The fate of the Midland yeoman: Tenants, copyholders, and freeholders as farmers in North Buckinghamshire, 1620-1800

Continuity and Change

Volumn 14, Issue 3, 1999, Pages 325-347

  Broad, John ^a  

^a LONDON METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

LAND MARKET; LANDOWNERSHIP; RURAL HISTORY; SMALLHOLDER;

UNITED KINGDOM;

EID: 0033493867     PISSN: 02684160     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0268416099003367     Document Type: Article

References (77)

1. J. H. Hexter, 'The myth of the middle class in Tudor England', in the volume he edited, Reappraisals in History (London, 1961), pp. 71-117.
2. E. Leroy-Ladurie, Les Paysans de Languedoc (Paris, 1966).
3. On this see numerous works such as L. Stone, The crisis of the aristocracy (Oxford, 1965), E. Kerridge, The agrarian problem of the sixteenth century and after (London, 1969), T. H. Aston and C. H. E. Philpin eds., The Brenner debate (Cambridge, 1985).
4. On this see numerous works such as L. Stone, The crisis of the aristocracy (Oxford, 1965), E. Kerridge, The agrarian problem of the sixteenth century and after (London, 1969), T. H. Aston and C. H. E. Philpin eds., The Brenner debate (Cambridge, 1985).
5. On this see numerous works such as L. Stone, The crisis of the aristocracy (Oxford, 1965), E. Kerridge, The agrarian problem of the sixteenth century and after (London, 1969), T. H. Aston and C. H. E. Philpin eds., The Brenner debate (Cambridge, 1985).
6. M. E. Turner, English parliamentary enclosure (Folkestone, 1980), p. 162, and 'Some social and economic considerations of parliamentary enclosure in Buckinghamshire, 1738-1865' (unpublished Ph.D. thesis, 1973, University of Sheffield), pp. 172-212.
7. M. E. Turner, English parliamentary enclosure (Folkestone, 1980), p. 162, and 'Some social and economic considerations of parliamentary enclosure in Buckinghamshire, 1738-1865' (unpublished Ph.D. thesis, 1973, University of Sheffield), pp. 172-212.
8. M. E. Turner, 'Parliamentary enclosure and landownership change in Buckinghamshire', Economic History Review 27 (1975), pp. 565-81; J. M. Neeson, Commoners: common right, enclosure, and social change in England, 1700-1820 (Cambridge, 1992), chs. 7 and 8.
9. M. E. Turner, 'Parliamentary enclosure and landownership change in Buckinghamshire', Economic History Review 27 (1975), pp. 565-81; J. M. Neeson, Commoners: common right, enclosure, and social change in England, 1700-1820 (Cambridge, 1992), chs. 7 and 8.
10. M. Spufford, Contrasting communities: English villagers in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries (Cambridge, 1974), chs. 3 and 4.
11. G. Nair, Highley 1660-1880 (Oxford, 1988), pp. 84-7.
12. P. E. Edwards, 'The decline of the small farmer: the case of Rushock, Worcestershire', Midland History 21 (1996), pp. 90, 98.
13. A. C. Chibnall, Sherington: fiefs and fields of a Buckinghamshire village (Cambridge, 1965), pp. 207, 237 ff.
14. W. G. Hoskins, Midland peasant (London, 1957), pp. 117-22.
15. H. J. Habakkuk, Marriage, debt and the estates system (Oxford, 1994), esp. chs. 1 and 7.
16. J. R. Wordie, 'The chronology of English enclosure, 1500-1914', Economic History Review 36 (1983), pp. 483-505 .
17. M. R. Reed, 'Enclosure in north Buckinghamshire, 1500-1750', Agricultural History Review 32 (1984), pp. 133-44.
18. On these see, for instance B. Sharp, In contempt of all authority (London, 1980), and J. Broad and R. Hoyle eds., Bernwood: life and afterlife of a forest (Preston, 1997).
19. On these see, for instance B. Sharp, In contempt of all authority (London, 1980), and J. Broad and R. Hoyle eds., Bernwood: life and afterlife of a forest (Preston, 1997).
20. J. Broad, 'Alternate husbandry and permanent pasture in the Midlands 1500-1800', Agricultural History Review 28 (1980), pp. 77-89.
21. Chibnall, Sherington, pp. 199-204; M. E. Turner, English parliamentary enclosure (Folkestone, 1980), ch. 7.
22. Chibnall, Sherington, pp. 199-204; M. E. Turner, English parliamentary enclosure (Folkestone, 1980), ch. 7.
