Being a large specimen with desirable characteristics of what would become the Shorthorn breed, the Durham Ox was toured around England riding in a special wagon pulled by four horses. I find nothing on record to suggest he was ever used as a draft animal. Estimates of his weight ran as high as 270 stone (1,715 kilograms or 3,781 pounds).
He dislocated a hip in 1807 while unloading from his wagon. When the hip failed to heal, and the ox was slaughtered (two-months later), he had apparently lost some condition; his carcass weighed in at only 189 stone (1,200 kilograms or 2,646 pounds); still quite a large animal.
The Durham Ox had become so popular that he became the subject of several famous turn-of-the-century paintings, and several English inns and pubs are named after him.
A Durham Ox Dinner Platter
(blue transferware)
2 comments:
My husband's ancestor was John Day who showed the Durham Ox around England. We have one of the prints from John Boultbee's engraving that came to Canada in 1831 with John Day's daughter Bridget and her husband Luke Oxby.
That is so interesting! We are watching a show called Time Crashers that is showing the Durham Ox. My family came from England to America bringing Hereford Cattle.
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