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Population, millions

Population, millions. Land Ownership. Prior to 14 th century, most land was common Land was stolen in land grabs over 400 years Feudalisation Appropriation of church property Legal reform Today 51% of Scotland owned by 431 individuals 66% England owned by 36,000 individuals.

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Population, millions

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  1. Population, millions U3A PPS, Oct 2013

  2. Land Ownership Prior to 14th century, most land was common Land was stolen in land grabs over 400 years Feudalisation Appropriation of church property Legal reform Today 51% of Scotland owned by 431 individuals 66% England owned by 36,000 individuals U3A PPS, Oct 2013

  3. Enclosures Between 1760 and 1870, about 7 million acres (about one sixth the area of England) were changed, by some 4,000 acts of parliament, from common land to enclosed land. However necessary this process might or might not have been for the improvement of agriculture; it was downright theft. Millions of people had customary and legal access to lands and the basis of an independent livelihood was snatched away from them. U3A PPS, Oct 2013

  4. Historian and Sec of State for Scotland wrote in 1909 Show the people that our Old Nobility is not noble, that its lands are stolen – either by force of fraud; show people that the title deeds are rapine, murder, massacre, cheating or court harlotry; dissolve the halo of divinity that surrounds the hereditary title; let the people clearly understand that our present House of Lords is composed largely if descendants of successful pirates and rogues, do these things and you shatter the Romance that keeps the nation numb and spellbound while privilege picks our pockets. U3A PPS, Oct 2013

  5. The main arguments in favour of enclosure were: that the open field system prevented "improvement", for example the introduction of clover, turnips and four course rotations, because individuals could not innovate. that the waste lands and common pastures were "bare-worn" or full of scrub, and overstocked with half-starved beasts. that those who survived on the commons were (a) lazy and (b) impoverished (in other words "not inclined to work for wages"), and that enclosure of the commons would force them into employment. U3A PPS, Oct 2013

  6. The main arguments against enclosure were: common pastures and waste lands were the mainstay of the independent poor; when they were overgrazed, that was often as a result of overstocking by the wealthiest commoners who were the people agitating for enclosure. enclosure would engross already wealthy landowners, force poor people off the land and into urban slums, and result in depopulation. U3A PPS, Oct 2013

  7. Effects of Enclosure Smallholders forced into unemployment Self-sufficient open field villages replaced by tenant farms and labourers Mechanisation became practicable Agricultural labourers’ wage fell by 1/3 Swing Riots Wealth gap widened U3A PPS, Oct 2013

  8. The SpeenhamlandSystem, 1795 A method of giving relief to the poor, based on the price of bread and the number of children a man had. Famine was a distinct possibility and there was a fear among the ruling classes that the lower orders might be tempted to emulate the French, and revolt it is thought that the system saved many families from starvation. Some said that the system tended to increase the population because it encouraged labourers to marry earlier and have more children so the family could claim on the poor rates U3A PPS, Oct 2013

  9. Was it Legal? Legislature, Judiciary and Executive were all in the hands of land owners, under the patronage of the crown, who legalised their theft and supressed the common man. Universal suffrage has created partial democracy. Land and property bestow privilege and influence. Land reform is needed for full democracy Would this be desirable? U3A PPS, Oct 2013

  10. Some significant dates 1536 Dissolution of the monasteries 1642 to 1651 Civil War 1649 The Levellers 1660 Restoration of the monarchy 1698 Darien fiasco 1707 Act of Union (Scotland) 1745 Jacobite rising 1780 to 1850 Clearances (Scotland) 1760 to 1870 Enclosure Acts (England) U3A PPS, Oct 2013

  11. Some significant dates 1801 Act of Union (Ireland) 1811 Luddites (England) 1830 Swing Riots, 1834 Tolpuddle Martyrs 1851 English rural population 50% 1880 Land Reform movement (Ireland) 1880 Boycott (Ireland) 1903 Wyndham Act (Ireland) U3A PPS, Oct 2013

  12. Questions to consider • Was enclosure inevitable? • Desirable? • Effective? • Fair? • Irish and Scottish were not treated differently to the English? • Any agitation should have been a class issue, not nationalistic? • What should we do about land ownership now and in future? • Land reform? (is it a Scottish devolution issue?) • Would Land Tax be effective and more equitable? U3A PPS, Oct 2013

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