08
Dec
Tributes paid to former Yorkshire Agricultural Society president
This article is free to read. We publish about 100 articles a week all exclusively focused on local news. Please support independent local journalism by subscribing here. It costs as little as 14p a day.
Tributes have been paid to former Yorkshire Agricultural Society president, Margaret Chapman, who has died.
Ms Chapman, who was president of the society from 2021 to 2022, was a fixture at Harrogate's Great Yorkshire Show for decades.
She became the first female cattle steward of the show in 1975, then senior cattle steward in 1985, before going on to serve as chief cattle steward for over a decade.
She was offered the presidency in recognition of her extraordinary service to the show.
Show director Rachel Coates said:
It is with great sadness, personally and on behalf of the entire show community, that we share the news of Margaret’s passing.
Margaret was a hugely respected figure whose incredible dedication to the cattle section was testament to how keenly passionate she was about the Great Yorkshire Show and the industry that she loved. After more than half-a-century of voluntary service to the show, and as a friend, Margaret will be missed greatly by us all.
Ms Chapman's family history with the show stretches back more than 100 years, starting with her great-grandfather, Joseph Andrew Chapman who showed Dairy Shorthorn at the show in 1910.
She first participated in showing herself in 1944 at the Red Cross Agricultural Show held in York where, aged five, she won her first rosette with British Friesian calf, Herrington Ketchup. She visited the Great Yorkshire Show six years later, helping with the preparation of livestock when the Show was held in Malton in 1950.
Margaret Chapman in 1944, aged five, leading Herrington Ketchup at the Red Cross Agricultural Show in York.
Ms Chapman's love of cattle derived from her upbringing on the family dairy farm in Bishopthorpe near York. She would spend seven years in New Zealand before coming home and taking up a role alongside her father, Frank Chapman, in the pedigree cattle export business.
For the 160th Great Yorkshire Show in 2018, Ms Chapman's cattle knowledge was crucial in the design of the GYS Craven Heifer, a 6ft galvanised steel sculpture created by Whitby-based sculptor Emma Stothard. The sculpture was a recreation of the Craven Heifer, the largest heifer ever shown in England in the 1800s that was born on the Bolton Abbey Estate.
Allister Nixon, chief executive of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society said:
What Margaret has contributed to the show over the years is nothing short of phenomenal. The secret to the success of the Great Yorkshire Show is in its people, and Margaret embodied everything that the show stands for and celebrates: integrity, dedication and a passion for showcasing the very best of British agriculture. Our thoughts are with Margaret’s family and all those who knew her at this sad time.
Former show director Charles Mills, who was a close friend of Ms Chapman, added:
Margaret led an incredible life, one that was so full. She lived her life in a graceful manner and was a quiet and unassuming leader. Margaret was such a wonderful lady and friend, who always made me smile. She helped me so much from the very start, when I was thinking about applying to be show director. Margaret will be sorely missed.
0