23. Claydon House, Buckinghamshire, Verney MSS 4/2/26-7.
24. Ibid., 4/2/53-61.
25. H. Davies, 'The making of a modern landscape: Wotton Underwood 1649-1743' (unpublished M.A. thesis, University of Reading, 1983), pp. 53-6.1 would like to thank Helen Davies for allowing me to read a copy of her thesis.
26. See, for instance, K. Lindley, Fenland riots and the English Revolution (London, 1982); and Broad and Hoyle eds., Bernwood, passim; for the later eighteenth century opposition to enclosure is well covered in Neeson, Commoners, esp. ch. 9, and by M. E. Turner, 'Economic protest in a rural society: opposition to parliamentary enclosure in Buckinghamshire', Southern History 10 (1988), pp. 94-128.
27. See, for instance, K. Lindley, Fenland riots and the English Revolution (London, 1982); and Broad and Hoyle eds., Bernwood, passim; for the later eighteenth century opposition to enclosure is well covered in Neeson, Commoners, esp. ch. 9, and by M. E. Turner, 'Economic protest in a rural society: opposition to parliamentary enclosure in Buckinghamshire', Southern History 10 (1988), pp. 94-128.
28. See, for instance, K. Lindley, Fenland riots and the English Revolution (London, 1982); and Broad and Hoyle eds., Bernwood, passim; for the later eighteenth century opposition to enclosure is well covered in Neeson, Commoners, esp. ch. 9, and by M. E. Turner, 'Economic protest in a rural society: opposition to parliamentary enclosure in Buckinghamshire', Southern History 10 (1988), pp. 94-128.
29. See, for instance, K. Lindley, Fenland riots and the English Revolution (London, 1982); and Broad and Hoyle eds., Bernwood, passim; for the later eighteenth century opposition to enclosure is well covered in Neeson, Commoners, esp. ch. 9, and by M. E. Turner, 'Economic protest in a rural society: opposition to parliamentary enclosure in Buckinghamshire', Southern History 10 (1988), pp. 94-128.
30. R. W. Allen, Enclosure and the yeoman: the agricultural development of the South Midlands 1450-1850 (Oxford, 1992), p. 200.
31. Richard Gough, The History of Myddle (ed. D. Hey) (Harmondsworth, 1981), pp. 169-70.
32. Chibnall, Sherington, pp. 204-5.
33. Hoskins, Midland Peasant, pp. 195-200, 223-5.
34. See, most obviously, Gregory King's tables published in many forms. For the use of terms for farmers, see J. V. Beckett, 'The peasant in England: a case of terminological confusion?', Agricultural History Review 32 (1984), pp. 113-23.
35. On the Verneys' Buckinghamshire estates where most land was let out, there are no leases after 1710 in Middle Claydon, after 1736 in East Claydon, and after 1740 in Steeple Claydon. Except on newly enclosed lands, yearly tenancies were the norm from the later seventeenth century, and this continued until after 1870. See Verney MSS 4/2/1-175.
36. Allen, Enclosure and the yeoman, p. 199.
37. See, for instance, Verney MSS 4/2/27, dated 1623. Where the tenant did not provide all the capital outright he was often expected to pay for the building and recoup the costs over several years by rent reductions. See M. Airs and J. Broad, 'The management of rural building in seventeenth-century Buckinghamshire', Vernacular Architecture 29 (1998), pp. 42-55.
38. See J. Broad, 'Gentry finances and the Civil War: the case of the Buckinghamshire Verneys', Economic History Review 32 (1977), pp. 183-200.
39. M. G. Davies, 'County gentry and falling rents in the 1660s and 1670s', Midland History 4 (1977), pp. 86-96; G. E. Mingay, 'The agricultural depressions, 1730-1750', Economic History Review 8 (1956), pp. 323-38; J. V. Beckett, 'Regional variation and the agricultural depressions 1730-50', Economic History Review 35 (1982), pp. 35-51.
40. M. G. Davies, 'County gentry and falling rents in the 1660s and 1670s', Midland History 4 (1977), pp. 86-96; G. E. Mingay, 'The agricultural depressions, 1730-1750', Economic History Review 8 (1956), pp. 323-38; J. V. Beckett, 'Regional variation and the agricultural depressions 1730-50', Economic History Review 35 (1982), pp. 35-51.
