Most of us have Agricultural Labourers somewhere in the
family tree. Branch members wanted to know more about such ancestors
and where information might be found about such individual family
members.
Ian Waller began his informative and entertaining talk by summarising
the history of the agricultural labourer. Between 1800 and the
years just before the First World War, 70% of the working population
pursued land linked occupations. Many of the remainder – people
like wheelwrights and saddlers – were also heavily reliant on
agriculture for their living.
He then turned to how ‘Ag Labs’ lived and how a typical day was
spent. We ‘went into’ a typical 2 up, 2 down labourer’s cottage,
with a downstairs living room where family life took place, and a
smaller ‘workshop’ where things were cleaned, stored and mended.
Then there was clothing – often just one set of working clothes and
usually one set of very smelly boots, stuffed with dry grass, and worn
in all weathers for 12 hours a day at least! We moved on to the
labourer’s meals and his kitchen garden, tended early in the morning
before work in summer and on Sundays. Ian also told of
agricultural work carried out by children aged from 8 upwards (weeding,
bird scaring) and of the seasonal and lighter work done by the women
(also listed as ‘Ag Labs’ in the censuses).
The harvest period from July to September was the highlight of a
farming year and it culminated in a Saturday night Harvest Supper (a
free meal with beer from the brewhouse) followed by Harvest Festival
the next day – and, often, a number of illegitimate births about 9
months later!
Ian explained the significance of hiring fairs in the market towns,
which brought together men and women from villages anything up to 20 or
30 miles apart. And he ended this part of his talk with details
of their wages, the geographical variation (‘Ag Labs’ in the south were
much poorer than their northern counterparts), and the key role of the
Benefit Societies.
Lastly, Ian reviewed the many potential sources of information on
Agricultural Labourers. These included Quarter Sessions’ records,
Farmers’ diaries, Benefit Society & Charity records, the Parish
Chest, Newspapers, Estate Records (discipline records, wage books,
etc), Manorial Court Records, Tithe Maps, Enclosure Records,
Photographs, Poor Law Commission surveys, and Union records. If
time permits, and records have survived, there’s certainly plenty for
us to sift through!
And don’t forget that we also have the Museum of Rural Life and the
Rural History Centre on our doorstep in Reading.
In summary, this was a very informative and enjoyable talk that
comprehensively shattered any lingering illusions that 19th century
agricultural labourers enjoyed a simple but essentially happy existence
in some kind of rustic idyll. They most certainly did not.
BerksFHS
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