Cattle Breeders and Breed Pioneers
Benjamin Tomkins Sr: The Herefordshire Farmer Credited With Founding the Hereford
From 1742 to 1789, a Herefordshire farmer bred systematically from two inherited cows and a bull calf.
Who Was Benjamin Tomkins Sr?
Benjamin Tomkins Sr was born in Herefordshire in 1714 and died in 1789. The Saddle & Sirloin Portrait Foundation credits him with founding the Hereford breed, and its profile of Tomkins is the main source for this page.
Documentation about him is thin in the sources read for this entry, so the page keeps its claims to what the foundation states and adds sourced background about the breed.
Pidgeon, Mottle and Silver
According to the foundation, Tomkins founded the Hereford breed using two cows, Pidgeon and Mottle, and a bull calf from the cow Silver. He inherited these animals from his father's estate. Many of the great breed stories begin with a few good animals and a long period of patient selection, and this is one of them.
The names of the cows are among the oldest recorded in Hereford history, though the foundation does not give more detail about their appearance or performance.
Systematic Breeding From 1742 to 1789
Tomkins ran systematic breeding practices from 1742 to 1789, which the foundation says came years before Robert Bakewell's breeding theories. That claim is a notable one, and it places Herefordshire's quiet work in the same period as the famous Leicestershire experiments.
The foundation article describes the Tomkins family generally as the first improvers and breeders of Hereford cattle and as remarkable judges of stock. This applies to the family and not specifically to Benjamin Sr.
The Key to Tomkins' Success
The record on Tomkins is short, but it shows a pattern that later breeders copied.
These lessons come from the foundation's account:
- He started from the best animals he had inherited, Pidgeon, Mottle and a bull calf from Silver.
- He kept to a systematic program for nearly half a century, 1742 to 1789.
- He worked with family: his son Ben Tomkins Jr continued the improvement.
- He judged stock closely, as the family reputation suggests.
- He built a breed without a register, which later breeders formalized with a herd book.
Tomkins Sr and Tomkins Jr
His son, Ben Tomkins Jr, continued his cattle improvement work. Continuity is what turns one man's herd into a breed, and the Tomkins family supplied it.
The foundation does not give dates or details for Tomkins Jr's own work, so this page does not either.
The Hereford Breed After Tomkins
Organization came after Tomkins. The Herefordshire Agricultural Society was founded in 1797, and in 1800 the Duke of Bedford invited local breeders and dealers to dine and planned Hereford herds at Woburn Abbey. National competition began with the Royal Agricultural Society of England in 1839. The first Hereford Herd Book volume, published in 1846 by T. Eyton of Wellington, Shropshire, entered 551 bulls from 75 breeders, as noted in the Herefordshire Through Time page on Hereford cattle breed promotion.
The Hereford Herd Book Society was incorporated in 1878, and American interest, especially from far western prairie ranch areas, grew in the 1870s and 1880s.
The Portrait and Alvin Sanders
The portrait was painted by Othmar J. Hoffler (1893 to 1954) and added to the Saddle & Sirloin Club collection sometime after 1920. Alvin Sanders, a Club co-founder and Hereford historian, admired Tomkins and pushed for his portrait to be added.
To follow where Herefords went from Herefordshire, see farm.FM's ranching section and a farm.FM story about Hereford cattle.
Timeline
- 1714Born in Herefordshire
- 1742Begins systematic breeding of Hereford cattle
- 1789Dies, after breeding from 1742 to 1789
- 1797Herefordshire Agricultural Society founded
- 1846First Hereford Herd Book volume published
- 1878Hereford Herd Book Society incorporated
- 1920s-1940sPortrait added to the Saddle & Sirloin collection, between 1920 and 1948
Frequently asked questions
Who was Benjamin Tomkins Sr?
Benjamin Tomkins Sr (1714-1789) was a Herefordshire farmer credited with founding the Hereford breed through systematic breeding between 1742 and 1789.
What were Pidgeon and Mottle?
Pidgeon and Mottle were two cows Tomkins inherited from his father's estate. With a bull calf from the cow Silver, they were the foundation of his Hereford breeding.
Did Tomkins breed before Robert Bakewell?
The Saddle & Sirloin article says Tomkins ran systematic breeding from 1742, years before Bakewell's breeding theories.
Who continued Tomkins's work?
His son, Ben Tomkins Jr, continued the cattle improvement work.
Sources and further reading
- Benjamin Tomkins Sr (Saddle & Sirloin Portrait Foundation)
- Hereford cattle breed promotion (Herefordshire Through Time)
Profiles are compiled from public sources and reviewed against them. See our editorial policy to suggest a correction.
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