Frustrations and Fears: The Impact of the Rebecca Riots on the Land Agent in Carmarthenshire, 1843

Abstract

This chapter utilises the extensive correspondence of the Middleton Hall land agent, Thomas Herbert Cooke, as he becomes drawn into the Rebecca Riots during its peak in the summer of 1843. As one of the few Welsh case studies in the volume, this chapter draws parallels with Scottish, Irish and English experiences of upheaval and protest, and its impact on landed estates, and in particular, the role of the land agent. Analysing the archive of personal papers reveals information that would not traditionally be recorded in estate papers, namely the agent’s frustrations and fears. The letters are also revealing of the attitude of a newcomer to the local area, with Cooke critical of the use of the Welsh language in church, the agricultural practices of the tenantry, and poor quality of the land he was expected to manage. Whilst he appears as a rather melancholic character, pessimistic and critical, his tendency to worry was completely justified during the summer of 1843, when he witnessed at first hand the Rebecca Riots. This essay will introduce Cooke and his employer before discussing how the letters chart the activities of Rebecca and her daughters in the immediate vicinity of the estate. It will reveal how the land agent and his employer became targets of Rebecca’s wrath, highlighting the potentially difficult position estate middle-men held within society.