Part Five

Farming

In the 1830’s the gentlemen of Harpford had to make returns on what the "payers of Harpford" had contributed to the various rates over a stated period, to survey the parish for the Board of Guardians, and to answer questions about acreage, what was arable, meadow, woodland and common land for the Tithe Commissioners.

The 1839 Tithe Map and Schedule for Harpford shows that there were 67 acres of orchard, 800 acres of arable land, 380 acres of woodland, 210 acres of common land.  At the beginning of each year farmer Podbury and others visited several orchards where they blessed the apple trees.  A hogshead of cider was provided and guns were fired at the trees after singing the following verse :

                    Here's to the manure which dresses the trees,
                    Here's to the tree which bears the bud,
                    Here's to the bud which bears the fruit,
                    Here's to the fruit which makes the drink,
                    And here's success to all.

From the Tithe Map and Schedule, Joel Carter is recorded as occupier of the farmstead called Harts. He farmed about 30 acres, mainly land to the north of the village.  Each parcel of land is identified and named on the Tithe Map, it included; Spurway Meadow, Muzzle Acre, Wood Orchard, Wood Close, Lone Close, Little Wood Field, Three Corner, Brick Plot, Outer Harts Grove, Inner Harts Grove, Higher Orchard, Lower Orchard, Hooper’s Hayes, Burrow Park, Shell Park, Deep Slade, Orchard Close, Denbury and Hill Close, Yonder Out and Yonder Three Acres and Hither Three Acres. Some of the land was rented from Miss Lydia Peppin and some of it was part owned by Joel and Thomas Carter with Lord Rolle.

Also from the same documents it would appear that from Lydia Peppin, Joel Carter rented two cottages and a workshop in the centre of the village.  At the time Lydia Peppin lived in a large house next to Podbury’s.  Her brother was vicar at Branscombe and her father had been Sydenham Peppin, surgeon at the Devon and Exeter Hospital.

The small cottage & the far right cottage rented by Joel Carter from Lydia Peppin

On the 1839 Tithe map, Podbury's was a larger farm than Harts.  It was owned by Joel’s mother, Mrs Anna Carter and farmed by Joel's younger brother, Robert Carter.

Big farmers and small alike were caught by sudden and steep falls in prices and panic amongst the country banks as occurred at the end of the Napoleonic Wars. It was reported in some districts that farmers themselves were asking for poor relief, even wealthy farmers were forced to reduce the scale of their operations and cut down on personal expenditure.  The incomes of small farmers were sometimes supplemented by other means, they might have time to spare to work on another man’s land, or might follow some by-employment, perhaps as maltsters, millers or carriers, or as manufacturers of such useful things as hurdles and barrels.  Their wives and daughters might also be employed in some local industry, perhaps lace.  Certainly lace was an important industry in Harpford and the surrounding villages, its centre being in Honiton. Generally though the wife helped on the farm, looking after the dairy and chickens.   The wife was a valuable asset to the business, and in the event of her early demise the loss gave rise to a serious labour problem as well as personal grief.

The Anti-Corn Law League in the 1840’s characterized the farmers as brute drudges, clod pates, and bullfrogs.  The farmer was unflatteringly portrayed as a rustic dullard, a servile retainer who unthinkingly followed the landowner’s lead in politics and country affairs.   If there were indeed many such farmers their ignorance does not seem to have coloured the picture contempories convey of the farming class as a whole.  True many farmers, especially the smaller ones, were deeply conservative in both their farming and their politics.   But it must be said that a degree of conservatism made sense when many widely advocated crops were unsuited to particular soils, the advantages of new livestock breeds were uncertain and the function and the reliability of novel machinery was unproven.   Equally it was sensible to vote with one’s landlord as the farmers well-being was bound up with the estate of which he was a part and when the farmers looked to the landlords to take up their grievances and to represent their interests in Parliament.

A large tenant farmer had considerable bargaining power, for example he could insist on repairs to the farmhouse and buildings.   Smaller tenant farmers lacked the big man’s financial independence and his scarcity value but they were rarely insecure.  So long as they cultivated the land reasonably well, were not drunkards, or a disgrace to the estate or disrespectful to the owner, or his agent and provided that they did not fall too far behind in paying their rents they might expect to go on indefinitely. Responsible landlords felt an obligation to leave their tenants undisturbed and allowed the farms to be passed from fathers to sons, even to widows or daughters.  In fact many farms remained in one family for generations.

During the early 19th century there were enormous improvements in farming methods.  The growth of zeal for scientific improvement came to a head with the formation of the Royal Agricultural Society in 1838.  The Society Shows did much to advance the use of machinery as well as the adoption of improved livestock, new strains of seeds, the use of fertilizers and drainage.   The Society's magazine was also an important facet but the gap between the well versed farmer and the common run-of-the-mill farmer was very great. The farmer was an early riser; his first job was to study the weather. The day varied with the seasons.   In summer he had plenty to do supervising the haymaking and harvest, in winter he might have had time to go shooting.  There were frequent visits to the nearest town to attend markets and to do business at the banks and perhaps attend the farmers’ club.  The farmer was hardly on a social par with the gentry, he was not welcome at the country ball but was a person of standing in the local community much superior to tradesmen and shopkeepers.

The Carter's social standing was much enhanced by the fact that they were overseers/churchwardens.

This is one of a series of related articles. Click forward or back to jump to the next.

Researched by Anne Speight,  © 2009

SOURCE MATERIAL
Rural Life In Victorian England.  G E Mingay
1839 Harpford Tithe Map and Schedule

NP-B-00005 Biography, Agriculture any