Duo start petition for famous Lincoln dog “Snips” to have his own statue

A legendary local dog from the ’50s who, with his owner, raised a total of £35,000 for charity has found himself the subject of a petition to have his own statue.

Brant Clayton and Matthew Thomas from Lincoln have sent in a petition to the City of Lincoln Council calling for “Snips”, a Sealyham Terrier, to be recognised by the city with a small statue in the Cornhill Quarter, where he and his fundraising hero owner worked.

To sign the petition, visit the change.org page here. 

Snips was rejected by potential buyers as a pup, so his master, a market trader called Henry Tyler, decided one day to take him to work, where he sold costume jewellery and other trinkets.

Henry found that Snips became popular with passers-by, especially children, and began charging people a penny to stroke him.

The pennies quickly turned into pounds. Henry gave all the proceeds to local charities, with a staggering £35,000 being raised in total. Much of this cash went to the Great Flood Relief Fund to help with the tidal surge that struck the East Coast of Lincolnshire in the 1950s.

Brant Clayton and Matthew Thomas host Lincoln Free Walking Tour and have sparked interest in Snip the dog | Photo: B. Clayton & M. Thomas

Brant told The Lincolnite: “Essentially we started a walking tour around Lincoln last year and started a lot of research into local history and one story that came to the fore was Snips – a quirky and interesting character that people enjoy hearing about, of a different flavour and that isn’t that well known. He’s a nice way of connecting people to the more modern parts of Lincoln’s history.”

Matt said: “A statue would be something for all ages to enjoy. The Cornhill Quarter has been newly refurbished and Snip ought to be included in the redevelopment – this snippet of local history would bring Snip into the focus of the community.”

On the petition page Brant says: “Lincoln is notably lacking in statues compared to other cities and as such it is considered that a small statue would be a fitting tribute to a local icon and a wonderful story of charity within the city.”

“Greyfriars Bobby”, a Skye Terrier who lived in 19th-century Edinburgh has a statue similar in size to the statue Brant and Matt would like for Snips. He is famous for guarding the grave of his owner for 14 years until his death.

Henry and Snips were presented with many medals and Snips was even awarded with a silver collar by the then Mayor of Lincoln which can still be seen to this day within the city’s Guildhall.

When Snips died, his fame and popularity saw permission granted for his body to lie in state in the Cornhill.

He was commemorated with a plaque, which has subsequently been lowered to a less prominent position.

Brant said: “The most overbearing part of the story is that Snips was well loved, and by putting this statue up we will be saving history.”