1 1 I S T R Y OF HEREFORD CATTLE 



19 



i. Tomkins of Wellington Court, which will 

 be sold by auction without reserve, upon the 

 premises at King's-Fyon, nine miles from Here- 

 ford, on Monday, 18th October, 1819, being 

 the eve of the Herefordshire Agricultural 

 Show, and two days previous to the great cattle 

 fair at Hereford: 



PURCHASER. 



PRICE. 



'LOT. NAME. 



1. Yearling heifer, 



Young Blowdy ..... Mr. W. West ......... 56 14 0= 



2. Ditto, Young Fair- 



maid ............... Mr. Court ........... 99150= 



3. Two-year-old i n - 



calf heifer, Young Mr. G. Tomkins, for 

 Blossom ........... Lord Talbot ....... 105 00= 



4. Ditto, Young Silver. Mr. John Tomkins. . 73 10 0= 



5. In-calf heifer, Duch-Mr. G. Tomkins, for 



ess ................. Lord Talbot ...... 105 00= 



6. Ditto cow, Pigeon. ..Mr. W. West ......... 159120= 



7. Ditto, Stately ........ Mr. G. Tomkins, for 



Lord Talbot ...... 52 10 0= 



8. Ditto, Silk .......... Mr. Lewis ........... 70 70= 



9. Ditto, Beauty ....... Mr. Cooke .......... 262100= 



10. Ditto, Silver ........ Mr. West ............ 210 00= 



11. Ditto, Cherry ....... Mr. G. Tomkins, for 



Lord Talbot ....... 110 50= 



12. Ditto, Prettymaid...Mr. Lewis ........... 99150= 



13. Ditto, Piot .......... Mr. Turner ........ 7.105 00= 



14. Ditto Nancy ......... Mr. G. Tomkins, for 



Lord Talbot ....... 252 50= 



15. Ditto Blowdy ........ Mr. Cooke ........... 273 00= 



16. Ditto, Fairmaid ..... Mr. West ............ 65 20= 



17. Ditto, Tidy .......... Mr. Cooke ........... 131 50= 



18. Ditto, Lovely ....... Mr. Cooke ........... 53 11 0= 



19. Ditto, Storrell ....... Mr. G. Tomkins, for 



Lord Talbot ....... 262 50= 



Mr. Edwards ........ 141150= 



. Mr. Clarke ..... ..... 147 00= 



Mr. Crooke .......... 215 50= 



48 60= 



20. Ditto, Pink 

 -21. Bull-calf -off Ditto 



22. Ditto off Beauty 



23. Fat Cow, Blossom. .Mr. James 



24. Pair of two-year- 



old steers (twins). Mr. T. Cooke ......... 47 50= 



$285 

 500 



525 

 370 



525 

 800 



265 



350 



1310 



1050 



550 

 500 

 525 



1260 

 1365 

 325 

 855 

 265 



1310 

 705 

 735 



1075 

 240 



235 

 240 

 245 

 100 



25. Ditto ................. Mr. W. Cooke ........ 48 60= 



26. Ditto ................. Mr. James Price ..... 49 00= 



27. Single Bullock ....... Mr. James Price ..... 20 00= 



28. Pair of yearling bul- 



locks .............. Mr. Smith ........... 24 00= 120 



29. Ditto ................. Mr. Patrick ......... 27 00= 135 



30. Ditto ................. Mr. James Price ..... 49 00= 245 



31. Ditto ................. Mr. Oliver ........... 27 60= 135 



32. Ditto ................ Mr. Wedge .......... 2510.0= 130 



33. Pair of bullock 



calves ............. Mr. W. Cooke ........ 20100= 100 



34. Ditto ................. Mr. W. Cooke ........ 16 00= 80 



35. Ditto ................ Mr. Wright ......... 16 00= 80 



36. 



