Old Billy

Billy's taxidermied head on display in Bedford Museum

Old Billy (also called Billy or Ol' Billy) was the longest-living horse on record. Old Billy was verified to be 62 at his death. ^[1] Born in Woolston, Cheshire, England in 1760, ^[2] Billy adventured and became a barge horse that pulled barges up and down canals. Old Billy was said to look like a big cob/shire horse, and was brown with a white blaze. ^[3] Billy died on 27 November 1822 at the estate of William Earle, a director of the Mersey and Irwell Navigation Company, in Everton, Liverpool. ^{[4] [5]}

Billy's skull now resides in the Manchester Museum. ^[6] A lithograph was published, showing Old Billy with Squire Henry Harrison, who had "known the animal for fifty-nine years", and a portrait of him is held at the Warrington Museum & Art Gallery. ^[7] Billy's taxidermied head was returned to Warrington from Bedford Art Gallery & Museum in July 2024, after a team of local artists set up a 'Bring Back Old Billy Committee'. ^[8]

See also

• List of longest-living organisms
• List of historical horses

References

1. Ensminger Horses and Horsemanship. pp. 46–50.
2. Meier, Allison (2013-03-04). "Morbid Monday: The Split Head of Old Billy, the World's Oldest Horse". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 2023-01-20.
3. "The Mane Facts About Horse Health". HorseFacts.org. Archived from the original on November 27, 2008. Retrieved 2009-01-16.
4. "Old Billy The Barge Horse". Historic UK. Retrieved 2023-01-20.
5. Goldsmith, Liz (2021-01-19). "Old Billy, the World's Oldest Horse". EQUINE Ink. Retrieved 2023-01-20.
6. "Amazing Facts From The Manchester Museum" (PDF). Manchester Museum. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-02-03. Retrieved 2013-01-16.
7. Meier, Allison (4 March 2013). "Morbid Monday: The Split Head of Old Billy". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
8. marketing (2024-07-12). "World's oldest horse comes home". Culture Warrington. Retrieved 2025-07-22.

External links

• Death of Old Billy