19 



years the most coveted distinction was the Club's Gold 

 Medal, which was given up to 1842 to the breeder of the 

 best animal in any of the Classes, and after that date to the 

 feeder, and it may also be noticed that up to the year 1845, 

 oxen, steers, cows, and heifers, competed together, but 

 afterwards two separate Gold Medals were offered, viz. one 

 for oxen and steers, and another for cows and heifers. In 

 1869, however, the Club determined to offer a Champion 

 Plate, value 100, for the best beast in the show, and this 

 may now be considered the " blue ribbon " of the Annual 

 Meeting. It would be difficult to describe adequately the 

 keen interest which this contest draws forth, or the 

 anxious solicitude with which the many hundreds present 

 follow the movements of the judges, and await their 

 decision. In the same year, 1869, it was also resolved 

 to offer a Champion Plate, value 50, for the best pen of 

 sheep in the yard. 



The tables following this history supply the list of 

 victors, but it may here be noticed, as the public have 

 noticed with enthusiasm, that Her Majesty the Queen has 

 more frequently than any other, won the Championship of 

 the Show. She has taken it no less than four times. Her 

 Majesty was not the first exhibitor or prize taker among 

 Royal Personages. King George III. was an exhibitor in 

 1800, and the Duke of York gained a prize in 1806, while the 

 success of Their Royal Highnesses the Prince Consort, the 

 Prince of Wales, and the Duke of York, as exhibitors, is 

 well known. But no exhibitor's success has been more 

 phenomenal or more popularly greeted than the Queen's. 

 Even after Her Majesty insisted upon the rule that all 

 animals shewn from the Royal herds must be bred there, 

 the Queen's success has been most remarkable. 



The very large amount given in prizes by the Club has 

 often occasioned surprise, considering the number of 

 members, but it should be noted that, in addition to 

 members' subscriptions, the revenue of the Club is augmented 

 by the sum received from the Hall Company, which has 

 been increased since 1875 to what practically amounts to 

 1,355 annually, by fees from exhibitors of live stock, and 

 chiefly by the fees paid for standing space by the exhibitors 

 of implements. 



It might also be stated as a smaller matter, that with a 

 view to stimulating the interest of the servant in the success 

 of his master, it was decided, in 1864, to give a framed 



