The story begins in California in 1963. Ann Baker owned an Angora cat called Josephine, who was involved in a road accident but recovered without apparent injury. However, after this accident her temperament seemed to have changed. Ann subsequently mated Josephine to both a Burmese and a Birman male, and it was their offspring that after some selected breeding resulted in the very first Ragdolls.

Whether through the accident or through the choice of cross breeding it is not certain, but this new breed of cat was reported as showing a more relaxed temperament; produced a non-matting fur; and generally was a cat of a reasonably large size.

The news of this new breed did not go un-noticed, and in March 1981 the first Ragdolls arrived in Britain and with them was established the future of "Ragdolls" in the UK through Lulu Rowley ("Petil Lu") and Pat Brownsell ("Patriarca"). These ladies ensured that the Ragdoll had a sound future not only in the UK but overseas. Much work was needed to get the "Ragdoll" affiliated to the GCCF which eventually accepted the breed in 1991 with the affiliation of "The British Ragdoll Cat Club" the founder Ragdoll Cat club in Britain.