SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY 



The cottages that had fallen into ruins were eight in number, and five of these are 

 mentioned on land where six ploughs had been at work not long before. In three cases only 

 are the evictions on a scale sufficiently great to leave a permanent impression on the agricultural 

 development of the district. At South Cowton'^ I20 acres were changed from arable into pasture 

 land, 4 ploughs were disused, 4 houses had fallen into decay, and 20 people had left the neighbourhood. 

 At Southolme '^ 20 people were ejected, 5 ploughs rendered useless, 80 acres of arable land, and 40 

 of meadow turned into pasture. The evicting landlord was William Fairfax, Chief Justice of 

 the Common Pleas. A case at East Tanfield " presents a difficulty ; it is clearly stated that 400 

 acres of arable were changed into pasture land, and 8 houses were thrown down, but no mention is 

 made of change of population, or of the putting down of any ploughs. Whether this is due to the 

 carelessness of the scribe, to a desire to minimize the evil results of the change, or whether the 

 ploughs and workers were simply transferred to another part of the estate, is difficult to decide. 

 Mr. Leadam takes it as a case of 32 people — that is, four to each house — having been evicted. The 

 North Riding furnishes unimpeachable evidence of two serious cases of the conversion of arable to 

 pasture land, considerable hardship being involved ; one doubtful case, two cases where two houses 

 were thrown down, and one case where several cottages were destroyed. Considering that a period 

 of twenty-seven years and a large area is included, investigation proves that the theory of the 

 transformation of arable into pasture land to any appreciable extent is untenable except on the 

 assumption that the commissioners were corrupt and the commission futile. 



The acreage of the West Riding is 1,771,562 ; 2,345 acres were inclosed between 1489 and 

 1517, but 1,812 acres were taken from the manor waste for purposes of pleasure, no economic 

 change being involved. Thus only 533 acres were inclosed from motives of cupidity, with the 

 result that 1 2 houses, 4 cottages, and ' certa messuagia ' were decayed, 1 6 ploughs no longer worked, 

 and 58 people, according to the strict letter of the report, or 94 according to Mr. Leadam's 

 interpretation, were evicted. A flagrant case, however, occurred at Templenewsam ; Lord 

 Darcy, for the purposes of the chase, took 40 acres of arable and 40 acres of wood, and caused 

 4 houses, 4 cottages, and 4 ploughs to be disused. There is no reference to the number of evictions.'^ 

 There was little ecclesiastical inclosure in the West Riding,'" although the Abbot of Kirkstall 

 gained an unenviable notoriety as an evictor. At Moretoun 3 houses were thrown down, 

 3 ploughs no longer worked, and 12 people rendered homeless by his orders.'^ But his disregard of 

 the well-being of his tenants fades into insignificance before the policy of Henry Pudsey, lord of 

 the manor of Rimington and Bolton in Bowland." He converted 100 acres of arable into 

 pasture, knocked down ' certa messuagia,' and evicted practically a whole village, for 30 people had 

 to seek new habitations. He next turned his attentions to Bolton, where he summarily drove out 



12 tenants. A case of this kind, one landlord answerable for 42 evictions, lends colour to the 

 contention that Yorkshire suffered greatly from the rapacity of landlordism. It is, however, a 

 proof that evictions and conversions were exceptional. The Inquisition chronicles 58 evictions. As 

 the Abbot of Kirkstall and Henry Pudsey account for 54 of these, the remaining landlords can 

 have taken little part in the movement. But even where land was held in common, a change was 

 sometimes effected. The tenants of Alburg (Aldborough) had 1 80 acres of common arable land ; 

 by general consent they changed it to pasture.'* 



The subject assumes a different aspect when the East Riding comes under consideration. The 

 area is less than half the West Riding, slightly greater than half the North Riding. Unfortunately, 

 the Inquisition returns only give the absolute acreage in half the cases examined." During the 

 period 1,560 acres were inclosed — that is, almost two and a half times more land was converted from 

 arable to pasture in the East Riding than in the West. One hundred and thirty-seven people are 

 specifically enumerated as being evicted.*" The term ' diversa messuagia ' complicates the number 

 of houses that were rendered desolate ; 23 are mentioned, but probably 38 may be taken as 

 approximately correct. No individual landlord appears in such an unfavourable light as Henry 

 Pudsey, though the Church plays a more sinister part here than in the rest of Yorkshire. The 

 Provost of Beverley ejected 4 people having a house and using a plough.*^ The Abbot of 

 St. Mary's, York, inclosed 40 acres, devastated 2 houses, and drove 8 people from the village 

 of Hanging Grimston.'* The Prioress of Swine changed the arable land into pasture, pulled down 

 a house, and cast 6 people adrift.*' Indirectly, too, the Abbot of Meaux was answerable for 



13 evictions at Ottringham." The noted Duke of Buckingham converted 100 acres from arable 



"Leadam, op. cit. 133. " Ibid 238. " Ibid. 235. " Ibid. 240. 



" W. Cunningham, Gmvth of Engl. Industry and Commerce, i, 530. 



'° I. S. Leadam, op. cit. 241. " Ibid. 245. 



" Ibid. 245 ; 976 acres of common field inclosed at Aldborough in 1 808. 



" Although sufficient evidence is given to afford Mr. Leadam a basis for his statistics. 



'° According to Mr. Leadam's calculation, 194. 



" I. S. Leadam, op. cit. 246. " Ibid. 248. " Ibid. 249. " Ibid. 252. 



475 



