Subject

Died aged almost 16, faithful dog of Sir Henry Cole, buried in the V&A garden.

First mentioned in Cole’s diary entry for 11 December 1863: "Walked out with Tishy & Jimmy". And on 30 January 1879: "49 Wilton Place [Higher Broughton, Manchester]: Jimmy our little dog died of Asthma & Cold. nearly 16 years old. He died very quietly with Rose {Cole’s fifth daughter} at 5.30 AM. He is portrayed in Punch {actually Vanity Fair (9 August 1871)} with me, & was a character in the Museum. put in a box & sent to Mr Groser."

In between these two entries the diaries show that "Cole and Jim frequently strolled around the Royal Horticultural Gardens and that Cole, who rose early, invariably took Jim to work with him..."

While staying at Broadstairs, Kent, in October 1864, Cole made this series of sketches of Jim, which he presented to Lord Hawarden.

All this information comes from Nicholas Smith's V&A blog post "Pet Cemetery: Henry Cole, Jim, Tycho and Pickle".