Jonas Webb (original) (raw)

Jonas Webb (10 November 1796 – 10 November 1862) was an English farmer and stock breeder who was responsible for developing the Southdown breed of sheep into its modern form. Webb was born in Great Thurlow in Suffolk but began farming in Babraham, Cambridgeshire in 1822. He acquired a flock of the then rare Southdowns from John Ellman of Glynde, Sussex and bred them to produce a strain of larger size, earlier maturity and improved fleece quality. Webb was also a noted breeder of cattle; his shorthorn herd was praised by contemporaries and won him several prizes.