AgLab our man of the land

Printed in the April 2005 journal #55

- The Welsh Connection / Y Cysylltiad Cymreig

By: Val C Gregory

A selective look at the who, what, where and how of the agricultural labourers in our family history.
Agriculture the art of practice of cultivating the land. Agricultur(a)ist someone skilled in
agriculture.
Land
Much of the farming in Wales throughout the mediaeval period was of subsistence character, and
arable farming was important only in certain favoured regions, such as Monmouthshire, the Vale of
Glamorgan, Gower, and South Pembrokeshire. After the Union of England and Wales (1536), these
districts were sending their surplus produce grain, butter, cheese, and hides to the English markets,
some of it being carried by coastal vessels to such towns Bristol and Bridgwater.
In the middle ages, the typical method of agriculture was the Open Field System. The fields are called
open because there were no hedges or fences between the various strips. Householders in the manor
held strips of land scattered among larger fields. They also held haymaking and grazing rights in the
meadowland and pasture in proportion to the number of strips they held in the arable.
Laws
The bulk of all inclosures took place between 1750 and 1850. (The legal process is often spelt
Inclosure and the physical process of partition Enclosure)It was the development of industry in the
late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, which provided a market for farm produce and gave the
necessary impetus to improvement both in arable and in pastoral farming.
Under the stimulus of enlightened landowners and farmers, much experimentation was taking place,
but a knowledge of the new agricultural methods spread slowly. At the end of the eighteenth century
agriculture in Cardiganshire was in a very bad way. With the possible exception of some parts in the
south of the county, where the soil was more fertile and there were a few enterprising proprietors and
farmers, methods generally resorted to were as primitive as the implements and tools that were
commonly employed. In these respects, the landlords were as unprogressive as their tenants.
The Corn law of 1815
Although mentioned as early as the 12th century, the Corn Laws only became significant 1815. After
the Napoleonic wars, faced with agricultural depression, the landed interests in Parliament used their
political power to prevent prices falling. The Corn Law of 1815 prevented the import of wheat unless
the price of British grain rose to 4 a quarter (2.91 hl/8 bushels).
To a degree, the law was a success. It did help to protect British farming from foreign competition and
to stabilize prices. As they were receiving a high price, farmers were able to continue to introduce
improvements. However, the Corn Law pushed the price of bread too high, causing distress to the
poor. Business interests argued that, by driving up prices, they also forced up wages and put British
industry at a disadvantage in world markets.
Lord King was never in a smaller minority than he was on this occasion when he told his fellow
landlords that the only remedy for the public distress was the abolition of the Corn Laws. Such a
proposal stood no chance in the House of Lords or in the House of Commons. Lord Grey declared
that the abolition of the Corn Laws would lead to the destruction of the country. The Corn law was
repealed in 1846. Welsh Nonconformity were vocal in their support of the Anti-Corn-Law league and
succeeded in persuading the Welsh farmers that Free Trade was in their interests.

