In our day and age, we all have questions. Questions we want to ask our friends, family, colleagues, or even The Great Mercer. Many have speculated as to how Sidney came to be regarded as the authority ranging from arcane animal knowledge to the most seemingly inconsequential trivia, but few have any true idea as to who the person behind the name was. Until now. In the first authoritative treatise on the Sidney's Institution, I will give you, the readers, a front row seat to this titilating historical roller-coaster ride.
The first well-documented historical nod to the Sidney name came in the 1500's when the Sidney family rose to prominence in the Elizabethan era. You may well remember the names of Sir Philip Sidney and Mary Sidney--later to become Mary Sidney Herbert, Second Countess of Pembroke--as important members of the court. Due to the lasting impact of their wonderfully crafted lines of poetry, they are still fondly recalled today, but this was not the first Sidney of prominence.
The etymology of the name Sidney (or Sydney, or any other variation in spelling for that matter) can be traced to the Greek god's name, "Dionysus," which became "Saint-Denis," in the Norman French of the 1500's and in turn, once the name crossed the Channel, it contracted to become the current form we now know. However, this was impossible to know until very recently, when a text thought to have been destroyed by Henry VIII's English Reformation (between 1536-1541) mysteriously resurfaced. One of the consequences of the aforementioned Reformation was the disbanding of the monastaries, and more to the point, the selling off of the monastic libraries.
Only six books were thought to have survived the purging of Worcester Priory, but the efforts of nameless curator were able to secure an elusive seventh book. As luck would have it--and I would argue that History has indeed lucked out in this case--this book made passing reference to a line of farriers and hound masters that served in the armies of both Alexander the Great as well as those of Gaius Julius Caesar. These animal trainers were identified only as 'residents of Dionysia,' a city in Greece.
This theory is only an abstract, my full research can be accessed in association with the Fearson Corporation, but I think from this alone it is clear that the tradition of the beloved Sidney is landed in the annals of History. With such generational knowledge garnered over literally millenia of practice, the rise of JT&L Sidney Limited in the early 1980's is hardly unprecedented.
The Sidney's Annual is a production that began in the early 1980's, commensurate with completion of John Thomas Sidney's formal training in animal husbandry. Upon earning his degree from the McKinley Institute in Fort Collins, Colorado, Sidney and his sister Laura started their own small business: a supply company that handled of all materials needed for stock. The many interactions that they had with farmers, ranchers, herders, breeders, and others led to increasing contact with animals who were to be traded and sold on the open market.
With the business doing swimmingly under Laura's keen eye for figures, J.T. (as he prefered to be known to both intimates and business partners) began to be consulted as an arbiterwith a keen eye for any animals worth or potential in barters done around Fort Collins. This expanded once he issued the first issue of Sidney's, a short and cheaply printed circular which detailed the health and vitals of each animal in the county that was worth trading. This became enormously popular, and as the business prospered, J.T. and Laura were able to spend more time travelling and appraising an increasing quantity and variety of animals until their reach was nearly limitless.
After the fallout of WWT made animal husbandry and collection even more of a hot commodity, J.T. and Laura really came into their own. With an incredible mixture of foresight, adaptation, and business acumen, they hired programers and designers to anticipate the desire for electric animals for the less well-off. Their information was and remains utterly comprehensive, driving their competitors under, buying them out, or simply out lasting them with a cheaper and better publication. To this day, Sidney's is a family owned and operated corporation.
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