The Local Historian Volume 12 Number 1 February 1976

By Paul Hair

The article focuses on population movement in the context of the survival of family names in the Herefordshire parish of Kingsland. The suggestion is often made that families in the past 'stayed put' and the study confirms that this was indeed so for some families. The research is very localised and no firm conclusions are put forward, but the distinctive name Luggore (14th century) becomes Lugger or Luggar in the 16th-18th centuries, and it is extremely specific to the area. It may derive from the name of the river Lugg, which runs through the area, and Hair concludes that its survival in the area for over five hundred years - before dispersal in the 19th century - does suggest a stability of population. He uses parish registers and medieval court rolls to provide evidence for the existence of the name.

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By John V. Beckett

An examination of the various systems of local taxation and revenue-raising in England prior to the abolition of traditional collection procedures in 1815 and their replacement by a standardised system based on the levying of an equal pound rate. Before 1815 taxation had varied hugely at local level. Parish or township taxes including the poor rate and church rate were collected at village level, while county taxes for highway maintenance, goal repair and other purposes were collected by the constables and administered by the justices of the peace. After 1738 these systems were usually combined into a general rate to cover all expenditure, and so property valuations were extended and became more systematic in order to cover all expenditure. Calculation of tax rates was based on two main methods: i) a fixed base figure, in which rates were raised on the basis that every property paid a sum which was a set unit, and that larger rates were levied by charging more 'units'; or ii) a 'book of rates', whereby each property was assessed using prepared tables, calculated on the basis of rateable value but identifying how much should be paid whenever a specific sum needed to be raised. There were always major problems resulting from the infrequency of rating reassessments, and additional problems arose in counties where there were different rating arrangements for different parts of the county. Disputes were very common and were usually settled at the Quarter Sessions. By the late 18th century, as urbanisation and industrialisation dramatically altered traditional patterns of rateable values, a revision of the system was urgently required and the 1815 Act provided this.

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By R.P. Elbourne

Examination of popular culture and pastimes among the cotton handloom weavers of south Lancashire in the 19th century. The difficulty of researching the oral traditions associated with song is acknowledged, one of the major problems being that only a small number of the more popular and widely-known songs were printed in broadsheet form. Weavers appear to have been enthusiastic singers at work as well as for pleasure, and it is suggested that some of them fostered music of a high standard, taking the art very seriously and singing and competing regularly at festivals. Elbourne makes particular reference to the Deighn Layrocks ('the larks of Dean'), singers at Dean in Rossendale who composed their own music and were celebrated across the region as a whole. Contemporary sources are quoted to confirm the popularity of the singers, and also to demonstrate their own view of their art.

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By Michael Turner

The fourth in the occasional series, 'Sources for agricultural history', the article begins with a review of recent work in this area, looking at: i) regional and local studies including the work of historical geographers; ii) the conversion of open field landscapes; iii) the changing pattern of settlement in central Wales; iv) the place of enclosure studies in wider discussion of English and Welsh agriculture; v) county studies; and vi) those which look at the detailed effects of enclosure on individual parishes. There is then a review of the work on particular themes within the overall subject of enclosure, including agricultural change; landownership; the cost of the process; the peasant community; farm numbers and sizes; and the cost-effectiveness of the process. Discussion of the role of non-standard documentary sources, such as hearth tax returns, glebe terriers, the 1801 crop returns, and land tax returns follows, and there is an assessment of the future development of enclosure studies. The second part of the article is a lengthy and comprehensive bibliography of articles and books on enclosure and local case-studies.

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By I.H. Adams

The fifth in the 'Sources for Scottish history' series, this article deals with the mainly manuscript plans which were produced for landed estates in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Adams discusses the reasons for the making of the plans, noting that agrarian change is a key factor in their creation - few plans show old undisturbed landscapes, most show newly-reorganised estates. He explains the whereabouts of maps and the availability of finding aids such as indexes and union catalogues, and gives special attention to the holdings of the Scottish Record Office, while noting that other archive repositories in Scotland also hold many such maps. A graph, taken from the listings in Descriptive List of Plans in the Scottish Record Office vols.1-3, shows that there was a dramatic increase in the number of maps produced after 1765, and scarcely any exist from before 1750.

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By Norman McCord

The author argues that local historians of the later 20th century were better equipped to research the social history of workers and their families than, for example, some professional historians, because local historians are less subject to the rigours of ideological dogma. He suggests that local historians should assess how far workers in the past have been interested in political and ideological questions, as present-day workers are held to be, and to analyse the validity or otherwise of stereotypes which have been imposed upon workers in the past. The article then focuses on pub names, as reflecting the attitudes of workers in the 19th and early 20th centuries to the issues and themes of their times. There is discussion, sometimes not entirely serious, of 'royal' names (Prince of Wales); neutral names drawn from, for example, flora and fauna (Wheatsheaf); names from sporting associations (Dr Syntax); and military or patriotic names (Trafalgar, Nelson); workplace names (Colliery, Forge Hammer). The article concludes with the suggestion that local historians should spend more time on investigating the needs and aspirations of workers in the past, and thereby gain immense insight into how our history worked.

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By Stephen Porter

Short note on the procedures for making probate inventories, which argues that there were no fixed rules involved and that much depended on the appraisers themselves. A key question, it is suggested, concerns the delay between the date of death and the appraising of the goods - this could have a material impact upon the scope and hence value of the inventoried estate. Using a sample of 125 inventories from all over England, Porter concludes that less than half the inventories were drawn up within a week of death, and less than three-quarters within a fortnight. He notes that longer delays had an important bearing upon specific items such as growing crops, and then puts forward some possible reasons for delay in making inventories.