Corn mills are mentioned in a number of publications and can usually be found adjacent to a supply of
water. In Monkton, Pembroke there was a medieval corn mill at the head of the northern tidal creek,
and in 1906 was noted a fine old mill still stands there. A corn-mill south of Westbury village
where the Westbury brook flows into the Severn was recorded as Garne Mill in 1255.
Despite the description of the Welsh mountain roads as mere rocky lanes, full of hugeous stones as
big as ones horse, and Cardiganshire was by far the worst conditioned county in the Principality,
agriculturalists were amongst the people who came trundling down from London to visit Thomas
Johnes of the Hafod Estate. They were astounded by his cornfields.
Corndealers, were required to be licensed annually by the Quarter Sessions.
People
AgLab Before the Industrial Revolution, workers on the land constituted the largest single class of
the community, but also one that left few records by virtue of their occupation. However all is not lost,
some places to seek the AgLab. Parish or nonconformist registers for baptisms, marriages and
burials. Land tax, manorial records and the estate accounts of landowning families. Poor Relief
accounts, Quarter Sessions, trade and parochial apprenticeships. After 1837, civil registration
occupation can be found farm servant, Agricultural labourer, farm labourer. Sometimes on the
registration certificates, the name of the farm is given, using an ordnance map can help to place the
farm. The statistics of the 1851 census returns, 1,200,000 men and 143,000 women were earning their
living on the land.
A major draw card in the 19th century, was the free passage offered to agricultural labourers to settle
in the Colonies of Australia and New Zealand.
Some of the Welsh born who came to farm in New Zealand.
Mr. R. M. Roberts of Riverside, Culverden. Mr Roberts was born at Daventry, England, and was
descended from a yeoman family of long standing in the parish of Dwygyfylchi, Caernarvonshire.
Mr Thomas Kay, of Brockworth, Little Akaroa, Banks Peninsula. Mr Kay arrived in Lyttelton from
Wales in 1859.
J.H. Crutchley of Sunset Farm, Kyeburn River, Ranfurly, Kakanui Range. Mr Crutchely came from
Wales in 1880 and called his farm Wainaclare, after the county (sic) of Wales in which was his
parents home, Sunset House.
When Thomas Johnes of Hafod Estate in the County of Cardiganshire, visited his remote property in
1780, the dwellings gave him much concern. At the best a two-roomed cottage with a loft
accommodated a farmer and his entire family devoid of air and light and roofed with a rotting thatch
of oaten straw Thomas Johnes went onto re-house his tenants, provide a school on the estate for the
girls and small boys and free medical attention and medicaments were available for everyone. He was
rewarded with friendly smiles which had taken the place of the old scowls. His energy and enthusiasm
had not perceptibly infected the natives who worked as slowly and indifferently as ever, and it was
necessary to employ double the number of labourers.
On the 25th January 1763, on old woman aged about 90 yrs, of Lanederns farm was buried. She
never went to church, a dissenter. Yet the most charitable woman in our county. Many she filled and
especially the hard winter it made this time 23 yrs past. She gave a quart of corn to every one that
came by ye house and not few came..
February 9th 1775 a vessel bounden from South Carolina for Bristol, with wheat and floor (sic) etc.,
foundered and was cast against the Benricks near ye Sound Sully. By the 10th day, the country folks
broke to it and continued to steal away the floor by force of arms. During the night of the 12th day,
some broke the ropes that kept the vessel at stand and left her go, and next 4 following days, the tide
cast up the wheat and the people by hundreds gathered it, farmers as well as others and some sells
what they gathered for 4 s. the bushel.
Cardiganshire c.1837 The young women are well formed and not inferior in good looks to their

English neighbours, their prepossing appearances are however soon changed in the country by the
agricultural employments the females have to perform and the women grow up short with thick legs,
strong muscular and coarse vulgar features. Those who are more fortunate and procure situations in
General families as domestic servants preserve their natural comeliness.

Dick Thornton was one of the best-tempered and most good-natured lads in all Cornbury parish. At
half-past four in the morning, by the old church clock, Dick tumbled out of bed, dressed and was soon
on his way to Farmer Gibbons fields, armed with his badge of office, the strong, rough-voiced and
always ready rattle.
To scare away the birds from sunrise to sunset for threepence a day was poor Dicks work, and to do
him justice, he was a right capital scarer, but now and then, when the sun was very hot, and the air
very still, Dick occasionally had a quite snooze only forty winks. But, the birds tell a different tale.
Oh the hours they have been eagerly waiting and watching for Dicks noontide slumber. At last the
noisy rattle is silent. So when the scarer sleeps the winged one reaps. Those forty winks mean
perhaps forty ears of corn damaged by forty vigorous beaks.
Wake Up - "there can be no mistake Dick is in the land of Nod"
Memories of Annie Rhiannon MORGAN 1909-1993. She recalls her childhood in
Ystumtuen.remember the days of planting and digging potatoes. Up again at the crack of dawn,
this was an exciting time for children. Going with my mother to a field on a farm in the Spring and
return in the Autumn to dig them up again. Listening to the women having a real old chat and of
course tea and sandwiches at the end of a perfect day. In the Autumn a repeat of the spring, but this
time digging the harvest, and the farmer bringing the sack loads of potatoes to the different homes,
and they were the best potatoes you could think of. These potatoes were the main source of food for
the families in the months to follow, and a good proportion of them were kept in during the winter
months, for the feeding of the pigs and cows.
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Hiring fairs
Such fairs were generally held annually, but in the corn-growing Vale of Clwyd in North Wales, daily
or weekly hiring fairs were held in the villages and market towns. For the purpose to enable
employers to find employees and vice versa. At one time labourers offered their services to farmers
by sporting a wheat-ear in their caps. Masters and servants would be attracted to the fairs from places
miles away, and this is one cause of the mobility of families. Then we have the scenario of: servant
meets a local lass, they marry and settle down, the servant is now say 30 miles from his place of
birth. This makes the use of maps very important using them to draw a radius from the known
parish of marriage to search the registers for a possible place of birth / baptism. Keeping in mind the
topography of the land. The servants were hired for a year, but sometimes the practice of hiring for
fifty one weeks only meant that the immigrant did not meet the requirements for settlement. To
obtain settlement (1691), there were four ways: 1. by paying the parish taxes; 2. by executing a
public annual office in the parish; 3. by serving an apprenticeship in the parish; 4. by being hired for a
years service in the parish (this however, only applied to the unmarried).
The Harvest
The corn harvest created a seasonal demand for extra help on the fields. At this time those seeking
work, assembled between four and six oclock in the morning during the month-long harvest season if

