OF THE SADDLE AND SIRLOIN CLUB 217 



THE WONDER WORKER OF KILLERBY 



85. The fashioning of the stocks that carried on the rich 

 improvements of the Shorthorn breed wrought by the Ceiling's 

 fell largely into the hands of Thomas Bates (74) and the Booth 

 family (76). While both believed in the fundamental excel- 

 lence of the Favorite-Hubback blood, there were vital differ- 

 ences in the way the pedigrees were handled, and the Booths 

 had recourse to the Colling foundation only through the males, 

 depending on the stock of the surrounding country for the 

 females. Beginning with the elder Booth in 1790, the family 

 was intimately interested in the development of better Short- 

 horns for a period of nearly ninety years, each generation 

 stamping its individuality on the herd. The work of Thomas 

 Booth Sr. was carried on separately by his two sons, Richard 

 at Studley and later at the paternal estate of Warlaby, and John 

 at Killerby. John Booth's showyard successes were tremen- 

 dous and his sale of stock throughout the thirties and forties 

 so prodigious that he almost never could meet his demands. 



When John Booth laid aside his mantle of achievement, he 

 left to his son, Thomas C. Booth, perhaps one of the most 

 difficult tasks a young breeder has ever faced. The Bates blood 

 was in its ascendancy, and while showyard and tenant farmer 

 in Britain had accorded the highest recognition to the practical 

 qualities of the BoOTH cattle, the "fashionableness" of the 

 Duchesses and their corresponding sale values were undeniable. 

 Furthermore the great days of his uncle Richard had arrived 

 and he had scant hope for recognition in the face of the really 

 notable achievements of the Warlaby herds. With spirit of the 

 true soldier, however, he buckled to his task, and as he received 

 some assistance in the way of show animals from his Uncle 

 Richard following his father's dispersion sale of 1852, he early 

 gained a nucleus on which to build. On his father's death in 

 1857, he became the dominant figure in the Killerby herd. 



