"The Parson" in terrier circles means only one man. John Russell was born in Dartmouth, South Devon on December 12th 1795 of a fox
hunting family and it was inevitable that he should develop a passion for hunting himself, being a man of his class and time.

At Oxford John Russell found the centre of a great hunting world and took all the opportunities his finances would allow to hunt with
the Beaufort, the Bicester and the Old Berkshire where his contact with men such as Philip Payne, Stephen Goodall, Will Long and their
like served only to encourage his passion for the Sport. It was while at Oxford that he acquired Trump, owned by a local milkman, said to
be the animal "that Russell had only seen in his dreams".
Davies, Russell's biographer, writing at the turn of this century said of Trump:
"In the first place the colour is white with just a patch of dark tan over each eye and ear, while a similar dot, not larger than a penny piece,
marks the root of the tail. The coat, which is thick, close and a trifle wiry, is well calculated to protect the body from wet and cold, but has
no affinity with the long, rough jacket of a Scotch Terrier. The legs are straight as arrows, the feet perfect; the loins and conformation of
the whole frame indicative of hardihood and endurance; while the size and height of the animal may be compared to that of a full-grown
vixen fox."
Parson John Russell was a founding member of Englan's Kennel Club in 1873, and in 1874 he judged fox terriers for the KC. In his day
John Russell was called "The Father of the Wire Haired Fox Terrier", at a time when it was thought that wire coats were a passing fad.
John Russell's bloodlines are found in the pedigrees of early Smooth Fox Terriers, for as a breeder of broken coats he often bred to
smooth-coated fox terriers to improve coat quality. His bloodlines are also found on both sides of the wire-coated bitch, L'il Foiler, dam
of the well-known wire champion, Carlisle Tack. Many Jack Russell Terrier breeders today regard Carlisle Tack as the ideal Russell type.
The Jack Russell is the original white fox terrier and is the foundation stock from which today's modern Fox Terrier was developed.

The Parson Jack Russell Terrier Club drew up a rigid standard for the longer legged type of terrier said to have been preferred by Rev.
Russell and applied for KC recognition, which was granted on January 22, 1990 under the name Parson Jack Russell Terrier. This was
quickly followed with international recognition when the Federation Cynologique Internationale (FCI) added the breed to its provisional
list on July 2, 1990. In 1999, the KC changed the breed's name to Parson Russell Terrier. On June 4, 2001 the FCI officially recognized
the breed under this name.
In the United States, the name of the Jack Russell Terrier was changed to the Parson Russell Terrier effective April 1, 2003 as requested
by the Jack Russell Terrier Association of America, which was changed to the Parson Russell Terrier Association of America.
The Parson's ideal height is between 12 and 15 inches (30 and 37 cm) at the withers, on the other hand, the Jack's ideal height is between
10 and 12 inches (25 and 30 cm). Finally, The "Jack Russell" is not a recognized breed by the AKC anymore. In Canada, the "Parson" is
waiting to be recognized. At the moment, he is classified in the miscellaneous class by the CKC (Canadian Kennel Club).