THE IMPACT OF AGRICULTURAL DEPRESSION AND LAND OWNERSHIP CHANGE ON THE COUNTY OF HERTFORDSHIRE, c.1870-1914 Julie Patricia Moore Submitted to the University of Hertfordshire in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of PhD September 2010 2 ABSTRACT The focus of this research has been on how the county of Hertfordshire negotiated the economic, social and political changes of the late nineteenth century. A rural county sitting within just twenty miles of the nation’s capital, Hertfordshire experienced agricultural depression and a falling rural population, whilst at the same time seeing the arrival of growing numbers of wealthy, professional people whose economic focus was on London but who sought their own little patch of the rural experience. The question of just what constituted that rural experience was played out in the local newspapers and these give a valuable insight into how the farmers of the county sought to establish their own claim to be at the heart of the rural, in the face of an alternative interpretation which was grounded in urban assumptions of the social value of the countryside as the stable heart of the nation. The widening of the franchise, increased levels of food imports and fears over the depopulation of the villages reduced the influence of farmers in directing the debate over the future of the countryside. This study is unusual in that it builds a comprehensive picture of how agricultural depression was experienced in one farming community, before considering how farmers’ attempts to claim ownership of the ‘special’ place of the rural were unsuccessful economically, socially and politically. Hertfordshire had a long tradition of attracting the newly wealthy looking to own a country estate. Historians have suggested that in the late nineteenth century there was a shift in how such men understood ownership of these estates, showing little enthusiasm for the traditional paternalistic responsibilities; in the face of a declining political and social premium attached to landownership, their interest lay purely in the leisure and sporting opportunities of the rural. However, as this research will show, the newly wealthy were not immune to that wider concern with social stability, and they engaged with their local environment in meaningful ways, using their energies and wealth to fund a range of social improvements. This research extends our understanding of just how the rhetoric of the rural was experienced by the residents of a county which so many saw as incorporating the best of the ‘south country’. In so doing, it makes a significant contribution to our knowledge of how this period of agricultural depression was interpreted by the wider nation, and the impact on social and cultural understanding of the place of the countryside within the national identity. 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work has been guided by the encouragement, support and academic insights of three supervisors, and I would like to thank Professors Nigel Goose and Owen Davies, (University of Hertfordshire), and Professor Matthew Cragoe, (University of Sussex), for all their help, patience and good humour in bringing it to fruition. I would like to thank the members of the History Department of the University of Hertfordshire and all those who attended the Cumberland Lodge conferences for always lending an ear to the latest struggle and their good conversations which helped to keep the whole thing rolling along. I would also like to thank the staff of Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies at Hertford, and the British Newspaper Library at Colindale for all their help in locating sources and dealing with recalcitrant microfilm readers. Many enthusiastic local historians have responded to my queries and I would particularly like to thank Edward Barclay of Brent Pelham, Lieutenant Colonel John Sainsbury of Welwyn Garden City, Steve Warner of Tring and Geoffrey Woollard of Ely for their help. Finally, to all my family and friends who have shared in the ups and downs, I would like to say thank you for all your support. I could not have done it without you. 4 CONTENTS Page No. Abstract 2 Acknowledgements 3 List of Tables 5 List of Appendices 7 List of Maps 8 List of Abbreviations 9 Chapter 1. The Impact of Agricultural Depression and Social Change 10 on the Rural World, c.1870-1914 Chapter 2. The Changing Landscapes of the County of Hertfordshire 48 Chapter 3. The Farmers of Hertfordshire 85 Chapter 4. The new wealthy and their understanding of the county 143 Chapter 5. The Political Climate of the County 188 Chapter 6. Conclusion 242 Appendices 256 Bibliography 326 5 List of Tables Page No. 2.1 Population change in Hertfordshire 1851-1901 by Registration 51 District 2.2 Population per Rural District, 1901 57 2.3 Size of agricultural holdings in Hertfordshire and England, 1881 64 2.4 Comparison of farm sizes for the Registration Districts of 65 Berkhamsted, Hatfield & Royston as declared in the 1871 census returns 