It was founded in 1799 and was first held at Wootton's Livery Stables in Dolphin Yard, Smithfield, London.
In 1839 it was moved to larger space, the Baker Street Horse Bazaar, where it lasted for four days and attracted some twenty or twenty-five thousand visitors.
[2]: 39 In 1862 the show moved to the new Agricultural Hall in Islington, London, which had been purpose-built for it by the Club.
[3] During and immediately after the Second World War, from 1939 to 1948, the show was not held; the Royal Agricultural Hall was requisitioned for the GPO in 1943.
[2]: 40 The Museum of English Rural Life's Royal Smithfield Club collection of paintings and prints of farm livestock executed during the period from 1775 to about 1860 includes animals which had won prizes at the Smithfield Shows of 1834 and 1851.