Lincolnshire Cattle - The Lincolnshire Ox

The Lincolnshire Ox as Painted by George Stubbs in 1790

In the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool hangs a painting OF The Lincolnshire Ox painted by renowned horse painter George Stubbs in 1790. This ox was originally reared by John Bough, a farmer in Fleet in 1782 and was apparently won by John Gibbons in a cock fight, hence the painting by Stubbs including a cock. John and his wife Sarah reared this ox allegedly  on hay, which , being from Long Sutton, would be of good quality at that time. In 1789 locals started to visit the farm to see the ox, but this started to get out of hand so on 18^th May 1789 we see the following notice in the Stamford Mercury:

“The Great Ox at Long Sutton, Lincolnshire. The property of Mr. John Gibbons. Being brought to such perfection as to become an object of curiosity, so that all degrees of people frequently raise and examine him, which is manifestly injurious to the ox and the premises; the Public are hereby informed, it is expected all persons pay one shilling that enter his pasture, except gentlemen in the neighbourhood (who have seen him) coming with their friends.”

In December 1789 it was planned for the ox to be transported to London in a specially built horse-drawn carriage. At that time the dimensions of the ox were described thus:

“Height over his chine, 18 hands at 6 feet 6 inches.

Length from the horns to the setting of the tail 10 feet.

Across the hips 4 feet.

Girth round the middle of the belly 11feet 3 inches.

Ditto over the chine, and under the breast before the fore legs 10 feet 6 inches.

Ditto over both hips and under the flank 10 feet 9 inches.

Round him horizontally above the breast and level with the flank 18 feet.

The neat weight of this animal is 200 stone.”[1]

John Gibbons was quite the businessman and advertised a subscription for people to purchase an engraving of the ox together with a ticket to view the beast and George Stubbs was commissioned to produce a painting and engraving to be printed for this.

Thus we see the ox being trundled through the English countryside to London, exhibited along the way at Wisbech, March, Chatteris, Huntingdon, St. Ives, Cambridge, Ware and Hertford.

The following report was from St. Ives:

“The Lincolnshire Ox in his machine was quite a public matter while here. The list of subscribers is respectable. I hear the ox is to go into London on Monday 8th of February, preceded by a procession of gentlemen butchers and attended by twenty slaughtermen in uniform, on foot. The machine to be drawn by ten of the largest horses London affords: The whole to be led by a band of music. The feeder and the owner to be conspicuous in the procession. It is expected to go along the City and Paddington roads and cross Tottenham Court Road, to the Rhedarium, near Park Lane, between twelve and four o’clock.”

Whilst the subscription was designed to accommodate nobility and gentry it is clear that people of all classes flocked to see the spectacle, “The Lincolnshire Ox meets with great success men, women and children of all ranks and degrees flock to see him.”

In 1790 the illustrator N. Burt visited the Ox and published this account in his book, “Delineation of Curious Foreign Beasts and Birds” published in 1791:

“….the Royal Lincolnshire Ox, so called, I took in the year 1790 when he was the property of Mr. John Gibbons, of Long Sutton, in the county of Lincoln. He was bred at Gedney, in the same county, in November 1782; and was brought to London, 120 Miles of the journey in a Machine drawn by eight horses: was first, after he arrived, exhibited at the Duke of Gloucester’s riding house in Hyder Park; was afterwards removed to the Lyceum in the Strand, and continued to be exhibited, at one shilling each person; and a subscription proposed to have the figure of this noble avenue handed down to posterity, to be engraved from a painting of Mr. Stubbs, at half a Guinea each; and a ticket given to admit the subscriber and a lady to see the ox at any time. Mr. Gibbons, in his description of him, says, ‘All judges agree that he is much the largest and fattest ever seen in England; his beef and tallow are computed to weigh 2800 pounds or 350 stone.’ Mr. Clark purchased him of Mr. Gibbons (for upwards of £120 as reported), and continued to exhibit him at the same place. This creature was remarkable in his feeding; he was fed principally on corn and hay; the hay was laid in a small quantity at a time before him, and a pail of water put near to it; he took up the hay with his mouth and dipped it in the water always before he ate it!

Mr. Clark in his hand bills says, ‘this extraordinary animal measures nineteen hands (or 6 feet 4 inches) high, and three feet four inches across the hips; in short, this living mountain of an animal strikes every beholder with wonder and admiration.’

The great weight of this surprising creature, and the little exercise he had, caused his legs to be benumbed and swell a little, from which Mr. Clark determined to have had him killed the beginning of June, in honour of his Majesty’s birthday; but as his unwillingness to rise when he was down increased, and left he should have declined in his health, Mr. Clark therefore transferred that respect he intended to his Majesty to her Royal Highness the Princess Mary, and accordingly he was killed on the 20^th April, about a fortnight before which Mr. Pidcock purchased of Mr. Clark one half of the profits arising while living, and when dead (at £50 as reported). The beef of this surprising Ox was, as may be imagined, exceedingly fat and rich, insomuch that it did not stiffen; but, from experience, I know it took salt very well. The weight of the carcase, Mr. Pidcock informed me, was about 360 stone.”

It seems John Gibbons was very canny to sell to Thomas Clark before the Lincolnshire Ox risked dying under its own weight.

Such large oxen were not uncommon in the Long Sutton area with the marshes and pasture so rich that beast fattened at a faster rate than elsewhere. In the 1760’s we see Long Sutton grazier George Wallet rearing large beast that were sold and displayed in the Midlands weighing in at 243 stone. When Arthur Young visited George Wallet in Long Sutton in 1771 he observed how the cattle were reared, typically fed on oilcake and grazed seasonally.

It is generally thought that the Lincolnshire Ox were of the Hereford variety, some books and articles describe them as short-horn ox, but this is misleading as Herefords are not classed as ‘short-horn’ cattle, at least not today.

Whilst Lincolnshire was famous for the large cattle in the eighteenth century it was the short-horn cattle that would dominate the farms and markets of Lincolnshire, especially in the Fens, as we entered the nineteenth century, pasture would reduce and arable crops increased a trend that continued into the twentieth century.

As we enter the later 19^th century we see history being recorded in photographs. In these photographs we see a dominance, not of large beasts, but of smaller short-horn cattle.

[1] Kentish Gazette 22 December 1789