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Cattle Breeders and Breed Pioneers

Jim Scrymgeour, the Blind Breeder Who Built Netherby Shorthorns

A Light Horse veteran blinded in Palestine, he judged and bred Shorthorns by touch and memory at Warwick, Queensland.

Who was Jim Scrymgeour?

Jim Scrymgeour is remembered in Australian cattle circles for a combination that sounds impossible: a stud breeder and show judge who could not see the animals in front of him. He was blinded by Turkish shrapnel in 1918 while serving with the 2nd Australian Light Horse in Palestine, and three years later he and his wife Marjorie started the Netherby Shorthorn Stud on a worn-out farm near Warwick, Queensland.

By his death in 1965 the stud had won about 200 championships, according to a Beef Central profile of the blind judge, and he had been honored with an OBE. His record shows how much of cattle breeding rests on memory, hands-on assessment and a good partner.

From New Zealand to Callandoon

Scrymgeour was born in 1885 and grew up in Otago and Hawke's Bay in New Zealand, where his Scottish-born parents ran sheep properties. In 1908 his father, William, moved the family to Australia and bought Callandoon, a historic property at Goondiwindi, in partnership with H.M. Ross.

That partnership dissolved in 1911. William kept North Callandoon and Tarewinnabar, and Jim took charge of the cattle while his brother Will managed the sheep. It was a practical apprenticeship on a big Queensland-border grazing operation, and the Shorthorns descended from Scottish imports that his father had brought out would later become the foundation of Netherby.

How did the war and blindness change his path?

Jim enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in 1916 and joined the 2nd Light Horse in January 1918. In July 1918 a blast of shrapnel in the Jordan Valley took his sight, and he was sent home. He married Marjorie Brown in Brisbane that November.

He then spent more than a year at St Dunstan's Hostel in London, which trained blinded servicemen to rely on memory, hearing and touch. He learned braille, touch-typing, carpentry and sculling, and he used the time to visit cattle studs across Great Britain. Those visits, made without sight, were an early sign that he intended to return to breeding rather than give up the land.

Building the Netherby Shorthorn Stud

In 1921 the couple bought a run-down farm called Netherby on a bend of the Condamine River near Warwick. They founded the Netherby Shorthorn Stud there using descendants of the Scottish cattle his father had imported.

Jim designed an overhead wire system, with ropes and tin cups, that let him move around the farm unaided. The idea came from the guide wires used at St Dunstan's. Marjorie acted as his eyes for more than 40 years, and the pair also bred Thoroughbreds, Standardbreds and Clydesdales that did well at Queensland shows.

The Key to Scrymgeour's Success

Netherby did not win because of a gimmick. The documented record points to a breeder who turned a handicap into a discipline, and who kept improving his seedstock for more than three decades.

The bullets below are drawn from the documented record, and they come with one honest caveat: the exact breeding records of Netherby are not public in the sources reviewed, so these are lessons about method rather than bloodlines.

  • He trained for the job: a year at St Dunstan's built the memory and touch skills he later used in the ring.
  • He started with proven stock, using Scottish-bred Shorthorn descendants rather than buying a stud from scratch.
  • He worked as a team: Marjorie's eyes and his memory covered what neither could do alone.
  • He showed constantly, and winning at Brisbane and Sydney built the stud's reputation and prices.
  • He kept looking outward: in 1939 he imported the Poll Shorthorn bull Red Victor from the United States.
  • He adapted the farm to his needs, as the overhead wire system shows, rather than waiting for help.

Judging cattle by touch

Scrymgeour judged at the Brisbane and Sydney Royal Shows. Accounts say he could tell an animal's color by the coarseness of its coat, with red hair feeling harsher and white hair softer. A Sydney newspaper in the 1920s described a near photographic memory for names, pedigrees and histories.

Show stewards are said to have tested him by moving animals that had already been judged. He noticed and had them returned. Treat the stories as reported rather than audited, but they match a career in which exhibitors kept asking him to judge.

Show-ring record and Netherby Mark Twain

Netherby Shorthorns won six straight grand champion Shorthorn bull ribbons at the Brisbane Exhibition from 1930 to 1935, and produced the grand champion Shorthorn female at both Brisbane and Sydney in 1934. A 1934 Pastoral Review article called the Scrymgeour heifers the best in Australia. Between 1939 and 1955 the stud collected 13 senior championships at the Sydney Royal Easter Show.

The high point came in 1954, when the Poll Shorthorn bull Netherby Mark Twain was grand champion bull at Sydney and sold for 5,300 guineas, an Australian breed record. The Royal Agricultural Society of NSW keeps show catalogues from this era online, such as the 1951 cattle catalogue and the 1955 cattle catalogue, which show how Sydney's cattle classes were organized. In total the cattle won about 200 championships and more than 1,500 first-prize ribbons. This was also the year Queen Elizabeth II appointed him to the Order of the British Empire for services to the Australian cattle industry.

Later years, books and legacy

In October 1955 Jim suffered severe scalds in an accident at home, and medical advice led the couple to leave the farm. The stud was dispersed on 13 March 1957 at record prices. Marjorie died in 1962.

He then used the touch-typing he had learned at St Dunstan's to write three books: Echoes of the Australian Light Horse in Egypt and Palestine (1957), Men, Mokes, Hooves, Horns and Hides (1959) and Memories of Maoriland (1960). He died in Warwick on 27 March 1965, aged 79. For a deeper look at stud cattle and Queensland ranching, see the ranching section of farm.FM, or read a farm.FM story about Shorthorn breeding.

Timeline

  1. 1885Born; grows up in Otago and Hawke's Bay, New Zealand
  2. 1908Family moves to Australia and buys Callandoon at Goondiwindi
  3. 1918Blinded by shrapnel in the Jordan Valley; marries Marjorie Brown in November
  4. 1921Returns from St Dunstan's and founds Netherby near Warwick
  5. 1930-1935Six straight grand champion Shorthorn bull ribbons at Brisbane
  6. 1939Imports the Poll Shorthorn bull Red Victor from the United States
  7. 1954Netherby Mark Twain sells for 5,300 guineas; Scrymgeour receives the OBE
  8. 1957Stud dispersed on 13 March at record prices
  9. 1965Dies at Warwick on 27 March, aged 79

Frequently asked questions

Who was Jim Scrymgeour?

Jim Scrymgeour (1885-1965) was a Queensland Shorthorn breeder and cattle judge who lost his sight in World War I. He founded the Netherby Shorthorn Stud near Warwick in 1921 and earned an OBE in 1954.

How did a blind man judge cattle?

He relied on touch, memory and hearing, skills he trained at St Dunstan's in London. Reports say he could feel coat texture and recall pedigrees, and he spotted animals that stewards had moved after judging.

What was Netherby Mark Twain?

Netherby Mark Twain was a Poll Shorthorn bull bred at Netherby. He was grand champion bull at Sydney in 1954 and sold for 5,300 guineas, which was reported as an Australian breed record.

Where was the Netherby Shorthorn Stud?

Netherby was a farm on a bend of the Condamine River near Warwick, Queensland. Jim and Marjorie Scrymgeour bought it in 1921 and ran the stud there until it was dispersed in March 1957.

Sources and further reading

Profiles are compiled from public sources and reviewed against them. See our editorial policy to suggest a correction.

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