41. M. G. Davies, 'County gentry and falling rents in the 1660s and 1670s', Midland History 4 (1977), pp. 86-96; G. E. Mingay, 'The agricultural depressions, 1730-1750', Economic History Review 8 (1956), pp. 323-38; J. V. Beckett, 'Regional variation and the agricultural depressions 1730-50', Economic History Review 35 (1982), pp. 35-51.
42. What follows is based on an analysis of the Middle Claydon estate rentals, 1679-1694; see Verney MSS 4/3/38-77.
43. This incorporates data from later rentals from Verney MSS 4/3/111/1-6 and others.
44. Allen, Enclosure and the yeoman, pp. 191-210.
45. Ibid., p. 177. This period of the early nineteenth century was, of course, one when grain shortages were a continuing fear, and much land was converted to arable even when it was not suited to grain production.
46. J. Lucas ed., Per Kalm's account of his visit to England on his way to America (London, 1892), p. 248.
47. H. Davies, 'The making of a modern landscape', pp. 53-6.
48. R. J. Moore-Colyer, 'The small land occupier in east Northamptonshire ca. 1650-1850', Midland History 23 (1998), p. 95.
49. Verney MSS 4/5/14-17, passim.
50. These figures are derived from an analysis of Middle Claydon farm sizes in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries derived from rentals and correspondence, and from the farms on the Bernwood forest lands in Boarstall in the same period. For the latter see Broad and Hoyle eds., Bernwood, pp. 79-81.
51. Hoskins, Midland peasant, pp. 225-6; Chibnall, Sherington, pp. 232-9.
52. Hoskins, Midland peasant, pp. 225-6; Chibnall, Sherington, pp. 232-9.
53. Hoskins, Midland peasant, pp. 104-33.
54. On Steeple Claydon, see W. Page ed., Victoria History of the Counties of England: Buckinghamshire. Vol. IV (London, 1927), pp. 226-8; for details of the Chaloner lands after the Restoration, see my forthcoming article.
55. Verney MSS 2/408-9 show Smyth and Lane relinquishing their claims in November 1669 and March 1670 respectively.
56. Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, Ca, STTM Box 5.
57. See Verney MSS 4/5/16-20 and 4/5/25-6, especially letters of 1673.
58. The deeds of the sales are to be found scattered amongst the Verney deeds, but the Chaloner counterparts to the original sales are mainly in 2/438-466.
59. Verney MSS 4/3/38-77 contain the details of Bates's tenancy.
60. Verney MSS 4/5/35, especially the letters of William Butterfield to Sir Ralph Verney dated 4 and 22 February 1682/3.
61. The relevant deeds amongst the Verney MSS are found under 2/497-9, 2/501-7, 2/539-41, 2/684-90, 2/675-82, 2/850-67. The remainder is found at the Buckinghamshire Record Office (hereafter Bucks CRO), BAS543-52/44 and D/X/1172/1-21.
62. Verney MSS 2/452, 2/460. The problems of a common name like this are always difficult, but Taylour is spelt with a 'u' in both deeds, whereas the Edward Taylor who was also involved in the sales is spelt in the normal way, as is the Middle Claydon tenant from the 1670s to after 1694 also called William Taylor.
63. Verney MSS 2/497-9; Bucks CRO D/A/WF/55/277.
64. Verney MSS 2/501-7.
65. Verney MSS 2/539-41.
66. Bucks CRO D/A/Wf/50/220.
67. Bucks CRO D/X/1172.
68. Verney MSS 2/675-82.
69. Verney MSS 2/859-67.
70. Verney MSS 2/684-90; Bucks CRO D/A/Wf/84/152.
71. Verney MS 2/510, will of Ralph Stevens of Steeple Claydon, 5 August 1702.
72. J. Thirsk (ed.), The Agrarian History of England and Wales, Vol. 5, 2 (Cambridge, 1985), p. 118.
73. Verney MSS 4/5/35, William Coleman to Sir Ralph Verney, 11 February 1682/3.
74. Verney MSS 2/452, dated 27 March 1684. 63 Verney MSS 4/5/37, Sir Ralph Verney to William Coleman, 24 November 1684.
75. Verney MSS Rentals 4/3/38-77 and 4/5/48, Joseph Churchill to Sir Ralph Verney, 4 October 1695.
76. Bucks CRO Q/RX4; for further details of landholdings in the years before enclosure see Verney MSS 3/14/13.
77. Verney MSS 4/5/68, Charles Chaloner to Ralph, 2nd Viscount Fermanagh, 18 December 1722.