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Cattle Breeders and Breed Pioneers

Thomas Bates and the Duchess Cattle of Kirklevington

A Northumberland farmer who bred milk and beef into the Duchess line and the Duke of Northumberland.

Who was Thomas Bates?

Thomas Bates was a Northumberland farmer who became one of the best-known Shorthorn breeders of the early nineteenth century. He was born at Matfen in 1775 and died at Kirklevington on 25 July 1849 at the age of 74. A painful kidney disease caused his death, according to the Wikipedia biography of Thomas Bates. He never married.

The Saddle and Sirloin Portrait Collection included him among the livestock figures depicted when it launched in 1903, calling him a celebrated English breeder who helped develop Shorthorns suited to both milk and beef, per its Thomas Bates portrait page.

From Aydon White House to Halton Castle

Bates attended Haydon Bridge grammar school but was called home at fifteen to help run his father's farms. At eighteen he became tenant of his father's small estate at Aydon White House, where his farming career began.

In 1800 he took a twenty-one-year lease of two large farms at Halton Castle and bought his first Shorthorn cows from Charles Colling. He paid 100 guineas for one cow, the first 100 guineas the Collings had ever received for a cow.

The Duchess line

At Colling's Ketton sale in 1810 Bates bought the cow Duchess for 185 guineas, and she became the foundress of a well-known Shorthorn tribe. The Stockton heritage profile calls the cow Young Duchess and says Bates bred 63 cows over eight generations from her, naming them Duchess 2 to Duchess 64. The two sources differ in the animal's name and the price detail, so treat those as reported.

The line produced the Duke of Northumberland, born on 15 October 1835 and sired by Belvedere out of Duchess 34th. The Stockton heritage profile of Thomas Bates shows how central the Duchess cattle became to his reputation.

The Key to Bates's Success

Bates's success came from patient line breeding, careful records and a balanced view of the Shorthorn as both a milk and a beef animal. The Stockton profile says he kept inbreeding at roughly 40 percent and regularly introduced new blood to stop it rising further.

The costs of the method showed up after his death, as described below.

  • He started with the best: foundation cows from Charles Colling, bought at record prices.
  • He used line breeding, previously considered unacceptable in cattle, and kept it near 40 percent.
  • He valued milk: he kept milk and butter records and tested his best cows.
  • He invested in land: he spent about 20 years draining Kirklevington's poor, cold clay.
  • He studied chemistry at the University of Edinburgh in the winters of 1809 to 1811.
  • He proved the cattle in public, winning five prizes with seven animals at York in 1838.

Kirklevington and the herd

In 1811 Bates bought a moiety of the manor of Kirklevington, near Yarm, for £30,000, paying £20,000 in cash. The estate covered about 1,000 acres, half good old grass fields and the rest poor, cold clay. He spent about 20 years installing drainage, living mostly at Ridley Hall in the meantime, and settled at Kirklevington permanently in 1830 or 1831, depending on the account, with 50 Shorthorns.

He believed commerce and agriculture should go hand in hand, a view shaped by population growth and the rise of industrial centers that increased demand for food.

Showing, the Duke of Northumberland and disputes

Bates exhibited at local shows from 1804 to 1812. After dissatisfaction with the awards at the 1812 Tyneside show he stopped showing for twenty-six years. At the 1838 Yorkshire Agricultural Society show in York he won five prizes with seven animals, and at the 1839 English Agricultural Society show in Oxford his Shorthorns won all the prizes they entered. The Duke of Northumberland was called one of the finest bulls ever bred.

His last show was York in 1848, and afterward he had a lengthy written dispute with the society's executive. Lord Althorp reportedly said of him in 1820: wonderful man, who might become anything if he did not talk so much.

The 1850 sale and what went wrong

On 9 May 1850 his herd was dispersed at Kirklevington. Sixty-eight animals sold for a total of £4,558 1s. The Stockton profile says the buyers did not keep his 40 percent inbreeding limit, and that excessive inbreeding made the lines infertile.

By 1870 only one pure inbred cow remained, the Eighth Duchess of Geneva, who was sold for $40,600 per that page, then gave birth to a dead heifer and died shortly afterward. Bates's methods were therefore a warning as well as an example.

Memorials and further reading

Bates is buried near the north-east corner of Kirklevington churchyard, and a memorial praises his labors for the improvement of British stock. His great-nephew Cadwallader John Bates published a 513-page biography in 1897. Charles Colling's own career is covered in the Wikipedia biography of Charles Colling.

For beef breed history, see the ranching section of farm.FM or read a farm.FM story about Shorthorn breeding.

Timeline

  1. 1775Born at Matfen, Northumberland
  2. 1800Leases Halton Castle farms and buys his first Shorthorn cows from Colling
  3. 1810Buys the cow Duchess at the Ketton sale
  4. 1811Buys a moiety of the manor of Kirklevington for £30,000
  5. 1835Duke of Northumberland born on 15 October
  6. 1838Wins five prizes with seven animals at York
  7. 1849Dies at Kirklevington on 25 July
  8. 1850Herd of 68 sold on 9 May for £4,558 1s

Frequently asked questions

Who was Thomas Bates?

Thomas Bates (1775-1849) was a Northumberland Shorthorn breeder who built the Kirklevington herd on Charles Colling's stock and founded the Duchess tribe.

What was the Duke of Northumberland?

A Bates-bred Shorthorn bull born in 1835, sired by Belvedere out of Duchess 34th. He was England's champion bull in 1842, according to the Saddle and Sirloin page.

What happened to the Kirklevington herd?

It was sold on 9 May 1850. Sixty-eight animals made £4,558 1s. A heritage profile says later inbreeding beyond his 40 percent limit made the lines infertile.

Was Thomas Bates's cattle for milk or beef?

Both. He kept milk and butter records and valued milk as highly as meat, and his methods led to the milking and dual-purpose Shorthorn.

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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