Haven Herefords is the oldest family run herd of

Hereford cattle The Hereford is a British breed of beef cattle originally from Herefordshire in the West Midlands of England. It has spread to many countries – there are more than five million purebred Hereford cattle in over fifty nations worldwide. The bre ...

in the world and is operated from the hamlet known as The Haven at

Dilwyn Dilwyn is a village in Herefordshire, England located about from the city of Hereford and from its nearest town, Leominster. It is situated on the northern edge of a broad valley that stretches from the River Wye through to Leominster. Runnin ...

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...

, UK. The herd is in its fifth generation and is currently being run by Edward Lewis.

Herd history

Thomas Lewis

Thomas Lewis founded his Hereford herd at ''The Woodhouse'',

Shobdon Shobdon is a village and civil parish in Herefordshire, England, about 15 miles north of Hereford, six miles west of Leominster, and 2 miles southwest of the Mortimer's Cross. According to the 2001 census, the parish population was 769, consisti ...

, Herefordshire in 1822, 24 years before the publication of the first Hereford Cattle Herd Book. Many animals were exported from ''The Woodhouse'' Herd especially to the United States of America in the boom years of the 1880s, although Hereford cattle had first been introduced to the country in either 1816 or 1817. Among the 1880s sales was Woodhouse Dowager 6th whom Messrs. Gudgell & Simpson bought, along with Anxiety 4th, in 1881 and became the cornerstone of the Hereford breed's presence in the US. The policy of Gudgell and Simpson was to line breed their early imports, and their most notable achievement was the breeding of Prince Domino in 1914: he was probably the greatest bull in the early development of the North American Herefords. There were at least eight crosses of Woodhouse Dowager 6th in the pedigree of this bull.

James Lewis

James Lewis moved from ''The Woodhouse'' when he married Margaret Bray, whose grandfather was a nephew of Benjamin Tomkins, the original breeder of the Hereford. The couple set up home at The Haven in 1888 and continued to breed Herefords. One of the cows that they brought from ''The Woodhouse'' was Teresa 2nd, who founded the Tiny and Thrush families that are still prominent in the herd today. Among his most successful bulls during this period was Leyburn, a notable breeder of the day who produced a son, Haven Turgot, who was Champion at Hereford Show and Sale in 1917. Turgot was the first bull to be brought out by a lady in Hereford Market, this being James Lewis' daughter as his son Edward was away at

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Edward Lewis

Edward Lewis took over The Haven from his father, James, when he married Beatrice Francis in 1928. This being the period of the

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, the first ten years of his breeding was concentrated on survival and maintenance of the best attributes of the Hereford strain. He managed this by acquiring Free Town Bodyguard in 1946, a son of Bodyguard. Haven Victory was sold to Senor Duggan from Argentina in the February Show and Sale and Haven Broadside, another son of Bodyguard, was the first bull to make 1000

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at the Hereford April Sale when sold to the

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. In 1948, Haven Idol, son of Tarington Magnate, was purchased by The Woodlands stud in Australia, where he proved to be an outstanding sire.

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viewed the cattle at Hereford Market in this year.

E. L. Lewis & Son

E. L. Lewis & Son was formed in 1949 when Edward's son, Leslie, and daughter, Sybil, joined their father. Their first purchase was Shucknall Favourite, who proved to be one of the top breed sires for over a decade. Many of his progeny were exported throughout the world and were almost unbeatable in the show ring. The Haven acquired the female lines namely the Pinky, Prunella and Julia families formerly of the Vern herd and the Lady Lynda's of the Tarrington herd. Still in the herd today. The ''

Glasgow Herald ''The Herald'' is a Scottish broadsheet newspaper founded in 1783. ''The Herald'' is the longest running national newspaper in the world and is the eighth oldest daily paper in the world. The title was simplified from ''The Glasgow Herald'' in ...

'' reported that representative animals from the herd "swept the boards" at the

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of 1964 and "stole the show" at the 1965 event. In 1976 the same newspaper noted that the herd was "internationally famous", with sales having been made to Canada, China, Egypt, Israel, Russia, South Africa and South America. It was also noted that Edward and Leslie Lewis had produced "many champion Herefords". At that time it was stated that on-the-farm auctions were planned to be an annual event.

References

;Notes ;Citations

External links

pureherefordbeef.co.uk
1822 establishments in England Hereford cattle Breeding History of Herefordshire