Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1879-12-18
ENoLAND's OLD NOBILITY
Hcw the Great Landowners Ottained
Their Estates

How the Great Landowners OEtaiued
Their Estates.
The London Echo has been publishing
an interesting series of articles entitled
"Our Old Nobility" in which the
growth of the noble families in England
have been portrayed. In concluding
article thus sums up his views:
In one hundred chapters we have
briefly sketched the agrarian history of
a majority of our most notable aristo-
cratic houses. In my collections have
not been guided mainly by the greatness
OF their possessions, but rather by their
historic interest or present prominence.
Thus l have included some like the
Erskines and Fanes, whose estates are
small, and have altogether omitted peers
like Lord Tredegsr, with over 100000
acres, and Lord Penrhyn, with rent.
roll of EGG, 700. / have dealt in all with
l22 mobiles, owning in round numbers
nearly $500, 900 of acres, with rent roll
of nearly 95, 10000 an average owner
ship of As, 900 acres and an average rent
roll of over 10000.
1t certainly has not been my object
to seek out examples of what, for want
of a better word, will call the illegiti.
mate acquisition of landed property.
Yet the result is that those who can
claim that they have obtained their
lands by money solely acquired in COM
mercial or professional pursuits, are
singularly few--perhaps about dozen
in all. Compared with other peoples,
we are landless nation, and we are q
landless nation in consequence of con.
tinued encroaching upon the rights our
ancient forefathers possessed. Through
out the reigns of the Hanoverian kings,
landowners parliaments were constantly
passing Enclosure acts, desirable for the
most part, with view to increase pro-
duction, but resulting in the appropria-
ton of between 100000 and 100000
acres of common land, of which the
common people retained but very
small proportiOn--not more than 750, 600
acres in all. Occasionally / have been
able to point out where vast estates have
been increased by these acts, but gener
ally it has been impossible to obtain ex-
act information.
1t is worthy of note that anciently the
lavish grants of the crown were checked
by the power OF resumption. Most of
the vast estates seized snd retained by
William the Conqueror were dissipated
by William Rufus, who was compelled
consequently to resume the grant which
he had made, About the middle of the
asst century the grasping avarice of one
O, the Lowthers, in attempting to obtain
for himself large tract of Crown lands,
which had been previously granted to
the Bentincks, occasioned the passage of
what is known as the Mullins Tempus
act, which secured the grantees Of crown
lands against any resumption of their
properties. 1t is obviously impossible to
reckon up acre by acre the quantity of
land which has at various times been
obtained otherwise than by purchase.
The agrarian history of many of the
great houses is complicated by the
acquisition of property by marriage.
| have however, traced the previous his
tory Of such lands in q sufficient number
of cases TO show that we may safely pre-
sumo that, as rule, they hare been
acquired in much the same way as the
rest. After careful consideration of
all the houses 1 have noticed, bear in
mind the modern Enclosure act, and the
increased value Of lands due to the i'm
provement of tenants, cannot yet
arrive at the conclusion that not one
tenth of the estates in question have
been acquired for value received. All
the rest, in one way or another, has been
obtained for nothing.
A Rifle Wins BRIDE.