It was selectively bred in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries by crossing large local draught cattle of the region with Teeswater Shorthorns of medium size.

In his Cheape and good hvsbandry for the well-ordering of all beasts and fowles of 1631, Gervase Markham describes the cattle of Lincolnshire as pied, with more white than of other colours, and with little crooked horns.

[5]: 229  One such breeder was Thomas Turnell of Wragby, who well before the end of the century had a herd of cherry-red short-horned cattle of medium size, fast-growing and quick to put on weight; they were known as 'Turnell Reds'.

[5]: 229  In 1895 a breed society, the Lincoln Red Shorthorn Association, was formed, and within a year had published its own herd-book.

[5]: 229 From the beginning of the Second World War until about 1956, a breeder name Eric Pentecost worked to introduce the polled gene to the breed while retaining its other characteristics; he first used a Red Poll bull, and later made use of Aberdeen Angus bulls, both black and red.