212 
The First Two Country Meetings of the 
15,000 noblemen and gentlemen and farmers reached the town 
by various conveyances.” 1 
Exhibitors of stock were admitted without payment ; until 
one o’clock tickets were issued at 2s. 6d. ; after that time shilling 
tickets became available, and, though 12,000 had been prepared, 
these were soon sold, and the Committee had to take money 
at the entrance. Altogether not fewer than 20,000 persons at- 
tended the Show in the course of the day, and the receipts 
amounted to 1,189Z. Though not unaccustomed to functions 
of special interest and attraction, Oxford had never before seen 
such an influx of strangers. The day being very fine, the streets 
were thronged with vehicles and pedestrians, the inns with com- 
pany, and many found no little difficulty in securing food and 
lodging. The attendance, indeed, surpassed the most sanguine 
expectations, and must be regarded as extraordinary, when we 
consider the difficulty and expense attendant on locomotion in 
those days. 
Although there is nothing specifically stated in the records 
as to the time of the judging, it must have taken place on the 
day (Tuesday) before the Show was open to the public, 2 as all 
the animals had to be in the yard at 8 a.m. that day, and in the 
early years of the Society’s history it was considered to be of 
cardinal importance that the utmost secrecy should be observed 
as to the names of the Judges, the animals brought before them, 
and the awards made. For a considerable period, indeed, after 
the Oxford Meeting, the most elaborate precautions were taken 
to ensure the privacy of the Judges whilst they were engaged 
upon their awards. Sir Brandreth Gibbs, who commenced his 
long series of eminent services to the Society at Oxford in the 
capacity of assistant to his brother, Mr. Humphrey Gibbs, thus 
describes the original system of judging in a letter which was 
published in the Journal for 1885 3 : — 
Public judging was not contemplated, and so great was the desire for 
secrecy, that the animals arrived under a fictitious number, which was 
changed for a permanent number early in the morning of the judging day ; 
this being intended to frustrate any knowledge on the part of the Judges as 
to the ownership of the animals. Such a precaution now seems strange 
1 Bell’s Weeltly Messenger, July 22, 1839. 
2 Probably the artist who drew the picture of the Oxford Meeting which 
is reproduced as an illustration to this article intended to portray the calm of 
the judging day, and not the bustle of the Show itself. The group in the right- 
hand corner appears to consist of the Duke of Kichmond, with his back to the 
post ; Mr. Handley arguing with his Grace, but seemingly not making much 
impression ; and Lord Spencer in a characteristic attitude, with hjs hands in 
hjs popkets. 
? Journal, Vofi XXI , Secpnd Serjes, pp. 614, 6J5. 
