CREATION OF SMALL LANDOWNERS. 123 



an average can be accepted, the proportionate 

 numbers of the different classes of the 26,000 

 landowners amongst whom the land has been 

 divided are as follows : Yeomen and farmers, 

 4,836 ; shopkeepers and tradesmen, 3,456 ; 

 labourers and miners, 3,168 ; esquires, 2,624 ; 

 widows, 2,016; gentlemen, 1,984; clergymen, 

 1,280; artisans, 1,067; spinsters, 800; charity 

 trustees, 704 ; peers, baronets, and sons of peers, 

 576; professional men, 512; and about 3,000 

 others in gradually diminishing proportions, but 

 comprising nearly every quality and calling, 

 from the Crown to the mechanic, quarryman, 

 and domestic servant. The influence of this 

 change has not been confined to particular 

 counties, but has been more or less felt in all. 

 It has made an appreciable addition to the 

 number of small landowners in England, bring- 

 ing upon hitherto comparatively unproductive 

 wastes the individual interest and intelligence 

 of a numerous and varied body of persons, by 

 whose industry the best of these lands have 

 been made not only useful to their owners, but 

 have become available for sale and purchase, 



