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ujc jam,use andfitted up, ition of a\N,d shiftingt perfect, h of the1 on the ;’s Head. ; Castie, Walton; lbot Inn,;; and of v viewinghold and of Inhe-luse, and Regent's mpstead-louses in . -To be Warwick ’Change-ovember,andridly im-;e at leastnvlm^eet, iead-itablished y eligible ases and uses west of which 1857, a? moderate3USES ; he corner k, Ellis, behind— ihaelmas, ids, esti-EMFLOYMENT OF THE POOR.The following interesting experiment is extracted from Keene's Bath Journal:—CoLEnNE, Oct. 23.—This village is in a very elevated situation, a short distance from the London road, and is therefore so prominent an object that few who have travelled from Bath to London can be unacquainted with its situation. It is particularly healthy, though cold and bleak. My business, however, will not be here to dwell on the beauties of the country, which autumn is now fast bringing into decay: I shall more particularly direct my attention to an interesting instance of the benefit of the letting out land to the poor.About fifty years ago the Hon, Mrs. Forrester left a sum of 3001., the interest of which was to be divided every half year among the second poor of this place—meaning those who had never received parochial relief. The trustees were, the late John Morris, esq. K.C. and, I believe, the vicar of Colerne. Sometime after a piece of land, called Fox Hole, about twenty-nine acres, was offered foi sale, and the trustees devoted the 3001. to the purchase of this land, which was subsequently let for many years to Mr. Sumsion, for the yearly rent of 151., which money was, agreeably to the bequest, distributed to the claimants at Easter and Christmas.theAfter the decease of .Mr. .Morris the management devolved to tl Rev. J. VV. W. Horlock, vicar of Box, who, thinking the land was worth much more than was given for it, gave Mr. Sumsion notice he would advance the rent; but Air. S. happening to have a different opinion on the subject, (for the land was in a very bad stale at that time, for want cultivation), refused to pay more, and quitted possession. Air. II. then, from a praiseworthy feeling ol benevolence, began to think how he could most profitably dispose of the land for the benefit of those among whom its produce was shared, and he hit upon the same plan which your columns have so strenuously advocated—that of letting the land in small allotments to the poor themselves, instead of dividing the rent among them. lie called them together, and asked them which they would prefer; and they one and all said, if the land were so divided among them, they should be made for ever, and tire land is, from this circumstance, called “ Afarlo fnr Otror ** Wo mill Karo itmia flin waiwaa nf 4-V. nn.Made for ever. We will here give the names of those who occupy the land, with the quantity of land each possesses, and the number of his children :—Charles Weeks, half an acre, no children; James Tylee, one acre, five children ; John Tylee, one acre, seven children ; Thomas Mullins, one acre, seven children ; J. Clark, one acre, no children ; Jonh Mitchell, one acre, three children j James Field, one acre, seven children; George Gibbons, half an acre, five children ; George Hemmings, half an acre, five children; William Aust, oneacre, five children ; Charles Weeks, jun., one acre, six children ; Thomas Osborne, one acre, seven children ; Thomas Davis, half anNNUM. S, neatly the back, y be oon-1 advan-unting to mated to:ouses,Cottages, may he lease to hirty-one :ed, if inacre, three children ; Isaac Rose, half an acre, four children ; A. Gibbons, one acre, no children; Henry Clark, one acre, two children; Joseph Baker, one acre, five children; John Beer, one acre, four children ; Edmund Jeffrey, half an acre, four children ; George Aluilins, half an acre, three children ; James Weeks, one acre, seven Children; Caleb Weeks, half an acre, six children; Elias Tuckey, half an acre, no children; Thomas Tylee, half an acre, no children; James Alay, one acre, four children; John Tuckey, half an i-cre, one child ; John Woodman, half an acre, six children ; John Weeks, half an acre, four children ; Henry Perren, one acre, no children ; John Butler, one acre, six children.The land that is not above enumerated is wood land, making in the whole about 29 acres.It would appear, at first sight, that the land was not equitably di-vided according to the number of children ; but the land has been thus let upwards of ten years, since which time some of the tenants have had their families increased, some of their children have died, and some have brought up their children, and placed them out :n life..NNUM. old of the and Six :t only toespective Is Arms; at Gar-es, Town en Thou-nel; the ifty-three ION, by it Garra-m Tburs-ts.rATES, reprising ckeridge, hole con-HTYvDng Land, and agri-;-houses, :ar water at Kill-us kindsch loam, ■I, which ialleasesNDSry highly forming George’s:ott, Esq. Jackson, s may beIt is impossible to arrive at any thing like an accurate calculation of the great good effected by this benevolent attention of the Rev. Air. Horlock to the interests of the poor. Certain it is that by this means thirty families, which, including parents and children, amount to 176 individuals, are kept free from the parish, and not only so, but they are rendered respectable, happy, honest, and useful mem hers of society, free from offenres against the criminal laws : they have a stake in the country, and are anxious to support the welfare of the whole community.But look at the improvement of the land : when first let to those people, a farmer left it, rather than pay more than ten shillings per acre; it is now worth, through the benefit of spade cultivation, near ten pounds per acre.It was a long time before the approval of the farmers could be gained. One of the largest agriculturists here told Air. Ilotlock it was a very bad thing. “Why sol” said Air. H. “Oh!” observed the fanner, “ they won’t do our work for us while they are engaged on their own land.” Mr. H. made a short and sensible reply, that they would be fools not to work for themselves first Air. Horlock saw clearly that tha fears of the farmers were groundless, as they have since proved to be. These men are the most steady and industrious labourers in the parish, aud~find time to do their own work and that of the farmers too, whenever their services are wanted.Some of the farmers are still blind to the advantages of bettering the poor man’s condition; but it is not yet tried here on a sufficiently extensive scale ; yet the good is evident. Independent of all the labourers above named, and their families, being free from the pa-rish, there are many of the second poor whose names are on a book which Air. Horlock keeps.for the purpose, in expectancy of succeeding to the possession of a piece of this land when either of the present possessors dies, who submit to any privation that they may not forfeit their right to it by receiving parochial aid. What then might not be the effect if 100, or even 50, acres, taken from a farm of nine hundred acres, were so divided 1 1 he effect would be, as I haveoften stated, the entire reduction of all claimants on the parish funds, excepting the aged and impotent.It only requires a little personal observation to convince any one, who is capable of impartially considering the subject, of the great utility of this systera. The land lies about a mil.; west from the village of Colerne, and one of the labourers told me he came thither to work early in the morning, returned again through Colerne to a distance of three miles east of the village, to labour for his employer, and frequently at night returned again to cultivate his own land: thus making a distance, by the time he again returned home, of ten miles.*I asked one of the occupiers if he would take 41. a year for his acre of land I He replied, he would not take double the money.The poor-rates-here, I learn on goad authority, are very light, but I cannot ascertain their amount. The parish is not only saved'from paying these industrious men from the parish funds, but many of them, very probably, pay their quota towards them.* This, however, is nothing to be compared to a poor man, namedHugh Blatchley, who died about two or three yeare since at Bath-
Newspaper Details
Morning Journal
London, Middlesex, GB
Wed, Oct 29, 1828
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 15 Mar 2025
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