Bates early became convinced of the 

 superior merit of this Duchess blood. 

 The original old Stanwick Duchess was 

 described as a "massive, short-legged 

 beast, breast near the ground, a great 

 grower, with wide back and a beautiful 

 yellowish-red flaked color." The Duch- 

 ess cow was a disappointment to Bates, 

 so at the closing-out sale of Charles Col- 

 ling in 1810 he determined to secure the 

 red and white heifer Young Duchess, by 

 Comet. Being afraid that the bidding 

 would be carried too high if he bid in 

 person, Bates shrewdly employed another 

 to make the bids on the Young Duchess. 

 Thus he obtained her at 183 guineas 

 (about $900). When the Collings learned 

 that Bates was the purchaser it is 

 stated that they felt much incensed, and 

 Mrs. Colling is reported to have declared 

 that had they known it was Bates' bid 

 the heifer would have cost him two or 

 three times as much before he could 

 have gotten her. She was not exactly 

 one of the plums of the sale, and the 

 people about Halton castle, at that time 

 the home of Bates, rated her as "shab- 

 by." The father of Bates ridiculed the 

 purchase of the son. 



The heifer purchased as Young Duch- 

 ess Bates named Duchess 1st, and inas- 

 much as this distinguished breeder cre- 

 ated and developed this family, she may 

 be regarded as its foundation dam. 

 "Colonus," writing of her in 1882 from 

 hitherto unpublished manuscript notes 

 made in 1819-20, comments on her as fol- 

 lows (National Live Stock Journal, page 

 460) : "Mr. Bates' Duchess 1st has good 

 head, horn, sides and flank; was only 

 fair in shoulder points, loin, quarter and 

 touch. Her daughter, Duchess 2d, by 

 Ketton (who was of Hubback's color 

 yellow red), was only fair in all the 

 above enumerated points. Duchess 3d, 

 also out of Duchess 1st, and got by Ket- 

 ton 1st, had a good head, horn, shoulder, 

 loin, side, flank, quarter, and touch." 



Bates had great faith in Duchesses. In 

 1842 he wrote: "I selected this tribe of 

 Shorthorns as superior to all other cat- 

 tle, not only as small consumers, but as 

 great growers and quick grazers, with 

 the finest quality of beef." The cow&= 

 of this family were especially famous as 

 large producers of milk, a feature Bates 

 repeatedly referred to as a point of merit. 



Duchess 1st is especially entitled to 

 fame as the substructure upon which 

 Bates worked to build up the family of 



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