The history of the Siamese cat is divided into two areas. The first being the origin of the breed and the second being the development of the breed. There have been many theories concerning the origin of the breed and there is too much uncertainty as to how they came into being. It is thought by some that they are a result between crossing original Egyptian cats with wild cats native to Eastern countries. Others believe they are a result of mutation but this can only be surmised as there are no written records.

There is however some evidence that the Siamese existed in Thailand (formerly Siam) somewhere between 1350 and 1767. This evidence comes in the form of illustrated poems which depicted 17 breeds of cat, including the seal point Siamese. There were also sightings in the 18th century of Siamese living freely in central Russia. All we can ascertain is that the Siamese cat existed centuries before it came to Europe. This is not surprising however as cats in Europe were the subject of religious persecution during this time and this did not cease until the 18th century. It is thought that the original Egyptian domestic cats arrived in Thailand as a result of the silk trade routes.

The first appearance of the Siamese in Britain was on July 13th, in 1871 during a cat show, which was held at Crystal Palace (now no more). There were a total of 25 classes and among these breeds were a pair of Siamese. Reports on this show described the Siamese as being an unnatural nightmare kind of cat with soft fawn colouring and jet black legs. Another report described them as being elegant with smooth skin. Yet another described them as similar to black-faced pugs. This sparked an interest in this unusual breed which no one had seen in Britain before.

It appears that the King of Siam often gave Siamese cats from his royal cattery as gifts to visitors that he favoured. In 1884 a pair of seal point Siamese cats were given to the British consul-general in Bangkok, Owen Gould, by the King of Siam. Owen Gould then sent these cats to his family in England. The popularity of the Siamese took off from here and by 1892 the first show standard had been written. By 1902 the Siamese Cat Club of England had been founded and the breed was based entirely on the seal point Siamese, which are still informally regarded as the classic Siamese. However, the Siamese in the early 20th century had more rounded, apple-shaped heads than the Siamese of today and they were stockier in build.