The Crystal Palace Poultry Show (variously also the International Poultry Show and Great Poultry Show) was a

poultry show A poultry show is a specific subset of a livestock show that involves the exhibition and competition of exhibition poultry, which may include chickens, domestic ducks, domestic geese, domestic guineafowl and domestic turkey. Domestic pigeon ar ...

held at

The Crystal Palace The Crystal Palace was a cast iron and plate glass structure, originally built in Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park, London, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. The exhibition took place from 1 May to 15 October 1851, and more than 14,000 exhibit ...

in London in the United Kingdom. They ran from 1857–1936, with interruption by World War I. It was the world's largest poultry exhibition at several times in its existence, considered the pinnacle of poultry exhibition in the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

and despite being a poultry show also allowed the exhibition of

domestic rabbits A domestic or domesticated rabbit (''Oryctolagus cuniculus domesticus'')—more commonly known as a pet rabbit, bunny, bun, or bunny rabbit—is a subspecies of European rabbit, a member of the lagomorph family. A male rabbit is known as a '' ...

. It was hosted by the Grand International Poultry, Pigeon and Live Stock Shows, Ltd which was

liquidated Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end in Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and many other countries. The assets and property of the company are redistrib ...

in 1964. The show was superseded in its role by the International Poultry Show, Olympia which has also ceased to exist since.

History

In 1860 the first Sebastopol Goose in Western Europe, imported from Crimea, were exhibited at the show by H. Bayley. In 1861 the Secretary of the show was a Mr Houghton In 1872 50 tons of coal were spent to heat the building and two tons of food was fed to birds exhibited over the four days of the show. The supreme prize of the show was the Sir James Blyth Cup.

Exhibition numbers

Numbers of birds exhibited varied wildly over the shows existence. In 1892 numbers were falling, though the show still attracted 6300 entries. By the 1907 show was much more successful with 10,533 cages filled (the total number of birds unknown, as many cages held pairs) while the 1912 show had 16,257 entries.

Notable exhibitors

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...

Mairi Chisholm Mairi Lambert Gooden Chisholm of Chisholm, MM, OStJ (26 February 1896 – 22 August 1981), known as Mairi Chisholm, was a Scottish nurse and ambulance driver in the First World War. She, together with her friend Elsie Knocker, won numerous med ...

Elsie Knocker Elsie Knocker, later Baroness de T'Serclaes, (29 July 1884 – 26 April 1978) was a British nurse and ambulance driver in World War I who, together with her friend Mairi Chisholm, won numerous medals for bravery and for saving the lives of thou ...

George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 3rd Duke of Sutherland George Granville William Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 3rd Duke of Sutherland KG FRS (19 December 1828 – 22 September 1892), styled Viscount Trentham until 1833, Earl Gower in 1833 and Marquess of Stafford between 1833 and 1861, was a British po ...

Thomas Dewar, 1st Baron Dewar Thomas Robert "Tommy" Dewar, 1st Baron Dewar (6 January 1864 – 11 April 1930) was a Scottish whisky distiller who, along with his brother John Dewar, built their family label, Dewar's, into an international success. They blended their whisky ...

Robert Grosvenor, 1st Baron Ebury Robert Grosvenor, 1st Baron Ebury PC (24 April 1801 – 18 November 1893), styled Lord Robert Grosvenor from 1831 to 1857, was a British courtier and Whig politician. He served as Comptroller of the Household between 1830 and 1834 and as Treas ...

(then Lord Grosvenor)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crystal Palace Poultry Show Poultry shows Events in London 1857 establishments in England 1936 disestablishments in England Crystal Palace, London