22 



HIS TOBY OF HEREFORD CATTLE 



born 1756, died 1821; and Thos. Tomkins, of 

 Court House, born 1743. 



Mr. T. C. Yeld (fl 10) in an interesting arti- 

 cle from which we shall quote, mentions Wig- 

 more Grange sale, and says "that most of the 

 purchasers secured several lots. They were 

 cows, calves, and young heifers; the oxen, 

 steers and bulls being sold in the following 

 spring. The writer has seen a painting of one 

 of the oxen, four of which, he has learned, from 

 the family, sold for over 70 ($350) each. 



"Old Mr. Tully also left three sons in farm- 

 ing business one at Huntington, one at Clyro 

 and one at Graf ton; and these possessed by far 

 the best of what would be called the white- 

 faced Herefords, if I except Mr. Skyrme, of 

 Stretton, but of whose stock I have no reliable 

 account, except the opinion of Mr. T. A. 

 Knight, which is certainly most favorable. In 



BLACK HALL, KING'S-PYON, HEREFORDSHIRE. 



giving an account of the Herefords of the last 

 century, I have stated nothing but what is 

 from correct sources. 



"I now proceed to name the best herds at the 

 commencement of the present century, and al- 

 though Mr. Benjamin Tomkins was in the 

 highest repute there were many who possessed 

 equally good cattle. The late Mr. T. A. Knight 

 in replying to my inquiry about the pedigree 

 of the celebrated White Bull, writes as follows: 



" 'Sir: The account which you appear to have 

 received respecting the bull from which you 

 have bred is in every essential respect correct, 

 but I did not give the calf to Mr. Turley. He 

 bought it of me, and never paid me anything 

 for it. The dam was bred by Mr. Skyrme, of 

 Stretton, who at that time possessed, in my 

 opinion, by far the best breed of cattle in the 

 country, and which was Mr. Westcar's opinion. 

 I reared several other bulls from the same cow, 



which were very excellent, and for one of them 

 at eleven months old I refused 40 guineas. The 

 sire of your bull descended from a mixture 

 of the breed of Mr. Tully, of Huntington, and 

 Mr. Isaac Martin, who possessed very excellent 

 though small, stock. I do not think a better 

 bred animal than that about which you have 

 inquired ever existed in the county of Here- 

 ford. I never bred above two or three animals 

 from Benjamin Tomkins' stock, which, I con- 

 fess, I never liked. With good wishes, your 

 obedient servant, 



(Signed) T. A. KNIGHT, (fl 11) 

 To T. C. Yeld. 



Downton, January 8th, 1836.' * 



It may be pointed out that Mr. Yeld was evi- 

 dently unaware of the fact that there were two 

 breeders named Benjamin Tomkins. The asso- 

 ciate of William Galliers, of Wigmore Grange, 

 to whom he refers, was, as has already been 

 explained, not Benjamin Tomkins, the younger, 

 as he seems to have believed, but his father. 



William Galliers (ft 12a), of Wigmore Grange 

 (TJ12), was intimately associated with the 

 elder Benjamin Tomkins in social and business 

 relations, and was born in the year 1713, and 

 died May 26th, 1779, and his herd passed to his 

 son, John Galliers. 



William Galliers, of Frogdon, was a son of 

 William Galliers (ff 13A), of Wigmore <fl 12B) 

 Grange, and hence a brother of John ; was also a 

 breeder of Herefords, and gained thirteen cups 

 and two decanters before the Herefordshire 

 Agricultural Society between the years 1802 

 and 1815. The Wigmore Grange herd was sold 

 on October 15th, 1795. Prior to this date a 

 portion of the herd had passed into the hands 

 of William Galliers, Jr., who went to Oxhouse 

 in 1765; to Eye in 1790; and to Frogdon in 

 1799. 



The Wigmore sale, October 15th, 1795, com- 

 prised 82 head. 



The two sons of William Galliers William, 

 born at Wigmore Grange (j[ 13) in 1744, who 

 died at Oxhouse in 1832, aged 88 years; and 

 John, born at Wigmore Grange in 1755, who 

 died at Coxall in 1828 were both celebrated 

 breeders. The prize list of the early shows of 

 the Herefordshire Agricultural Society proves 

 the character of the stock of William Galliers, 

 and the sale list given indicates the estimation 

 in which the herd, after it had passed into the 

 hands of John Galliers, was held, although he 

 does not seem to have long continued breeding 

 Herefords after his removal to Coxall in 1795 

 (f 13B). 



Miss Letitia Galliers, grand-daughter of 