they were seeking employment that day. The supper served to the reapers after the corn harvest
generally consisted of roast lamb and vegetables, together with a special dish, whipod, served as
pudding.
Rossett Parish Magazine October 1883. The Harvest Festival. This was obliged to be postponed
from the 27th of last month, and will be held on Tuesday, October 2nd. The Thank-offerings will be
given to the Funds of the Chester Infirmary. Gifts of Corn, Flowers and Fruit for the Decoration of the
Church, will be gratefully accepted.
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Education
To the majority of tenant farmers the study of agriculture, which in the middle of the eighteenth
century, had become a fashionable pursuit among the gentry, was considered irrelevant. In 1877, the
University College of Wales, accepted a gift of 200 annually for a three-year period to be used for
the promotion of scientific agriculture. A series of twenty lectures on Scientific Agriculture were
proposed, delivered to teachers holding Science Certificates. The translation of Henry Tanners
(Professor at the Royal Agricultural College and Examiner in the Government Department of Science)
First Principles of Agriculture into Welsh were distributed to 20,000 farmers. Tanner become
disillusioned by the apparent lack of interest and he left Aberystwyth in 1879. Extra-mural lectures
were widely advertised both in the newspapers and on locally distributed handbills. In the year 1892-3
in the counties of Carmarthen, Cardigan, Pembroke, Montgomery, Merioneth, Radnor, and Brecon, a
total of 175 lectures were given then numbers declined to just 32 in the 1901-2 period and they were
24 in Carmarthen and 8 in Cardigan. Of the three lecturers Thomas Parry only spoke Welsh and
attendance at his lectures are considerably more than for James Wilson or Alan Murray. September
1904, The College and Counties Farm 180 acres was secured on a 21 year lease at Tanygraig, south
of the Ystwyth Valley. The contribution of D.D. Williams both to the College and to Welsh agriculture
is acknowledged. He occupied a prominent position in the Welsh Agricultural Organisation Society,
he was a co-founder of the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society, a founder of the Agricultural Society of
the College and author of the influential book Agriculture for Welsh Farmers, published in 1904.
(we thank Mrs Joy Amos for the extended loan of the publication Mans Proper Study by Richard J.
Colyer. Joy, was one time of Frongoch Farm)
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MAKING HAY WHEN THE SUN SHONE by Margaret Crittenden
When I look back over my childhood days, in the late Forties and through the Fifties, it is the time
spent out of doors on the farm that is most vivid in my memory. And haymaking in the summer was
best of all. The farm was a small-holding really, a cluster of fields on the lower slopes of y Mynydd
Du - the Black Mountain. It had been a hard struggle for my grandparents to claim it from the
mountainside - to dig drainage ditches, to eradicate the all-pervasive reeds and gorse. But in the end,
they reaped their harvest - large pasture fields on which grazed a small herd of Ayrshires and four
hay fields which produced the sweetest, tastiest fodder a cow could wish for in the depths of winter!
We farmed in the traditional way - what would now be called organically - with equipment which was
old-fashioned even then and with labour-intensive methods. After all, what better use to put a large,
extended family to? When the men of the family finished their shift at the local colliery they too
would join our labours - part of the dual-economy of the area in those days.
The most important part of all was played, however, by Chess, our Welsh cob who worked untiringly
and goodnaturedly. She drew the harrow that prepared the fields in Spring, then hauled the haycutting
machine and finally pulled the hay cart with its towering load. I loved Chess. Loved watching her
muscular body rippling as she moved along, her rich chestnut brown coat shining. When she paused
for a rest, I would run up to her, looking into her huge, soft brown eyes, being nuzzled by her finelyproportioned head. She was part of my childhood, part of me, seemingly eternal, indestructible
As soon as the grass reached a good height, we all anxiously listened to the weather forecast on the
wireless - in absolute silence at Dads command. A promise of a few fine, sunny days sent the whole
family into a paroxysm of activity. Then the cutting would begin with my youngest uncle, Llew,
perched on the iron seat. For long hours, Chess plodded in straight lines, up and down field after field

