1 - Agricultural rent in England

Summary

The payment of rent, usually due on Lady Day (25 March) and Michaelmas (29 September) but sometimes also on the other quarter days (25 December and 24 June), was one of the high, or low lights, of every farmer's life. If he had the cash to pay, he could sit back and enjoy the rent dinner and accompanying festivities with peace of mind. If, by contrast, he had to approach the landlord or his agent with the sad news that he could not pay, or at least could not pay now, or could not pay the whole rent, he must have viewed rent day with apprehension. Yet one way and another, year in and year out, millions of pounds changed hands in agricultural rents of one sort or another. It was perhaps the most substantial transfer of resources from one social group – the tenant farmers – to another – the landlords – before the advent of industry and banking in the course of the industrial revolution; and it must have been one of the most discussed and debated issues in rural society: who could afford to pay; who was not paying; who seemed likely to quit their farm at rent day because they could not pay. These and many similar thoughts dominated conversation in village pubs throughout the length and breadth of the land, just as the problems behind them dominate the correspondence between landowners and their agents or stewards.

The business of paying the rent was a matter for landlord, agent, and tenant, but the importance of rent as a guide to the financial health of the community and the nation is undeniable.