Northumberland Agricultural Society. 
3 
the Society. At the same Show he won the first prize with 
his aged Shorthorn bul], “Duke of Tyne.” This bull was 
bought as a calf by Mr. Jacob Wilson at Mr. Spraggon’s sale 
at Nafferton, and afterwards won many prizes in addition to his 
“Royal” honours, being eventually sold, at a long price, to go 
to Scotland. 
Mr. Jacob Wilson acted as Steward of Forage, and was joint 
Honorary Local Secretary at the Society’s Newcastle Meeting in 
1864 ; and on May 22, 1865, he was elected a member of 
Council, being then, and for some time later, the youngest 
member who had ever sat on that body. He officiated as a 
Judge of Implements at the Plymouth Meeting of the same 
year. In 1869 he was appointed Steward of Stock, and acted 
in that capacity at the next four Meetings, viz., Manchester, 
1869 ; Oxford, 1870 ; Wolverhampton, 1871 ; and Cardiff, 1872. 
But Mr. Wilson did not confine his attention solely to the 
furtherance of the interests of the Royal Agricultural Society, 
as in 1868 he was elected Secretary of the Northumberland 
Agricultural Society in succession to the late Mr. Walter 
Johnson, of Trench Hall. Under his able and energetic 
management this Society soon attained a more important 
position in the agricultural world than it had hitherto held, 
his well-known powers of organisation and strong personal 
influence being brought to bear upon the task of making his 
own county show one of the most important in the country. 
The success which attended his efforts may be shown by the 
fact that during his tenure of office the number of exhibits 
at the annual shows rose from 734 in 1868 to 1,672 in 1877, 
while the membership was almost trebled. 
During this period the Northumberland Society found itself 
in a somewhat similar position to that of the Royal in later 
days, in so far as it was found that some of the towns that had 
hitherto periodically received the Society were no longer 
able to do so under its extended conditions. It was therefore 
decided that, in the interests of the Society, it was advisable 
to visit only the more important centres, and a triennial system 
was adopted, whereby the show was held in rotation at 
Alnwick, Berwick-upon-Tweed, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne. 
With the exception that Morpeth has been added to the list, this 
system is still in operation. In 1874 a new departure was 
decided upon by the Council of the Northumberland Agricul- 
tural Society, and it was determined after much consideration 
to hold a three days’ show at Newcastle. The result quite 
justified the experiment, the show proving highly successful, 
both financially and as an exhibition of stock. Since that time 
it has been customary to hold two and three days’ shows when 
Newcastle was the place of meeting, one day being the rule 
