- Jonas Webb
Jonas Webb (
10 November 1796 –10 November 1862 ) was an Englishfarmer and stockbreeder who was responsible for developing the Southdownbreed of sheep into its modern form.Webb was born in
Great Thurlow inSuffolk , but began farming inBabraham ,Cambridgeshire in 1822. He acquired a flock of the then rare Southdowns fromJohn Ellman ofGlynde ,Sussex and bred them to produce a strain of larger size, earlier maturity and improved fleece quality.By the 1830s he had become the leading breeder of Southdowns, and in the 1840s and 1850s won prizes at virtually every annual
Royal Agricultural Society exhibition, until in 1860 he won all six prizes offered by the society for rams. He achieved international recognition in 1855 at theParis Universal Exhibition , winning a gold medal. EmperorNapoleon III admired his exhibits and was presented with Webb's prize ram in return.Webb was also a noted breeder of
cattle ; hisshorthorn herd was praised by contemporaries and won him several prizes.Webb died in 1862, shortly after breaking up his flocks and retiring. His sheep were exported all over the world, to countries including
France ,Spain ,Australia andNew Zealand . He was commemorated with astatue at theCambridge Corn Exchange , which is now located in his home village of Babraham.References
*Ernest Clarke, ‘Webb, Jonas (1796–1862)’, rev. Anne Pimlott Baker,
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography ,Oxford University Press , 2004, [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/28926 doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/28926]
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