16 
Sir Jacob Wilson. 
lifelong and faithful herdsman. After ample homage had 
been paid to the charms of “ Sister Rose,” “ Daughter 
Superior,” and the other matrons of the herd, our host 
would, with almost equal pride, lead the way to the poultry 
yard where Mary Brown — wife of the above mentioned 
John — would show specimens of those mammoth turkeys 
and enormous ducks and table fowl which had been for many 
years so successfully associated with Lady Wilson’s name at 
the Royal and other important shows. 
Sir Jacob’s work in connection with the Royal Agricultural 
Society did not by any means cease on his resignation of the 
post of Honorary Director in 1892. He still continued to be a 
most useful and valued Member of the Council, and took an 
active part in the deliberations of the various Committees, 
being a member of the House, Stock Prizes, Veterinary, 
Implement, and Showyard Works Committees. He w*as 
Chairman of the last named Committee from 1877 to 1881, 
and from 1889 to 1902. He acted in a similar capacity 
for the Stock Prizes Committee in 1883 and 1884, and 
from 1886 to 1888. When the question of abandoning the 
itinerant show system in favour of a fixed site became acute 
owing to the difficulty of securing suitable accommodation in 
the neighbourhood of populous towns, Sir Jacob was not an 
advocate for the selection of a ground in the neighbourhood of 
London, and strongly opposed the scheme for the purchase of 
Park Royal. Once the decision was arrived at, however, he was 
not the man to desert his colleagues in a crisis ; on the contrary, 
he supported them with the utmost loyalty and threw himself 
as ardently as any into the endeavour to make the venture a 
success. 
The experience of the first two years was not encouraging, 
and on the retirement of Mr. Percy Crutchley from the post 
of Honorary Director in 1904, it was recognised that the 
affairs of the Society were becoming critical, and that 
a special effort must be made to stem the tide of disaster 
and to turn the popular feeling in favour of Park Royal. 
At the urgent request of his fellow members of Council, Sir 
Jacob Wilson, in spite of advancing years and impaired health, 
nobly stepped into the breach and once more assumed the 
reins of management for the 1905 Show* in his former position 
of Honorary Director. He applied himself to the task with all 
his old energy and skill and did not rest content till he had 
secured the promise of extensive entries in all classes of stock, 
while it goes without saying that, under his direction, the 
Showyard arrangements were perfect. 
The result of that Show is now a matter of history — how 
it was at once a gigantic success and a ghastly failure. A 
