VILLAGE COMMITTEE 81 



estate would be disposed of as small holdings, 

 if the village so approved. Needless to say, 

 his offer was immediately accepted. Land- 

 holders' Court, Limited, was formed to con- 

 duct the business. Major Poore and his sons 

 were the chairman and directors, the repre- 

 sentatives of the villages forming a Land 

 Court Committee. 



The land and buildings and seventy-seven 

 acres of the farm, which it was decided to sell 

 as a single lot, fetched £700. The purchase 

 price of the remaining 112 acres was £800. 

 On being divided up, a separate value was 

 assessed on each holding. The prices ranged 

 from £30 an acre, for those holdings lying 

 nearest the village, and in some cases next to 

 the cottage of the prospective purchasers, to 

 £8 an acre for those farthest away. It was 

 thus found that the total selling value was 

 appreciably greater than the original cost of the 

 land. The village committee selected those ap- 

 plicants who were eligible to take up holdings. 



The leasehold of each property was acquired 

 for 2,000 years, the purchase money to be 

 paid in equal annual instalments of £lO per 

 £100 capital value, representing interest at 



11 



