Thomas Lawson Walker’s Royal Champion of 1916 Australia despite the fact that most breeders were losing was Sentry, who had been second to Newton Albion at over 5% of their herds each year through eye cancer. The breed must have had some wonderful attributes to H&WAS and turned the tables on him at the Royal. compensate.
Sentry, Royal Champion 1916
Bodenham Foreman
He was bred by Mr P W Taylor of Birchend, Ledbury, who had been breeding Herefords for thirty years and was probably a cousin to the more renowned H W Taylor, with both branches of the family tracing back to Thinghill. Sentry had an interesting pedigree, being by Marathon, bred by Mr R G Griffiths of Madley, by Marcellus that traced back via numerous Herefordshire breeders to Post Obit bred by JHA and by his Royal Champion Conjuror. His male lineage then went back another five generations to Sir Thomas himself, unlike all the other male lines of Sir Thomas that went through his son Sir Roger. It is strange that after eleven generations of this male line, mostly undistinguished, a Royal Champion should appear and then the line dies out, as it did.
Salopian, Mr Frank Bibby won the Senior Yearling class with Clive Hopeful, got by Crusader who was another bred by Mr Barneby and by Rougemont, by Rodney Stone. Mr Barneby was one of a number of breeders whose influence on the breed occurred after their death or dispersal of the herd. Mr Bibby also took Reserve Female Champion with Clive Lady 6th, also by Crusader, and had another class winner with a daughter of Faraam Master, a bull bred in South Wales going back to the Irish bull Mariner. The first of many Royal winners from Mr Richard Octavius Rees of Three Cocks, Breconshire and his descendants, later at Phocle, was Miss Gordon by Gamecock, a bull bred at The Vern by Mr T P Smith. Gamecock traced through two Eaton sires to Strafford, bred at The Leen and by Sir Edward, by Lord Wilton. Besides record sales in the spring, nearly 500 head were exported. What a year! 1917 A record average of ÂŁ65 for 172 bulls at the March sale in Hereford was topped by the Champion Turgot at 320gns. It was the first major success for a family herd that would produce more winning cattle in the next 100 years than any other breeders. Turgot was exhibited by Mr J Lewis, The Haven, Dilwyn and purchased by Captain R T Hinckes of Mansell Court, Mansell Lacy. His sire was Leyburn, bred by Allen Hughes, by Lucus also bred by Hughes and by Newbury also bred by him, by his JHA bred Royal Champion Pearl King, a grandson of Rodney Stone. Turgot was shown by Miss Lewis as her brother Edward who was in charge of the herd was serving in the Royal Army. Second top at 250gns was H R Griffiths with the second prize Star Ringer who was out of a cow sired by Starlight and by Magnitude, a bull he had acquired from Mr
Mr P W Taylor achieved a unique double that year by breeding the winner of the Two-year-old class, Merry Monarch, exhibited by Mr W D Davies of Weston Beggard, a village about four miles to the east of Hereford and of very rich land unlike its name which sounds like beggared. Probably one of the strengths of the breed was the number of Herefordshire farmers who bred pedigree cattle mostly for beef but occasionally having a calf worth keeping for a bull. Mrs Medlicott was awarded Reserve Champion with Bodenham Foreman, winner of the Junior Yearling Class and one of the first offspring of Fearless Fortune, her purchase in Hereford two years earlier. Foreman headed off to South Africa and I do not know if he was bought for his big brown pigmented eyes which were later found to restrict the incidence of eye cancer in hot, tropical climates. I have always found it remarkable that the Hereford could rise to be the number one breed in 83
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