In the 1890s, early in the British cat fancy, some longhaired cats were known as "Angoras", distinguishable from Persians by their more angular heads, larger ears and longer, silkier, uneven coats. The Persian was developed into a cobby cat and the Angora type fell out of favour. The term "Angora" was also used to describe longhaired versions of many domestic animals e.g. Angora rabbits.

IN THE BEGINNING - NON-POINTED "SIAMESE"

We need to start with the appearance of the Oriental Shorthair, a breed that originated in the UK in the 1950s. After World War II, several breeds were in danger of extinction because rail travel between catteries had been impossible. Dedicated breeders had kept their lines going by crossing to similar conformation cats in the more local area. After the war, they had to rebuild their lines which meant outcrossing followed by selective breeding. Siamese cats were bred to Russian Blues, British Shorthairs, Abyssinians, and to non-pedigree cats, some of which would have been wartime pedigree strays. The Siamese conformation was restored within a few generations, but because the colourpoint pattern is a recessive trait, the breeding programmes produced many different colours and patterns. The colourpoint cats went into the Siamese breed, while the non-colourpoint cats went on to become the Oriental Shorthair, and recessive genes resulted in pet quality longhaired cats. Before genetic testing was possible, the breeders' mantra was "recessives are forever."

The history of the Oriental Longhair is also linked to the development of the Havana/Foreign Chestnut (1950s) and Cinnamon Orientals (1960s). The cinnamon colour had been known since the beginning of the century in the Red (non-sex-linked red i.e. Sorrel) Abyssinian. The first cinnamons of oriental type in the 1960's were known as Pavanes (Pale Havanas) thanks to Pam Evely (Kernow). Maureen Silson (Southview cattery. Hertfordshire, England) wanted to breed "white Siamese" and continued breeding with some of Pam Evely's kittens, but she found major problems with both the longhair and recessive white (albino) genes.

THE BRITISH ANGORA

Maureen Silson‘s Abyssinian/Siamese hybrids breeding programme (beginning with "red" Abyssinian "Tranby Red Tutankhamen" x seal point Siamese female, "Annelida Fair Maid") Many of the immediate descendants of Kernow Gerza and Kernow Koptos (a son and daughter of Tranby Red Tutankhamen and Annelida Fair Maid) carried the longhair gene and they are behind the majority of Oriental Longhairs in the UK. When Southview Trappist, a chocolate-brown longhaired cat (a "longhaired Havana"), was born in 1973 he was also destined to be a pet, but Silson was intrigued by the nearly white roots of his coat. She suspected Southview Trappist might be a smoke and gifted him to Patricia Turner (Scintilla cattery) as Turner was researching the genetics of smoke. Trappist gained the household name Cuckoo because among all Turner's resident shorthairs he was the "cuckoo in the nest." He became famous under that name, and even into the 1990s, longhaired kittens of Oriental type were also known as Cuckoo cats and one breed club was called The Cuckoo Cat Club.

In 1974, Trappist was mated to some Scintilla Orientals and his light undercoat proved to be different from smoke. In 1976, having fulfilled that duty, he was due to be neutered. Some American visitors to the Scintilla cattery at that time spotted him and commented that he resembled a Turkish Angora. This led Patricia Turner to research the Angora, a breed known in Britain until the early twentieth century. She published a note in a cat fancy magazine (possibly the cat section of Fur and Feather?) inviting breeders interested in re-creating the Angora to contact her. Southview Trappist was also influential in the development of caramel and apricot Oriental Shorthairs by Pat Turner. Trappist was exhibited at the 1978 Supreme Show.

Breeders had considered importing Turkish Angoras into the UK, but the GCCF would not accept the documentation supplied by the Ankhara Zoo, and importing cats from the USA was too expensive. None of the breeders involved in the Angora programme wanted to put imported cats through six months' quarantine, which was mandatory at that time. They decided to recreate the look of the Angora by selective breeding from Cuckoo. A club was formed and a breeding programme and breed standard were drawn up. The Angora breeding programme proceeded very slowly for several years. Only when the Cat Association (CA) of Britain was formed in 1983, and granted championship status to the (British) Angora, did the British public take an interest in the cats.

At first these "Angoras" were mated to Siamese and Oriental Shorthairs, In order to maintain the breed, they were outcrossed to Siamese and Oriental Shorthairs. Later on they were crossed to Balinese (the longhaired relative of the Siamese) when that breed became established in the UK. Crossing Oriental Shorthairs to Balinese added new lines, but at the expense of producing Oriental Shorthairs that carried longhair and Oriental Longhairs that carried colourpoint.

In 1984 the CA decided that the Turkish Angora and the (British) Angora were two distinct breeds and that both should have championship status. The biggest differences between the British Angora and the genuine Turkish Angora were the coat texture and the size and placement of the ears. The British cats lacked the raw silk feel of the Turkish Angora coat and their ears were distinctly Oriental: wide set and angled. It was decided that the (British) Angora would be bred to have true Oriental conformation. In October 1989 the CA decided that using the Angora name for an Oriental-type breed was confusing and that it should be called the Javanese, a name already in use for Oriental Longhairs throughout all the member countries of FIFe. The fact that in the American CFA "Javanese" meant the red, tortie or tabby varieties of Balinese was not considered to be a valid reason against it. Back then there was much less communication between the cat registries of different continents and much less need to harmonise names. It wasn't until 2002, that the UK's GCCF, dropped the "Angora" name to avoid confusion with the Turkish Angora.

