To Whom Belongs the Land: Change and Reform on a North Riding Estate, 1889 to 1914

Abstract Hugh Charles Fairfax-Cholmeley inherited the Brandsby estate in April 1889. He was squire for 51 years. This is a case study of the social reforms he implemented against the background of the political debate on Land Reform and the increasing economic difficulties experienced by landowners. During Fairfax-Cholmeley’s lifetime the traditional order of landed aristocracy and gentry, which had made good economic, political and social sense for several centuries, was breaking down. For agriculture, the years 1888 to 1914 were mainly years of depression, with falling incomes for farmers, falling rents for landlords and agricultural labour draining to the towns. Income from land declined dramatically. But during that time the sleepy village of Brandsby became a beacon of progress in the locality and around the country, due to its cooperative ventures, instigated and supported by this unusual squire. After the first World War Fairfax-Cholmeley continued to work in the service of agricultural reform in Brandsby and district up to his death in 1940 at the age of 76, through times of increasing hardship.