The modern Setter is said to be descended from Spaniels, which had been trained to stop and point the birds instead of flushing them.  Our present-day Setters can be attributed largely to Edward Laverack.  Mr. Laverack created a strain of Setters which were as famous for their field qualities as for their beauty.

Mr. R.L. Purcell Llewellin, who for several years had been experimenting with various families of Setters, purchased a number of Mr. Laverack’s best bred dogs.  These Laveracks, he crossed with the strain known as the Duke-Rhoebe.  This was the most important cross in the development of the field English Setter – the Duke/Rhoebe-Laverack cross.  This cross provided the sportsman of the late 1800’s a Setter with boldness, stamina and pointing instinct not known prior to this time.  The Llewellin is based on this cross.  According to the Field Dog Stud Book (FDSB), to be a FDSB registered “Llewellin”; an English Setter must be 100% Duke/Rhoebe-Laverack.  No other blood is allowed.  Any Llewellin Setters bred to English Setters must be registered as English Setters.

The result of these crosses was eminently successful, particularly at field trials, and swept everything before them.  Their reputation spread to America, and sportsmen in different sections of the United States and Canada purchased many, so that this line of breeding soon became firmly established in the United States.