Royal Agricultural Society : Oxford, 1839 ; Cambridge, 1840. 207 
At a meeting of the Provisional Committee, held on May 12, 
1838, the objects of the Society were defined, and amongst them 
was the following : “ At the Meetings of the Society in the 
country, by the distribution of prizes, and by other means, to 
encourage the best mode of farm cultivation and the breed of 
live stock.” At a later meeting, held on June 26, the Com- 
mittee resolved to recommend to the General Meeting on the 
following day “ to hold the first meeting in the country at 
Oxford, on Wednesday, July 17, 1839.” 
The Committee had a variety of sittings to discuss the 
details of the prizes to be offered, but eventually they reported 
to the General Meeting held in December 1838, that “ The 
prizes for cattle to be given at Oxford next year, through which 
improvement in the breeding of stock is mainly contemplated, 
will be publicly announced in a few days. And your Committee 
trust that the owners and occupiers of land in Oxfordshire and 
neighbouring counties will co-operate in rendering the first 
Meeting of this Society efficient for the objects for which it was 
instituted.” 
Oxford Meeting, 1839. 
The prize sheet for the Oxford Meeting was published in 
the form of a huge placard, a copy of which has been presented 
to the Society by the courtesy of Mr. J. Kersley Fowler, and is 
now hung up on the walls. It is interesting amongst other 
reasons as illustrating the state of things existing before the 
establishment of the Penny Post. Our veteran Trustee, Sir 
Thomas Acland, then a young member of the Committee of 
the Society, used his privilege as a Member of Parliament to 
frank a copy of the prize list to Mr. Fleetwood Wells ; but 
misdirecting it to Ellesborough, Andover , instead of Wendover, 
it travelled over a great part of England before it reached its 
destination, and is covered with postal memoranda. Mr. 
A eland's “ frank” saved the Society 7 d. for postage for sending 
this prize sheet 40 miles. 
It is evident from the newspapers of the period and from the 
recollections of many of the older members of the Society, that 
the first Show was awaited with the greatest interest and excite- 
ment by agriculturists at large. Bell's Weelcly Messenger of 
July 22, 1839, thus prefaces its account of the Show : — 
For some months past, but more particularly the last few weeks (the 
interest being, if possible, more intense as the time of meeting drew near), 
the all-absorbing topic of conversation, not only amongst those immediately 
engaged in agricultural pursuits, hut also the community at large, residing 
in England, Ireland, and Scotland, has been the formation of the above- 
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