The Victorian Ag Lab, Barry Williams

At our October meeting members of the Fenland Family History Society were reminded by our speaker, Barry Williams, how the vast majority of our ancestors were humble agricultural labourers otherwise known as “ag. labs.”. Barry is a teacher in Ramsey who has moonlighted, writing for the Family Tree Magazine. Despite all of us being familiar with ag. labs., they are not easy to define as each was a unique individual doing a range of different jobs. Most were multi-skilled. In 1851 1 in 9 were women. The average age at marriage for women, 28 years before Victorian times, came down to 21 or 22. The population grew but death rates were high – the life expectancy of an American slave was 4 years higher than an English ag. lab. Over the period of Victoria’s reign, the conditions of the ag. lab. varied over time.
1830s to late 1840s
During this period farming was in a bad way due to the artificially high price of food due to the Corn Laws. Corn was the staple diet supplemented only by what ever animals could be kept and the Corn Laws kept the price of high. Although the ag. lab. was employed producing food, this was for sale and he had to by everything he needs, including the high priced food, from his wages. For the majority, life was not very nice. Although stockmen, shepherds, some general field hands and travelling ploughmen for part of the year were in regular employment, a high percentage were journeymen. That is, they were employed and paid on a daily basis we would today call casual employment and there was a great deal of discontent. People who owned land were better off than those who worked it but many would also have been described as ag. labs. And only the big farmers benefited.Until the 1830s, threshing provided winter work and the winter wages were essential to see the ag. labs. and their families through the summer until the next harvest. Then the threshing machine was introduced. Change, progress and things getting better are not synonymous and the discontent turned to riots. The riots, named for the mythical Captain Swing, took place throughout the South and East Anglian.
Until 1834, the Parish made up any shortfall income below the poverty line. The Poor Law Amendment Act of that year meant that, if you could not support yourself, you were sent to the Workhouse. The Workhouse conditions were worse than those in Jail.
Late 1840s to mid-1870s
The Corn Laws were repealed in 1846 and the price of corn fell. The low price of food benefited the ag. lab. Most ag. labs. would have kept a pig which lived with the family. After harvest, everyone could glean, i.e. collect whatever was left in the fields after harvest. Fishing and shooting also provided food. However, Enclosure reached our area in the 1840s and Game Laws made the harvesting of game into poaching.Late 1870s to 1890s
British agriculture went into major decline as refrigerated ship brought food and wool from New Zealand and US grain also started to arrive. Many ag. labs. were laid off. However, in Victorian times not many people left the countryside to work in the towns.1890s to WWI
Things start to get better. Although there was some mechanisation, machines did not really take hold until after WWI. Food became cheaper and better transport (railways and the bicycle) meant that people started to leave the country for the towns where the wages were better. English fresh food, especially meat, became popular. After 1880s schooling was compulsory and people became better educated and their horizons broadened. It was not unusual to leave the family during the week and look for work up to 50 miles away. [Sue Paul]