MANDARINS

In 1987, Ed and Helen van Kessel imported a blue (British) Angora into the Netherlands from Janet Pitman. It was given the breed name "Mandarin" and later transferred to Inge and Johan van der Horst-Reckeeg (Mi Lei-Fo cattery, Bovensmilde). The World Cat Federation recognises both names for the breed.

1997 ANGORA BREED CLUB FLYER (GCCF)

In 1989, the Cat Association of Britain had changed the name from Angora to Javanese, but the GCCF still used the Angora name (and would do so until 2002). In 1997, the GCCF-affiliated Angora Breed Club placed this flyer inside the catalogue for the Siamese Cat Association 21st championship show:

"The ANGORA is the longhaired version of the Oriental just as the Balinese is the longhaired version of the Siamese. Alternatively, the Angora could be considered to be the full coloured equivalent of the Balinese in the same way as the Oriental is the full coloured equivalent of the Siamese. In the eighteen-nineties some Longhaired cats were referred to as "Angoras"; these were supposedly distinguished from the Persians by having a more angular head, larger ears and a longer, silkier, uneven coat. By the early nineteen-hundreds the Angora was no longer recognised as a separate breed and some authors of the day doubted that it ever had been distinct. The "Angora" was then forgotten for many years and the only accepted Longhaired breed in Britain was the Persian. Other longhaired breeds were introduced: Turkish Vans were imported and then Birmans. Balinese (longhaired Siamese) appeared on the show bench in 1975 and in 1981 the first Somalis (longhaired Abyssinians) were born in this country. Maine Coons were given Preliminary recognition in 1988 and now have Championship status. Norwegian Forest Cats were recognised in 1989, Ragdolls in March 1990 and finally the Tiffanies (longhaired Burmese and Asians) in September 1990. Unfortunately the Angoras have lagged behind although they have been recognised almost as long as the Balinese and far longer than the Somalis.

In the late 60's and early 70's, Kernow Gerza and Kernow Koptos, offspring of a mating between a Sorrel Abyssinian and a Seal Point Siamese, were used by Maureen Silson in her breeding programme. In 1971, from the brother-sister mating of these cats, Maureen bred Southview Pavane, the first Oriental Cinnamon. However, these two had inherited more than the light brown (cinnamon) gene from their Abyssinian sire - they had also inherited the gene for longhair and passed this on to several of their kittens. Although not the first to be produced, the first Southview longhair to cause excitement was Trappist, a "longhaired Havana" who was born in 1973. Trappist, known to his friends as "Cuckoo", was used for breeding and was on exhibition at the 1978 Supreme Show. This was the start of today's Angoras - the Oriental Longhairs - who are not related to the Angoras of the last century or to the Turkish Angoras which are recognised by some Fancies overseas. Many of the immediate descendants of Kernow Gerza and Kernow Koptos proved to carry the longhair gene and are behind the majority of today's Angoras. In order to maintain the breed, Angoras were mated out, first to Siamese and Orientals and then to Balinese as well when these became available and these matings are still the basis of the Angora breeding programme. There are now more Angora breeders and some new lines have been produced by mating Orientals to Balinese and breeding the resulting full-coloured, short-coated variants back to Balinese. The Angora breed is now increasing in numbers and in the interest they are causing and the ANGORA BREED CLUB was formed to encourage the breeding and showing of Angoras under GCCF Rules; we hope to help them on their way, eventually, to the Championship status they deserve.

We have, so far, drawn up a revised Standard of Points for Angoras and a Registration Policy, both of which have been approved by the GCCF. We offer rosettes to Members' Angoras for each Merit awarded, plus special rosettes for cats who gain four qualifying Merits, and hope eventually to gain Affiliation to the GCCF so that we can offer Club classes for our Angoras. We can also supply Standards of Points for the individual colours for use at Shows."

Mrs Maureen Silson, who had been so instrumental in the breed, died in 1982.

On 1st June 2003, the GCCF officially renamed the Angora to Oriental Longhair.

ORIENTAL LONGHAIRS IN THE USA

Oriental Shorthair type cats also existed in the USA. Havanas (chestnut brown Orientals) from Britain were present and sometimes produced Lavenders, which became Lavender Orientals. Because of differences in registration systems, Oriental Shorthairs were not imported from the UK into the USA until 1974. The UK's GCCF treated each colour as though it were a separate breed, registering kittens accordingly (even if several colours occurred in the same litter), but the CFA's system meant a single breed called Oriental Shorthair encompassing the different colours and patterns. Breeding these to Balinese resulted in Oriental Longhairs. At the end of the 1980s, the breed was still in its infancy in the USA, though there was at least one Supreme Grand Champion. It was granted championship status in the USA by TICA in 1985.