?,7. Heifer calf ..... ..... Mr. G. Tomkins ...... 30 00= 150 



38. Ditto ................. Mr. Cooke ........... 26 00= 130 



39. Two-year-old bull 



of Pink ............ Mr. W. West ........ 147 00= 735 



40. Ditto of Storrell ..... Mr. G. Tomkins, for 



Lord Talbot ...... 588 00= 2940 



41. Four-year-old Ditto. Mr. Welles ......... 162150= 815 



42. Five-year-old Ditto. .Mr. T. Cooke ........ 173 50= 865 



"N. B. The above cattle are all of the pure 

 breed, which have been so justly esteemed and 

 admired by the most competent judges in every 

 part of the kingdom where they have been in- 

 troduced, and for which peculiar blood, the 

 highest prices have been obtained, and particu- 

 larly No. 23, which is considered to carry the 

 greatest weight upon the smallest bone of any 

 cow in the kingdom." 



SUMMARY OF SALES. 



Total. Average. 



s d s d=U. S. D. 



17 cows ...................... 2249 20 149 18 9=$ 749.68 



3 two-year-old heifers ..... 283 10 94 10 0= 472.50 

 2 yearling heifers .......... 156 90 78 46= 391.12 



4 bulls ...................... 1071 00 267150=1338.75 



2 bull calves ................ 362 50 181 26= 905.62 



28 Head; Total, 4172 6s Od ($20,861.50); Average, 149 

 ($745.00). 



It is interesting to compare the foregoing 

 averages with those realized at the great Short- 

 horn (Durham) sales of the Brothers Colling, 

 which took place about the same time. At Mr. 

 Chas. Ceiling's sale at Ketton, in 1810, the 

 average for 47 head was 151 8s ($757.00) 

 (the bull Comet bringing 1,000 guineas or 

 $5,000.00). At Mr. Robt. Ceiling's sale at 

 Brampton in 1818, 61 head averaged 128 17s 

 lOd ($644.35); and at his sale in 1820, 46 head 

 averaged 49 8s 7d ($247.14). 



A statement has recently been made to the 

 effect that the Tomkins Herefords, if they had 

 not from the effects of excessive in-and-in 

 breeding fallen into disrepute before B. Tom- 

 kins' death, at least did so almost immediately 

 afterwards. There is certainly no evidence of 

 want of public appreciation in the sale list 

 which has just been given. Moreover, Mr. John 

 Price for many years retained without any mix- 

 ture the blood of Tomkins, and also bred very 

 closely, arid yet when his herd was dispersed in 

 1841 (26 years after Tomkins' death) the aver- 

 age for 99 lots was 53 16s 4d ($270). But it is 

 only necessary to glance at the composition of 

 the foundation herds of Herefords as recorded 

 in the Herd Book those of Knight, Smythies, 

 Yarworth, Hewer, Walker, Hoskyns, Perry, 

 Jellico, Smith, Lord Talbot, Sir F. Lawley, 

 etc., to see how largely the Tomkins blood was 

 infused over the breed. There was scarcely one 

 of the early herds that was not indebted to the 

 Tomkins strains for part of its excellence, and 

 if the results of injudicious in-and-in breeding 

 had then, as is alleged, been so painfully ap- 

 parent, the blood would have scarcely obtained 

 such wide circulation. That some of Tomkins' 

 cattle went into- the possession of those who 

 were not able to do them justice, and who 

 failed in the attempt to carry out what they 

 supposed was his system, is unquestionable; 

 but that the herd retained unimpaired its high 

 character when Benjamin Tomkins died, is 

 proved by the results in 1819, and by the fact 

 that John Price continued for 37 years to suc- 

 cessfully breed on the Tomkins' lines without 

 resorting to other blood. 



After the sale in 1819 the Misses Tomkins 

 remained at the Brook House Farm, and con- 

 tinued to breed Hereford cattle. They had a 

 second sale in October, 1839, when it was an- 

 nounced that they were about to retire from 

 business. The catalogue of this sale shows that 

 their cattle still retained considerable reputa- 

 tion. Among the prices were 108 ($540) for 

 the nine-year-old cow Pigeon, the purchaser 

 being Mr. (rough; 50 ($250) for the eight- 

 year-old cow Stately (Mr. Davenport); 5& 



