The breed:

Mastiffs or  Mastiff like dogs were the dogs commonly used to fight bears, lions, horses, and donkeys, but the increased popularity of bull baiting during the 13th century led to the growing utilization of smaller, more specialized Mastiffs, those whose noses were displaced slightly upwards and back, allowing them to breathe while clinging with their jaws to a bull. These specialized Mastiffs were known as Bulldogs. Bull baiting remained in vogue for several centuries, but gradually declined in popularity and was finally outlawed in the UK in 1835. Dog fighting, which had long been a secondary sport, then came in to its own. The courageous Bulldog, around 40 kg in weight, was considered too large and slow for dog fighting and was consequently crossed with various types of terriers to produce faster and lighter animals. The resulting crossbreeds were known as Bull-and-Terriers, or simply Bull Terriers. It is not certain which terriers were used, but the old English White Terrier, the Black and Tan (Manchester) Terrier, and the Fox Terrier are considered the likeliest candidates, with many authorities giving credit to the English White Terrier.

In the 1850's and 1860's, James Hinks of Birmingham, England, began breeding some white-marked Bull Terriers back to the English White Terrier, and possibly added other cleanlined predominantly white dogs such as Dalmations, in an effort to produce an all-white strain. He succeeded admirably, and his "White Cavalier", quite removed from the old Bulldog in appearance, soon captured the fancy of the British sporting gentry. Claims that Hinks had bred out gameness in the pursuit of whiteness were soon disproved in the dog pit. The old style Bull Terrier became known as the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, in order to distinguish him from the new all-white strain.

Around 1910, some breeders began backcrossing Bull Terriers to Staffordshire Terriers in order to obtain coloured Bull Terriers. After a long battle, with much resentment from breeders of the white dog, the coloured Bull Terrier was developed.