until the waving fronds lay in gleaming, smooth symmetrical lines. The rest of us would follow
behind, unclogging, with our wooden rakes, the thick green clumps of moist grass when necessary.
With us trotted our Welsh, black and white collie dogs, Prince and Juno. They were in their element,
seeking out lurking frogs disturbed by all the activity and pouncing on them with great leaps and
yelps! I would break off from working to go and inspect their latest find - and distract the dogs so that
the quivering green creatures could slip away. It is difficult to decide who enjoyed these interludes
most - me or the dogs.
Then came the hours of the hay drying in the fresh mountain air and warm rays of the sun. The grass
had to be turned at regular intervals so that the undersides also lost their moisture. Like the workers in
the pastoral scenes in old paintings and those in Thomas Hardys Wessex novels, we worked our way
with rhythmic strokes, flipping the grass over, hour after hour. As the youngest, I found this very hard
and frequent rests were necessary, until Mams voice urged me back into line, blisters or no blisters!
We were allowed periods of respite, however. Then, flinging down my rake, I would collapse like the
rest of the family onto a soft fragrant cushion of hay. Out from the willow baskets would come dark
flagons of sparkling diod fain - a marvellously refreshing concoction of dandelions and stinging
nettles from my Aunt Ivys collection of home-made wines! I would sit there contentedly munching
my favourite H.P.sauce sandwiches and sipping the (slightly alcoholic) nectar. Simple pleasures with
not a bottle of Coke or packet of crisps in sight; pure bliss until the call to arms rang out once more.
When the hay was judged ready, we pushed it with our rakes up the lines to form large tumps.
Nothing was left ungathered. These heaps of hay provided excellent opportunities for jumping games
with visiting young friends and cousins - until the adults stepped in. I can feel even now the crisp
texture of the cut stalks, smell the sweetness, see the dried, wild flowers. And always, it seems, there
was the call of the curlew high above cutting through our childlike cries of delight.
Loading the cart with hay was a skilled job as stability was essential, especially on the steeper slopes
and during the swaying, jolting progress back down to the farm buildings. The hay had to be packed
down firmly around the tall, wooden corner poles to provide a firm base. As soon as I was considered
heavy - and sensible - enough (aged about ten), I became the one to stand on the cart, stamping down
the hay, moving rapidly the whole width and length of the cart - and making sure that I avoided the
pitchforks which, metal spikes glinting in the sunlight, tossed the clumps of hay at me. The level of
the load grew higher and higher until it rose above the wooden poles. To a young girl, it looked a long
way down to the ground Eventually, the load was complete and I would throw myself down onto
the hay on my stomach and clutch the tops of the poles as firmly as I could. Then would begin the ride
back to the rick over rough grassland with the cart lurching from side to side as the wheels hit a
pothole. I would cling on for dear life, the cut grass etching red patterns into my skin, only lifting my
head occasionally to try to catch a glimpse of the safe haven ahead. The hayrick was a magical place
for me - dark and enclosed with weak sunlight filtering through gaps in the wooden sides like pale
searchlights, their beams dancing with the dust of dried hay. I helped strew the hay across its base, the
level rising nearer and nearer to the roof until, for the last few loads, a ladder had to be perched
against the outside wall of hay to allow access through the small hatch at the top. As I was the
smallest and nimblest, I was the one who clambered up and into the increasingly small and
claustrophobic space to bed down the last few cartloads. It was a strange, dark, dislocated world up
there. The heat of the mass of new hay produced almost tropical temperatures and the soft, springy
hay made moving around physically exhausting. All I could see was an increasingly narrow ribbon of
sky and mountain top until, at last, there was nothing left at all. Then I would squeeze out through the
hatch and nervously dangle my legs in mid-air until they found the top rung of the ladder which
would lead me down to the ordinary world again. Eventually, inevitably, Chess, our faithful old
servant and dear friend, was retired and we moved somewhat belatedly into a more mechanised,
modern world. We bought a secondhand Massey Ferguson tractor and, well under the legal age, I
learnt to drive it, revelling in the power and relative speed of the gaudy, red monster. But it was less
reliable than Chess had been, more expensive to maintain and more dangerous on steep slopes, we
were to discover. The first step had been taken, however, and soon a baler churned out neat,
rectangular packages of compressed hay. Like some gigantic childs building blocks, these were
stacked onto the wagon and into the rick. A way of life was even then disintegrating before my
uncomprehending eyes. Today, there is no haymaking at all on the slopes of the Amman Valley. All
the well-husbanded, little small-holdings have more or less been returned to the mountain, have

