96 OBITUARIES
ROY ORMISTON T
he creator of the Roybrook bloodline, Frederick Roy Ormiston, died at his home at Brooklin, Ontario, just two months short of his 101st birthday.
This remarkable man was active right until the end of a long and productive life. Roy was the youngest of five brothers, his father, Fred Ormiston was a noted Holstein breeder and his grand-father had emigrated from Scotland as a young man. When his father retired, the herd was split and Roy received five cows and a pair of Percheron draught horses.
After a short time in the chicken and egg business, Roy was offered the post of Holstein Association fieldsman which he carried out from 1944 to the end of 1951. By 1952 he felt sure he could make a living from his own herd and established the Roybrook prefix making it one of the most respected names throughout the world. In 1956, at 41 years of age, Roy applied for a bank loan to buy an exceptional cow bred by the Brown family at Bowmanville, Balsam Brae Pluto Sovereign, she was quickly dubbed as ‘the white cow’ and the deal was struck at $800 with a further $50 if she proved to be a 4%bf tester. As the Balsam Brae herd was not milk recorded, there were no production figures available to make such a prediction. The white cow calved a heifer calf at the Royal Winter Fair where she won the aged cow class and also best udder of show, later being voted the All- Canadian aged cow 1956. However, Roy refused a huge price for her because he felt she
would be a great brood cow as she already had an outstanding milking daughter back at Balsam Brae. The heifer calf born at the Royal Winter Fair was subsequently named Royal Delight and eventually she too won her class at the RWF and was named best udder of show. Her next daughter was Roybrook Model Lady and along with Royal Delight they made up the All-Canadian produce dam for three consecutive years. These became the cornerstone of a renowned line breeding program which influenced the world of Holstein genetics as well as in other Red and White breeds.
The most celebrated product of this programme was undoubtedly Roybrook Telstar, probably Canada’s most prestigious sire in the 70’s, after he had been sold privately for a then record price to Japan. The proudest moment of his life came in 1978 when Roy unveiled a life size copper statue of Telstar in Hokkaido. The herd survived for 38 years and on that memorable 1st October 1990, Roy gave the speech of a lifetime before
a huge international crowd of 3000 people. Not surprisingly, Roy’s sweetheart lot one, Honey, topped the sale at $85,000 to Sybil Edwards, Hemble, Cleveland, who lead a large contingent of buyers from the UK.
The sale grossed more than $1m and 74 head averaged $14,000. Today, the Honey family is well established across the UK and another prominent line descends from Burtleemorr Roybrook Inspired EX, NHS champion which flowered for the Firth herd in Dumfries. One of his favourite sayings was “It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.” An early fan of the showring, he certainly subscribed to the view that the hardest thing to learn about showing is when to leave them at home. After Briarwood Melissa, his last purchase in 1968, was Royal Winter Fair champion in 1971, she never left Roybrook again until she was in her final eighth lactation. A modest and thoughtful man, he was nevertheless a brilliant promoter of his product. And the Roybrook legend will live on.
Richard Beard
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