Journal entry – John Grey – 8 Aug 1834

Friday 8th August



Sent Mr Hunt to value the Corn Tithes belonging to the Hospital, directing him as to the prices at which the different kinds of Grain should be calculated.  Wrote to Mr Hogarth of Scremerston reminding him of his promise to discharge his Arrear of Rent in the beginning of the present Month & to other Tenants on the same subject.  Received the Boards Minutes & the offers for Lowbyer Nursery.  Inclosed to Mr Fenwick a cheque in payment of this Account as returned to me, after being taxed, & wrote to the Moor Master for particular information respecting the party giving the highest offer for the Nursery, as I am not acquainted with his character & circumstances.  I now forward to the Board applications to be released from their Farms from the following Parties.



Shield of Rowleyhead.   The Tenants are three Brothers holding a farm in a high & exposed situation in Hexhamshire, consisting of poor Land, too high rented & too small to give them sufficient occupation, a new set of Offices had been begun to build, but left off, after making a Barn, Granary & Hovels, leaving out the housing for Horses & Cows, which must of necessity be added, as the old Stable & Cow houses are ruinous & in danger of falling.  I regret that the Farm, if it is to be given up, had not been relinquished last year & let together with Gairshield. This admits of tillage, whereas there ought to be none, or next to none, at Gairshield. They form a square laying Farm together & would command a more respectable Tenant, if united, than either will do separately; and the farmhouse at Gairshield is so badly constructed, that though not old it will hardly be possible to preserve it in habitable condition, but the materials would complete the necessary Building at Rowleyhead, at little expense if it could be dispensed with by laying the Farms together. Gairshield was only let from year to year, & though even in that case a Tenant should not be displaced, if he acts satisfactorily it is by no means unlikely that Thorburn may have to quit it at May Day.  In which case it will be well, to keep this object in view, before letting Rowleyhead.



Anthony Taylor - Fairl Farm.   This is a respectable Tenant occupying a Farm consisting chiefly of poor Land in Whittonstall.



John Harle - West Millhills.   Is an active man & rather a superior manager, his land, excepting an allotment on the Common at a distance, is of good quality, but too circumscribed to be occupied to advantage.  He has held it for several years at a very high rent and must be a loser by it.



John Temperley – Highwood, is the Tenant mentioned in my Journal of yesterday, as having poor Crops & falling back with his Rent.  This is a very small Farm consisting chiefly of rather inferior soil, & might have been annexed to the adjoining Farm of Westwood as formerly with advantage.



Joseph Maughan- East Land Ends, occupies a compact little Farm close by Haydon Bridge & manages it very well. It is a place sure to let at a high Rent at all times, from its situation & quality.



Ralph Milburn - Longhope, has some Property & pays his Rent, but Longhope is a miserable place, on the top of a cold hill, the soil is so poor & wet that in many years it does not ripen Corn, & to make matters worse is apt to rot Sheep.  It holds also the small Farm of Highside, about a mile off, but of dryer quality.



Henry Peacock of Esphill & Lightbirks, & Jno Hutchinson of Woodhall.  I place these two together because they have only held their Farms since May 1833, and I venture to suggest to the Board whether it would not be advisable to refuse their application, on the ground that there is no such great difference in times, since their taking, as to warrant their abandoning their Farms without longer trial, & because if such a practice were allowed, it would mitigate against all attempts at improvement, as well as lead to a reckless course of bidding for Farms,  merely as a temporary accommodation.



Thomas Dickinson - Tedcastle, holds a very small Farm at the extreme Western point of the Property, on the Banks of the Tyne, which is unquestionably very high rented. He is a very industrious man.



William Langhorn - East Millhills, occupies a good Farm on the North Banks of the Tyne, near Haydon Bridge, and is one of our best Farmers.



William Hunter - Whittonstall High Field & Edward Hunter of Whittonstall Hall Farm.   These are the Sons of Old Hunter of Morrow Field, who has been long a Tenant of the Hospital. They are a respectable & industrious family & inclined to do justice to poor Land, in an unfavorable district.



John Woodman - Beamwham lives at Grindon where his house has lately been enlarged, & occupies the adjoining Farm of Beamwham, upon which there is no tolerable House, were it not for the difference of the name & that they are under separate Leases, they would be better to be dealt with as one Farm.   Beamwham is intirely mountain Pasture & very good of its kind, but Woodman says that he loses money by it every year.



John Leadbitter of Dilston North Farm, whose application was before the Board lately. In his resignation is included also the Hall Farm which he entered to last year, & which of course he could not hold without the other.



Thomas Benson - Dilston South Farm.   This Tenant is in some Arrear of Rent & is not a capital manager. The Land is generally much inferior to the rest of the Dilston Lands, more resembling the Hall than the Haugh Farms, & part of it being on very high Ground near Dipton Wood.  As these three Farms are now at liberty at once, supposing the resignations to be all accepted, I would suggest a better arrangement of the Boundaries than the present, should the Board approve of it, by which the lands of each, would be laid more contiguous to the Farm buildings, and altogether more suitably for their occupation. The low part of the North Farm has been so much intersected by Roads & Railways since the Plans were made, & the Fields so much altered, that their Contents & even their names are not known.  It would be well before letting or even advertizing the Farm, to have that part of it gone over by a Surveyor & laid down in its present condition. [Marginal pencil note: ‘we cannot do better than adopt our Receiver’s suggestion’]



John Benson - Dilston Haugh Farm.    Mr Benson’s application was before the Board some Weeks ago & I need not revert to it now, farther than to observe that Mr Benson occupies the Park Farm also, which he does apply to be released from, this year, although he would most likely do so the next.  The two Farms work most conveniently together & there is a Machine driven by Water upon one & not upon the other.   If they should come to the Public, the two together might attract a Tenant of superior Capital, the opportunity for which would be lost by Mr Benson holding the Park Farm for one year longer than the other.  At the same time it is right to observe that there is no chance of obtaining such a rent for it as Mr Benson pays.  It is for the Board to decide whether they will release him from the one without the other, & whether in case of their doing so, they will not intimate to him their intention to hold him to the Park Farm if not given up now, to the end of the Lease. [Marginal pencil note: ‘the opportunity should not be lost.’]



Joseph Robinson - Greymare Hill.  He has done a good deal for the Farm during the five years he has occupied it, and with a considerable sacrifice to himself, but much as its condition is improved, he declares that he cannot make the Rent.