including Chairman and also SCJAC Representative and was also very active in all areas of the fancy. 

Betsy gave advice willingly to new exhibitors and set a number on their way to greater things by allowing them to have kittens of her breeding, which are still behind the pedigrees of a number of winning Siamese today.

Betsy always enjoyed showing her cats whether bred by her or not and took great deal of delight when they won, she was also very meticulous regarding their presentation, always beautifully dressed with the whitest of bedding for their comfort and always with their own white china bowls for both food and water which seasoned exhibitors in the Siamese section will remember well.

How sad that another grand doyen and personality in our small niche world will no longer be with us, gone but not forgotten.

May she rest in peace with her past cats all curled up around her, she so enjoyed her judging and has been missed for some time, it was a pleasure to have known her.  

On behalf of both myself and the Executive Committee may we offer our sympathy to her family on their very sad loss, a great number of people will have very pleasant memories of Betsy.

John H Hansson
(Chairman GCCF)

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It was with great sadness that the Siamese Cat Society of the British Empire learned of the death of Elizabeth Biggie. Elizabeth was a long standing member of our Society and after serving as Vice President for several years she accepted the appointment of President in 2002.

I first met Elizabeth when I began to attend shows in the late sixties where she was a fellow exhibitor and found her to be unfailingly helpful and polite to novices, a huge fund of information and possessing a wicked sense of humour. Apart from cats Elizabeth was an accomplished pianist in her spare time and accompanied many an aspiring ballerina in rehearsal.

Elizabeth became a judge of siamese in 1970 and whilst she, subsequently, judged other breeds Siamese were her first love. This dedication to the breed stemmed from the moment when she was taken, as a teenager, on a trip to Paris and saw a Siamese cat in the window of a china shop and fell in love with it at once.

By sheer coincidence her husband to be, Commander John Biggie, R.N., had been brought up with siamese cats around him. His mother, who lived in India, travelled to Siam to buy two cats but, unfortunately, they never bred. Elizabeth specialised in blue pointed cats and her first male at stud, bred by her husband, was Linton Leprechaun (11.5.56) who hated being shown and with one challenge certificate under his belt was retired to stud and went on to sire many excellent blue points. Two of them were Ch.Linton Ajax (15.10.60) and his son Ch.Ulysees O'Grady (23.06.66) who made a massive contribution to the blue pointed Siamese.

Elizabeth will be sorely missed; universally respected she attended our Committee Meetings until fairly recently where her knowledge and experience proved to be an asset on many occasions. Requiescat in pace.

On behalf of the Officers, Committee and Members of the SCSBE.
Norma Farnsworth. Chairman.

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Obituary for Mesdames Biggie and Gowdy

The officers and committee of the Asian Group Cat Society were saddened to learn of the demise of two true ladies of the cat fancy associated with our breed.  

Dear “Betsy” Biggie, as I was privileged to be able to call her, was enchanted by Asians, adoring their good natures as well as their type.  Having been a friend of Miranda von Kirchberg (Astahazy) she watched the breed from its earliest beginnings.  Her presence has been missed from GCCF shows for some time now due to illness, but she will not be forgotten by those who knew her and enjoyed her company, particularly her amusing anecdotes of past years in the fancy.  

Mrs Rosemary Gowdy was partly to “blame” for the advent of Asians, Miranda having told her for many years that she wanted one of her “delightful silver cats”.  Eventually Mrs Gowdy decided she had one good enough, who was Jemari Sanquist; when he “met” Bambino Lilac Faberge the rest as they say was history.  On a personal note I did an assessment with Mrs Gowdy when I was a probationer on the Somali scheme.  She very kindly took time to speak with me at length about the Somalis at the particular show, even though she had a train to catch and gave me a very good report.  Though a very senior judge, she still had time for us “beginners”.

Our hope is now that both ladies find their rest and maybe, just maybe, meet up and have many interesting debates on cats with fellow members of the fancy who have gone before.  Our sincere condolences go to their families and many friends on their sad loss.

Sarndra Devereux
Vice Chairman Asian Group Cat Society

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It was very sad news indeed when I heard of the passing of Mrs Elizabeth Biggie. I first met her in the late seventies when my wife, Stephanie, purchased our second siamese, Linton Lilac Prometheus  to keep our blue boy company. Little did I know then what an important part she played in my thirty years in the Cat Fancy. I respected her as a Judge and the patient way she handled the exhibts. She was a very active committee member of The Blue Pointed Siamese Cat Club always able to give sound advice when needed and was our GCCF Representative for many years until ill health prevented her continuing. We made her President a few years ago and she was so proud to hold that position.

The Blue Pointed Siamese Cat Club and committee were saddened to learn of the death of their President,Mrs Elizabeth Biggie,and would like to send their condolences to her family.

John Roberts
Chairman BPSCC

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The Siamese Cat Joint Advisory Committee mourns the death of Elizabeth Biggie.  A veteran in the Siamese section of the Cat Fancy, Elizabeth became a probationer judge in 1970, was promoted to full judge in 1973 and has made a considerable contribution  since that time.

First exhibiting in the 1950’s she enjoyed a successful show career with her own bred ‘Linton’ cats and was dedicated in her attempts to promote and improve the colour and type of the blue pointed Siamese.
 
A supportive member of several clubs and, in latter years, a judge of other breeds she had a wealth of experience and knowledge to draw upon which engendered respect in all who knew her.  I’m in danger of making her sound like some sort of guru who was dull and serious but the opposite was true.  Elizabeth was a fun person who had a great sense of humour, was an amusing raconteur and an entertaining companion.
 
Gracious in demeanour she had the ability to impart wisdom without pomposity and was unfailingly kind to novice exhibitors giving help and encouragement where it was most needed.  Elizabeth was an enthusiastic and valued representative at SCJAC meetings until ill health prevented her attendance.  Her presence will be sorely missed and remembered with affection.

Norma Farnsworth
Chairman SCJAC