Return of Owners of Land, 1873
The two-volume Return of Owners of Land, 1873 is a survey of land ownership in the United Kingdom. It was the first complete picture of the distribution of land ownership in Great Britain since the Domesday Book of 1086, thus the 1873 Return is sometimes called the "Modern Domesday", and in Ireland since the Down Survey of 1655–1656. It arose from the desire of the Victorian governing landed classes, many of whom sat in the House of Lords, to counter rising public clamour about what was considered the monopoly of land.
In 1872, the Local Government Board was ordered to compile a list of landowners from ratings records. One return was prepared for England and Wales, and separate returns were prepared for Scotland and Ireland. The Return lists holdings by size and estimated yearly rental of all holdings over one acre. It is laid out by county and landowner, with an identifying address for each landowner. For landowners with extensive, scattered holdings, the address may not correspond to the land's location and may be outside the county in question. The location of the land is not given. A comparison with the Domesday Book survey was made in the Return Explanatory Statement. The 1873 Return had inaccuracies, and a revised edition—The Great Landowners of Great Britain and Ireland—was published in 1883 by John Bateman.
Origins
Until 1867 only about one-eighth of the adult male population had the right to vote, but the Second Reform Bill extended the franchise – to about one third. A consequence was that, for the first time in British history, most of the electorate were not landowners. The newly enfranchised class swiftly elected the Liberal government of William Ewart Gladstone, belligerent to landowners and Conservatives. Radical politicians like Richard Cobden, John Bright and John Stuart Mill revived the arguments of the classical economists, such as Adam Smith and David Ricardo, that land value enhancement was unearned wealth that ought to be taxed. Mill wrote:University of California economist Peter H. Lindert wrote:
Thus, allegedly exaggerated or false assertions had been made by critics of the landed classes about the concentration of land ownership by a ruling elite, and reliable, independent data was desired to refute the attacks. The question was put in the House of Lords on 19 February 1872 by Edward Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby to the Lord Privy Seal, "Whether it was the intention of Her Majesty's Government to take any steps for ascertaining the number of proprietors of land and houses in the United Kingdom, with the quantity of land owned by each proprietor". The government was in agreement with the suggestion, and Lord Derby's question was a pre-arranged formality to begin the process.
Publication
Lord Halifax accepted the case for the production of a Return, it was prepared by the Local Government Board, and was presented to both Houses of Parliament. The Return covers England and Wales, except for London—nearly 15,000 parishes, whose records had about 5,000,000 assessments. Instructions were issued to relevant parish officials in September 1872, and the last return was received over two years later. The first examination of the returns disclosed nearly 250,000 discrepancies, which were resolved by correspondence and other means of inquiry. All statements and information in the Return, except for owner addresses, were derived from rating valuation lists for assessments under the Poor Law and were already held by each parish. Wealthy householders and landowners paid a tax to maintain the roads, other features and chiefly to support the poor.Format
The columns were headed from left to right: "Surname, Christian name, Acres, Rods, Perches, £s. Area is listed as A/R/P. A is acre. R is rood: a ploughing strip 220 yards long and wide. Four roods equal one acre. P is a square pole ; 40 square poles equal one rood. Rentals are in £ and s ; 20 shillings equal £1. The £s value relates to the land's gross estimated rental. Problems were encountered in defining the headings.England and Wales
The Return was published in 1875 and sold for 10s 6d each in two leather-bound volumes as England and Wales : Return of Owners of Land, 1873; Presented to both Houses of Parliament by command of Her Majesty; London, printed by George Edward Eyre and William Spottiswoode. Printers to the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty. For her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1875.Scotland
The Scottish Return was published in 1874 as "Scotland: Owners of Lands and Heritages 17 & 18 Vict., Cap. 91, 1872–3 Return:I: Of the name and address of every owner of one acre and upwards in extent with the estimated acreage and the annual value of the land and heritages of individual owners. And of the number of owners of less than one acre with the estimated aggregate acreage and annual value of the lands and heritage of such owners in each county
II: A similar return for municipal boroughs containing more than 20,000 inhabitants.
Presented to both Houses of Parliament by command of Her Majesty; Edinburgh: Printed by Murray and Gibb, printers to Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1874".