2.5 Landownership within the county 71 2.6 Source of family or personal wealth for the High Sheriffs of 74 Hertfordshire, 1870-1900 2.7 Pattern of office holding amongst High Sheriffs of Hertfordshire, 75 1870-1900 3.1 Five year averages of corn crops imported into the United 88 Kingdom 3.2 Percentage change in average acreage of land under wheat, 90 barley, oats and permanent pasture in England and Hertfordshire, 1870-1910 3.3 Arable farms unoccupied as at June 1881 97 3.4 Numbers of farmers recorded as bankrupt in the London 99 Gazette, 1870-1913 3.5 Bankruptcies amongst farmers within Hertfordshire by district, 100 1870-1913 3.6 Combined bankruptcies of farmers, millers and corn merchants 101 within Hertfordshire by district, 1870-1913 3.7 Agricultural holdings by size in Hertfordshire 105 3.8 Farmers occupying 1,000 acres and more in 1881 106 3.9 Hertfordshire farmers appearing in the census born in 110 Scotland, Devon or Cornwall 6 List of Tables (continued) Page No. 3.10 Combined presence of Scottish farmers and farm bailiffs 112 3.11 Geographical distribution of Hertfordshire farmers born in 113 Scotland, Devon or Cornwall, 1871-1911 153 4.1 Individual public spending initiatives in Hertfordshire, 1870-1914 4.2 Individual public spending initiatives in Hertfordshire 161 consolidated by social class and occupation, 1870-1914 4.3 Golf clubs established by 1912 182 5.1 Hertfordshire election results, 1880-1900 193 5.2 Registered voters, 1885-1900 194 7 List of Appendices Page No. 2A Population of Hertfordshire 1851-1901 by Registration 256 County, Registration District and Parish 2B Population change in Hertfordshire 1851-1901 260 2C Population and acreage of rural Hertfordshire 1901 265 2D Owners of estates of 1,000 acres or more in Hertfordshire 269 2E Businessmen buying estates within the county of 273 Hertfordshire 2F References for Hertfordshire census returns 1871-1901 274 2G Pattern of office holding amongst the High Sheriffs of 279 Hertfordshire, 1870-1900 2H High Sheriffs of Hertfordshire and the source of their wealth, 280 1870-1900 2I Classes of landownership as defined by Bateman, 1883 282 3A Quantities returned and average prices per imperial 283 quarter realised of arable crops at returning markets within Hertfordshire, 1880-1913 3B Average price at market for corn crops 286 (per imperial quarter), 1870-1910 3C Livestock returns for Hertfordshire and England, 1870-1914 287 3D Grain and flour imported into the United Kingdom, 1870-1910 289 3E Five year averages for acreage of land under wheat, barley, 290 oats and permanent pasture in England and Hertfordshire, 1870-1914 3F Acreage under wheat, barley, oats and permanent pasture in 291 England, 1870-1914 3G Acreage under wheat, barley, oats and permanent pasture in 293 Hertfordshire, 1870-1914 3H Farmers recorded as bankrupt in the London Gazette , 295 1870-1913 8 List of Appendices (continued) Page No. 3I Millers, corn merchants and dealers recorded as bankrupt 300 in the London Gazette , 1870-1913 3J Farmers born in Scotland, Devon and Cornwall resident in 302 Hertfordshire, 1871-1911 3K Scottish farmers resident in Hertfordshire, 1871-1911 303 3L Cornish farmers resident in Hertfordshire, 1871-1911 307 3M Devon farmers resident in Hertfordshire, 1871-1911 310 3N Farming members of the County War Agricultural Committee, 312 1916-1918 4A Individual public spending initiatives in Hertfordshire, 313 1870-1914 4B Individual public spending initiatives in Hertfordshire by 322 social class & occupation, 1870-1914 List of Maps Between pages Map 1. Lines of Communication in Hertfordshire, c.1900 49-50 Map 2. Houses of peers and commoners with estates 73-74 greater than 3,000 acres resident in Hertfordshire 9 List of Abbreviations Newspapers and Journals Baily’s Fox-Hunting Directory Baily’s Country Life Illustrated CLI East Herts and West Essex News EHWEN Estates Gazette EG Hemel Hempstead Gazette HHG Hertfordshire Advertiser and St. Albans Times HASAT Hertfordshire Almanac HA Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire Reporter HCR Hertfordshire and Essex Observer HEO Hertfordshire Constitutional Magazine HCM Hertfordshire Express HE Hertfordshire Guardian and Agricultural Journal HGAJ Hertfordshire Illustrated Review HIR Hertfordshire Mercury HM Hertfordshire Standard HS Kelly’s Trade Directory for Hertfordshire Kelly’s London Gazette LG North Hertfordshire and South Bedfordshire Journal NHSBJ Quarterly Review QR The Royston Crow RC Transactions of the East Herts Archaeological Society TEHAS Watford Observer WO West Hertfordshire Post WHP Record Offices Hertfordshire County Record Office HCRO London Metropolitan Archives LMA 10 Chapter 1. The Impact of Agricultural Depression and Social Change on the Rural World, 1870-1914 Introduction This chapter will set a context for the thesis, exploring some of the different historiographical threads of relevance to the county of Hertfordshire in the latter decades of the nineteenth century and into the early years of the twentieth.