disappeared as completely as that community of farmer-colliers itself. Large tracts of open-cast

mining cover the north-facing slopes, a municipal golf-course has swallowed up land once grazed by
sheep and cattle. Few of the original, Welsh-speaking families have survived, except in isolated,
ageing pockets. Only the backdrop of mountains - and the ghosts of the past remain, silently hanging
up their wooden rakes after the last of the hay had been gathered in.
(Our thanks to Gwen Wells for arranging permission for us to publish this article)
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Markets
Trouble in the Llanelly Market 1874, the hucksters from Swansea and elsewhere enter the market
and buy off all the best produce brought there from the country. They hustle everyone along and sidle
into every part of the market with their large baskets on their arms. This ought not to be allowed.
Societies
Agricultural Societies arose in many districts to help forward the good work. The first of such
societies in Wales was the Breconshire Agricultural Society, established in 1755.
In the Llanelli Chronicle 10th July 1902, Mr C W Mansel Lewis, at the luncheon in connection
with the Agricultural Show, made an important speech relative to the use of Stradey park for athletic
purposes. About 25 30 years earlier he allowed people the use of the grounds with a view to
encouraging football, cricket and sport generally. At a sporting event nowadays it was not unusual to
see 10,000 people on the grounds. Stradey Park was not a public park and use of the Park will have to
be re-considered.
The Rossett, Gresford, Pulford & Dodleston Cottagers Horticultural Society
The eighth Exhibition was held on Wednesday (September 1883) in Trevalyn Park. The weather
was very cold and stormy. The Rosset Church Choir Band, under the able leadership of Mr. C.A.
Stevenson, played selections of music during the afternoon and for dancing in the evening. The
Countess Grosvenor distributed the prizes to the successful exhibitors at 4:30pm, notwithstanding that
the rain was falling heavily.
(The prize list is extensive and will be published on the Welsh Interest Group web page).
For the Neatest, best arranged and best cropped Garden prizes were awarded to:
Parish of Rosset 1, H. WILLIAMS, 2, . BENNION, 3. P. FINCHETT.
Parish of Gresford 1, T. JONES, 2. E. EVISON, 3. J. CLUBB.
Parish of Pulford 1. T. WYNNE, 2, S. LLOYD, 3, W. MERCER.
Parish of Dodleston 1. D. NIELD, 2, T. CUNNAH.
The best in the four parishes, 5s. extra H. WILLIAMS of the parish of Rosset.
Special Prizes offered by Mrs. Potts, Horseley Hall. For the best specimen of darned stockings.
1. M. POWELL, 2, A. POWELL, Burton, 3, M. JONES, Marford Hill.
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Some words which relate to farming in general.
Field Arable land, as distinct from meadow and pasture
Detinue, Writ of a writ issued for the recover of a specific chattel, such as a plough, wrongfully
detained.
Copyhold A form of tenure for land held of a lord of a manor in return, originally, for agricultural
services. Each admission was recorded in the Court Rolls and copy of the entry given to the new
tenant, for whom it fulfilled the function of a title deed; hence the name Copyhold.
Harkye The harvest supper.
Statistics

