36 



HISTORY OF HEREFORD CATTLE 



and then took a farm at Llanlellen, about a 

 mile from Hardwick. About the year 1825 

 there was a kind of panic amongst the banks, 

 and one in which he had a large sum of money 

 invested failed. William Hewer was so over- 

 come by the disaster that, with his eldest son, 

 William, he left the country for America, but 

 he lived only about six months after he ar- 

 rived, being quite heart-broken. He died in 

 New York in November, 1825, and was interred 

 at the cemetery of St. Mark's churchyard, Bow- 

 ery, New York, on December 2d, being at the 

 time of his decease 68 years of age. 



John Hewer (f 28) was born on March 12th, 

 1787, and died September 28th, 1875. His son, 

 Mr. John L. Hewer (fl 28 A and B), never 

 heard him say positively whether he was born 

 at Kilkenny Farm, near Northleach, where his 

 father resided before going to Monmouthshire, 

 or at the Great Hardwick, Abergavenny. John 

 Hewer, Sr., assisted his father at the Hardwick, 

 and it was then he formed the idea of having 

 the Herefords of uniform color and markings. 

 During that time he had a few cattle of his 

 own, and had the benefit of his father's expe- 

 rience. The statement that John Hewer went 

 to his relatives in Gloucestershire in 1805 and 

 remained with them for several years, is,, we are 

 assured, incorrect. He never left home, except 

 on a visit, until about the year 1817, when he 

 went to Purslow Hall, in Shropshire. Here he 

 continued for several years. On his departure 

 for America William Hewer left his wife and 

 the younger portion of his family in England. 

 They took a farm called The Grove, in Mon- 

 mouthshire, and John Hewer managed it for 

 his mother, and did very well until some mis- 

 understanding took place between him and 

 other members of the family; after which he 

 went into Herefordshire, living first at Hill 

 House, Aston Ingham. He subsequently pro- 

 ceeded to Moor House, about a mile from Here- 

 ford, and from that place to Brandon Cottage, 

 where he had some land. In 1835 he occupied 

 Hampton Lodge (fl 29), near Hereford, and Lit- 

 ley Farm. He gave up the latter holding in 

 1839, the date of his first great sale. He was 

 at Hampton Lodge until 1846; then at Lower 

 Wilcroft, where he continued for two years. He 

 was for two years at Palmer's Court, Holmer 

 (ff 30), whence, in 1850, he went to Vern 

 House, Marden, where he settled down, having 

 purchased it in 1855. He resided at Vern 

 House (ff 31) until 1875, when he sold it to Mr. 

 H. Burr, of Aldermarston, and took Paradise 

 Villa (fl 32), Marden, where he died in the 

 same year and was buried in the Holmer 

 churchyard (ff 33), 



These are the salient biographical facts as 

 to the two Hewers. We were naturally very 

 anxious to ascertain, if possible, where William 

 Hewer originally procured his Hereford cattle, 

 he being a native of Gloucestershire, living in 

 Monmouthshire, and never having resided in 

 the county of Hereford. Mr. John L. Hewer 

 says he cannot tell us where his grandfather 

 obtained his stock, but he always understood 

 from his father that his great-grandfather had 

 a herd of Herefords and that William inherited 

 them. Certain it is, says Mr. J. L. Hewer, he 

 was a successful exhibitor at the Bath and West 

 of England shows before -the close of the eight- 

 eenth century. Mr. Thos. F. Plowman, Sec- 

 retary of the Bath and West of England Soci- 

 ety, has kindly searched the old records of that 

 Society, and informs us that it was not until 



MR. HENRY HAYWOOD, 1819-1902, WHOSE FAMILY 

 . BRED HEREFORDS FOR CENTURIES. 



1794 that cattle were exhibited at its shows as 

 stock, not as beasts of draught or burden, and 

 no mention occurs of Herefords until 1799, 

 when 5 5s ($26.25) was awarded to Mr. W. 

 Smith for the best Hereford heifer. Mr. Plow- 

 man adds that he finds no further allusion to 

 the breed until 1810, when 10 10s ($52.50) 

 was awarded to Mr. Kemp for a fat cow of the 

 Hereford breed. Any of the Hewer Herefords 

 exhibited at the earlier meetings of the Bath 

 and West of England Society must therefore 

 have been draught oxen. In another letter, 



