For those who miss all the hustle and bustle of the exhibiting and competing as well as the fun that was had at the Royal Welsh Show recently, here is a look at the history of the first Show that was held 120 years ago.
It was held on Wednesday and Thursday, the 3rd and 4th of August 1904 in the Vicarage Field on Llanbadarn Road, Aberystwyth. This was the Welsh National Agricultural Society show. The society was founded earlier that year after Lewes T. Lovedon Pryse (who later became the third baronet of Gogerddan) called five gentlemen together for a meeting in a hotel in Aberystwyth.
We see from the Society’s minute book which is kept in the National Library of Wales that the Society was formed at the Lion Royal Hotel, where also the first President and Vice-President were elected and it was there that they drew up some draft rules to be submitted for approval to the first general meeting of supporters which was to be held some two weeks later in London.
That meeting took place on the 26th of February in Committee Room 12 in the House of Commons, with George Charles Herbert, 4th Earl of Powis as the President in the Chair. Among the seven rules that were passed, the first stated that the objective of the Society was to “be the improvement of the breeding of stock and the encouragement of agriculture throughout Wales”. The Society was firstly to hold an annual show with the aim of getting the best of stock from all parts exhibited in Wales.
With less than five months to organise the first show, they immediately set about making what was decided in London a reality, and by early August, it can be seen in the original catalogue that there were a total of 74 classes of competitions. There were 34 classes for Shires, Hackneys, Hunters, and Cobs and Ponies; 18 classes for Shorthorns, Welsh Black cattle, and Herefords; 18 classes for Kerry Hill sheep, Welsh Mountain sheep, and any other pure breed except the two already mentioned; and four classes for the pigs – White breeds and Black breeds. There were 482 entries and £904 of prize money offered (equivalent to over £90,000 today), including 34 special prizes confined to Welsh farmers.
In terms of machinery and agricultural goods, there were 22 stands exhibiting implements and farming equipment. Some had come as far as London, Liverpool and Manchester, while others were local businesses. Among them, Hughes Davies, The Emporium, Lampeter, had a collection of binders, harvesting machines and oil engines; David Ellis & Sons, an ironmonger from Aberystwyth with a collection of wringing and washing machines, cream separators and churns; and J. M. Williams, Coachbuilder from Aberystwyth exhibited a number of new carriages, including dog-carts and gigs.
One could imagine that M. H. Davis & Sons, Bridge Street, Aberystwyth had the most impressive display on Stand 6 and 7. They had the Royal Society of England’s First Prize Potato Digger manufactured by Powell Bros and Whitaker, Wrexham; Two-horse Mowing Machine by D. H. Osborne and Co. of Auburn, United States of America and London; and Improved Patent Hay Elevator manufactured by David Jones and Sons, Lion Works, Newcastle Emlyn – which won one of the medal prizes offered to exhibitors of implements at the show.
Among the livestock exhibitors, Edward VII had sent three of his Herefords from the Royal Farms, Windsor to the show, and amongst the Gogerddan Estate records, there is a copy of an entry form for Class 50 – for the best bull, of any age. According to the reports, his “Fire King” was awarded the first prize after what was described as a close competition. His other entries gained a first prize and a reserve prize.
In addition to all the competition and display of livestock and agricultural equipment, there were jumping competitions in the large ring and incubator demonstrations for rearing chickens. Entertainment was provided by the band of the 1st Cardigan Artillery Volunteers (Aberystwyth) performing a programme of popular music and a public luncheon was arranged in a marquee for three shillings.
According to a report in the Welsh Gazette, the weather was “delightfully fine” and thousands of people poured into Aberystwyth by road and by trains that had set up special services from the south, north and mid-Wales for the event. It appears that between 9,500 and 10,000 people attended the show yard during the two days.
The next five annual shows were subsequently held in Aberystwyth, before deciding to travel around the country in 1910. The show is now known of course as the Royal Welsh Show, after George V granted the Society in 1922 the use of the prefix ‘Royal’ in its title and had commended that henceforth it be known as The Royal Welsh Agricultural Society. Before moving to a permanent site in 1963, the show visited Ceredigion twice – in 1933 and 1957. Since it was held in Llanelwedd, Ceredigion has been the Feature County in 1967, 1983, 1995, 2010 and of course 2024. When considering that the beginnings of the Society were in Ceredigion, it was a strange coincidence that it was the turn of the Cardis to host this year’s show, and that on the exact year when the Society marks a special milestone in its history.
In the first issue of the Society’s Journal published (in accordance with one of the Society’s other objectives) in October 1904, the first show was described thus, “undoubtedly, from start to finish a great success. Particularly noticeable were those branches of the Show for which Wales is famous, that is, Ponies and Cobs, Welsh Black Cattle and Welsh Sheep, and this is as it ought to be, because a Welsh National Show should be an exhibition of those specialities for which Wales is famous.”
The motto that appeared on the original emblem of the Society in 1904 was “Llwydd a Chynydd” – “success” and “progress” in English. The Royal Welsh Agricultural Society, as it celebrates its 120th anniversary this year, has succeeded and grown throughout the years. The Royal Welsh Show, which the Society is responsible for organising annually, is considered the largest agricultural show in Europe today. This year, there were approximately 6,000 entries for almost 1,500 livestock classes and around a quarter of a million visitors attended the 150-acre showground during the four-day event, which celebrates and showcases agriculture and rural life in Wales.
D. Rhys Davies
Assistant Archivist
Category: Article