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New Mode of Management
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Contact
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A New Laird and a New "Mode of Management" The expiry of all of the farm leases on Stockbriggs Estate in 1824-25 provided an ideal opportunity for the co-landlords (through the Judicial Factor) to effect a dramatic reorganization of the farms. They could have further consolidated two or more adjacent smaller farms into one larger unit as was typical on "improved" estates. In the absence of relevant documentation, we can only assume that new leases were signed, effective 1824-25. It would be logical for the new leases to run for the traditional nineteen year term. Unfortunately, we do not have the rental for, say, 1826, so that we cannot be certain of the changes, if any, in the list of tenants pursuant to the re-letting of the farms. With respect to the major tenants in 1821 we have assembled the following details (see also the Notes to Table Two). William Wharrie, Craighead, died in 1833, and thus does not appear on the Electors List of 1839. His sons, Thomas and William, began farming Dalquhandy, part of Upper Stockbriggs, in 1835. His cousin, William, on the otherhand, lived at West Auchanbeg until shortly after October, 1828: he was in Bonefield in 1831 and an agricultural labourer at Netherfield at the time of the 1841 Lesmahagow census. William Fleming, "farmer, Stockbriggs" died in 1836 while Francis Gall was "farmer at Over [Upper] Stockbriggs by 1831. William and Thomas Pate were tenants at Cleughbrae and Yondertown respectively by 1832. (Hugh Wilson was living at Meadow by February, 1830, and had "quit the Meadow farm" by November, 1837.) William Johnston lived at Cleughbrae until at least July, 1827, and Muir Johnston, the new coalmaster for a time, lived at Auchanbeg until at least February, 1831. James McCowan was still tenant at East Auchanbeg farm in February, 1831, but he emigrated to Scarborough, Canada, in 1833. It is significant that new tenants, James Barr and Gavin Sandilands, had arrived at West Auchanbeg and Greenfaulds respectively by 1832. We have thus identified at least three changes in tenant between 1827 and 1833 (Cleughbrae, West Auchanbeg and East Auchanbeg) -- while we cannot be certain of any changes between 1821 and 1826. It would thus appear that the period 1824-25 was not the tenant turnover watershed that we might have expected it to be. Rather, a notable turnover in tenants occurred after a new landlord arrived in 1828.
Articles of Lease of the Farms on the Estate of Stockbriggs 1829-1830 Please recall, from the section "Expiry of Leases", that the Wharries and James McCowan apparently only had verbal agreements to terminate their leases on West and East Auchanbeg in 1824. Whether or not they actually signed new leases in 1824-25 is not known for certain -- but very likely -- considering the thoroughness of the Judicial Factor. But we do know, however, that James McCowan was presented with "Articles of Lease of the Farms on the Estate of Stockbriggs - Entry as at Martinmas, 1829, as to the Arable Lands...". To these "Articles" (ten pages in length) were appended the observations of a third party and McCowan's Offer. The "Articles" are unsigned and undated. We can only assume that these Articles were also presented to all of the other tenants, some of whom, presumably, likewise submitted offers. This researcher is not qualified to comment on the relevant legal issues -- in particular, the apparent cancellation of (the new 1824-25) leases by the new landlord, John Gibson, who purchased the estate in 1828. As Procurator-Fiscal (or public prosecutor) at the Sheriff Court in Lanark, John Gibson would have very likely been fully familiar with all of the legal opportunities to modify both land tenure and the landlord - tenant relationship. The "Articles" include practically all of the elements of the agricultural improvement thinking: the importance of dung and lime as fertilizer, construction of fences or enclosures, protection of plantings from cattle, weed control, construction of drains, maintenance and insurance of the houses, straightening of property and boundary lines, transition from the outgoing tenant and transition to an incoming tenant. Of particular importance in these "Articles" is the notion of recirculating the produce of the land back into the land: "The tenant to consume the whole fodder upon the ground, & lay the whole dung annually upon the lands." All of the tenants on the estate were required to buy their lime and coal from the Auchanbeg Coalworks, thus affording the landlord greater coal royalty income. The observations of a third party, "A. Smith", written on the last page of the "Articles", seem to suggest quite a serious debate between Gibson and McCowan. "A. Smith" was probably Andrew Smith of Fauldhouse, Lesmahagow. Smith was a local expert in matters pertaining to land, as he was Factor to James J. Hopevere of Blackwood, one of the largest landowners in the Parish. The reference to "arbitration", another formal legal process, is perhaps indication that some critical points of law may have been at issue in the Articles of Lease. It is possible that McCowan felt that Gibson was breaking some new ground in the landlord - tenant relationship and it appears that Smith was inclined to agree. McCowan's offer to rent East Auchanbeg, also appended to the Articles, is undated and unsigned. Presumably, the "regular and formal Lease" into which McCowan eventually entered included "the terms and conditions contained upon the ten preceding pages" (ie the "Articles"). Among these terms was an approximate four-fold rent increase.
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