1900's rent figures

[How much]

Just been looking through some old deeds from a deceased relatives farm dating back from 1900/1901 and the rent for a predominantly grass farm of around 230 acres with 1 arable field some rough grazing some meadow and hay fields plus modest farm house and the rent yearly was £201.00 in 1900 !! I suspect that sort of figure was par for the course locally but that seem like lot of money for a 120 years ago the following year rent increased £3 or £4 , and in around 1920 it had increased to £245 and dropped back few pounds a few years later.

How that compare's to modern day rent i don't know but i was somewhat surprised at the level of rent

 

[Montexy]

That's about £25,000 a year with inflation.

 

[Gormers]

£110 per acre in today’s money

 

[How much]

That's about £25,000 a year with inflation.

Would that be valid comparison though ? would beef or lamb prices in 1900 be significantly higher per kg then they are now , or maybe lower ?

 

[goodevans]

Very hard to quantify though as it is easy for 1 man to look after a thousand acres now in arable or feed 500 cattle in an hour,you could easily divide that by 10 for 50 years ago let alone a hundred

 

[Montexy]

The £25,000 was just using a inflation calculator, not sure about the cost of beef and lamb as since the last war food has consibrably dropped in cost to the consumer.

 

[Hampton]

Found some old tender documents of my dads when he tried to rent a large farm in Warks in 1962. He offered £4 per acre for 1100 acres.

 

[goodevans]

If you found the tender documents does it mean he forgot to post them,no regrets though have you

 

[yellow belly]

in 1924 a farmer near here rented a farm at 5 shillings an acre given a 20 year term
the family still farm it

in 1904 an uncle of mine sold a shire horse for £ 3000

 

[Hampton]

If you found the tender documents does it mean he forgot to post them,no regrets though have you

No, he sent a letter, which he has a copy of. He was 24 when he did it.
No regrets from me. Interesting how things may have changed though.
Impressed with his ambition!

 

[goodevans]

No, he sent a letter, which he has a copy of. He was 24 when he did it.
No regrets from me. Interesting how things may have changed though

I'm sure the previous generation took opportunities at a younger age .Was he married then and was the home farm owned at that stage

 

[Hampton]

I'm sure the previous generation took opportunities at a younger age .Was he married then and was the home farm owned at that stage

He wasn’t married, and the farm was owned.
He was going to take some heifers to start a dairy herd there, and Grandpa was backing him.

 

[yellow belly]

I'm sure the previous generation took opportunities at a younger age .Was he married then and was the home farm owned at that stage

They started work a 13 so he had 11 years experience

 

[Cab-over Pete]

He wasn’t married, and the farm was owned.
He was going to take some heifers to start a dairy herd there, and Grandpa was backing him.

Do you mind if I ask where it was?

 

[Hampton]

Do you mind if I ask where it was?

Will have a look and post

 

[Hampton]

This was the one advert, their was another for a similar farm nearby to this

 

[yellowbelly]

Would that be valid comparison though ? would beef or lamb prices in 1900 be significantly higher per kg then they are now , or maybe lower ?

Last week an old account book belonging to Mrs YB's great grandfather surfaced. I don't know how well this will come out but here's a page from livestock sales for 1902 ..................

One or two excerpts....

May 15th......Fat cow Brigg market (now defunct).........................£19/13s/6d
July 23rd.......In calver..................................................................£18/10s/-
Nov 11th.....6 ewes Barnetby market (now defunct).........39s/3d each
April 1st......12 cross bred hoggs................................................43s/- each

 

[Lazy Sod]

In 1967, my father was paying £2.50 per acre for our 217 acre farm, with modern buildings, farmhouse and 2 cottages. We also owned 23 acres adjacent. We persuaded the landlord 's agent to grant us a joint AHA tenancy at £4.50 per acre. Bearing in mind that in that era tenancies we as rare as hen's teeth, we though that to be a good deal. I was 23 at the time, 3years later my father retired.

The next year, when other estate tennants were facing stiff increases, I met one of them at a farming meeting. I let slip how much I was paying and he said " so you're the ni**er in the wood pile".

 

[How much]

in 1924 a farmer near here rented a farm at 5 shillings an acre given a 20 year term
the family still farm it

in 1904 an uncle of mine sold a shire horse for £ 3000

The inflation calculator says that is £368,000 in todays money must have been some horse

 

[Cab-over Pete]

This was the one advert, their was another for a similar farm nearby to this

That is ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC!!!

My grandad was a herdsman at Home Farm for the Wheatley Hubbard family. He had his own tenancy on a small 33 acre farm near Berkswell too.

My Dad and Mum lived in Eardley Cottage on the Meriden Road, one of the cottages in that proposal. I lived there for about the first year of my life then my grandmother lived there until she passed away in 2001.

I have limed every field on those three farms over the last 25 years, some of them several times.

The Briscoe family must have taken the tenancy rather than your family. They moved from Northants if I recall correctly. They don’t farm it now, but other tenants on the estate have taken on the land and Home Farm buildings are mostly warehousing.

I feel very close to Berkswell. I only actually lived there as a baby but I know every farmer and landowner in the area. Many of my family lie in the churchyard and I have loads of childhood memories of the area. It seems a bit soppy but I’ve got a huge connection with the area. I now live just a few miles away and have never really considered going far.

I would love to know the other farm if you don’t mind. If it’s on the Berkswell Estate I would almost bet it’s the Mercote farms.