We thank Allan Penney for providing the following and include his comments.
None of the Welsh reports appear to be held in New Zealand
Allan has not seen these Welsh reports and has no idea of their contents.
However, it might be a source worth asking for on a Genealogical visit to the U.K.
Board of Agriculture. Source: Kerridge, Eric; The Agricultural Revolution, George Allen and Unwin,
1967. Entries for England and Wales in his Select Bibliography, pages 362-386.
AGVA = A general View of the Agriculture AGVAC = A general View of the Agriculture of the
County.
AGVAC of:
Brecknock/Brecon 1794 Clark J:
Radnor 1794

AGVA of

Clark J

Cardigan 1794
Monmouth 1794

North Wales 1794

Kay G

Lloyd T
Fox J [Brentford]

Carmarthen 1794

Hassall C:

Pembroke 1794

Monmouth 1812 Hassall C

[Edinburgh]

Anglesey

Caernarvon

Denbigh

Glamorgan

Merioneth

Montgomery

Flint

AGVA and Domestic Economy of North Wales 1810 Davies W (see summary below)
AGVA and Domestic Economy of South Wales 1814 Davies W (see summary below)
Specific Agricultural Areas
The Phillimore ATLAS and Index of Parish Registers, C Humphrey-Smith (Ed) 1984
Breaks Wales into three regions
North Wales Anglesey, Caernarvon, Denbigh, Flint;
Central Wales Cardigan, Merioneth, Montgomery, Radnor;
South Wales Brecon, Carmarthen, Glamorgan, Pembroke;
Some reports listed above were not based on Counties, but on specific agricultural regions;
North Wales 1794 Probably Anglesey, Caernarvon, Denbigh, Flint
Updated Summary Reports seem to only cover two regions, but do they include the Counties of
Central Wales? They were North Wales 1810 and South Wales 1814
Summary: Walter Davies (1761-1849) appears to have condensed (and updated?) the Welsh Reports.
In the Dictionary of National Biography is written: He also wrote a General View of the Agriculture
and Domestic Economy of North Wales and South Wales, 3 vols., 1810, 1813 and 1816, 8vo,
published by order of the board of Agriculture; Note that this has 3 volumes, whereas Kerridge listed
two.
------------------------------------------------------------------Sources:
An Historical Atlas of Wales From early to modern times, William REES.
The Dictionary of Genealogy, 5th edition Terrick V H FitzHugh
http://www.tiscali.co.uk/reference/encyclopaedia/
The Town Labourer (1760-1832) Vol 1 J.L and Barbara Hamond
The Village Labourer (1760-1832) - J.L and Barbara Hamond
Rosset Parish Magazine 1883
Customs and Cooking from Wales Sian Llewellyn

Hassall C

A History of Wales John Davies

The Customs and Traditions of Wales Trefor M. Owen
Mans Proper Study Richard J Colyer
Peacocks in Paradise (Hafod Estate Cardiganshire) Elizabeth Inglis Jones
Maps in Wales Margaret Davies
Im a stranger here myself, The Story of a Welsh Farm John Seymour
The Victoria History of the County of Gloucester, Volume X.
A Llanelli Chronicle compiled by Gareth Hughes
The Cambrian- Glynden Trollope
Diary of William Thomas 1762-1795 (microfiche)
Gathering the Jewels http://www.gtj.org.uk
Farms and Stations of New Zealand, vol.1, vol. 2, vol 3.