CLERK'S DEPARTMENT: SMALLHOLDINGS

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: MCC/CL/SH
Held at	: London Metropolitan Archives   Click here to find out how to view this collection at https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/lma ›
Full title	: CLERK'S DEPARTMENT: SMALLHOLDINGS
Date(s)	: 1907-1965
Level of description	: Collection
Extent	: 2.5 linear metres
Name of creator(s)	: MCC | Middlesex County Council x Middlesex County Council

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

The Middlesex County Council owned over 1,346 acres of agricultural land which was let to 400 tenants over the course of the Council's existence. The holdings varied in size from just over half and acre to 75 acres. With few exceptions the smaller holdings produced fruit and vegetables, pigs, poultry and eggs, whilst the larger holdings are used for dairy farming. Smallholdings were regarded as essential to the health of the industry, forming a 'ladder' for skilled agricultural workers, frequently leading to the occupation of larger farms outside the scheme.

All possible assistance and encouragement was given to the tenants in order to enable them to become successful smallholders, in return for which a high standard of production was required. Regulations were made by the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries governing the selection of tenants. These regulations provided that preference must be given to agricultural workers with at least five years experience and that tenancies had to be granted to applicants between the ages of 25 and 50.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Records of the Middlesex County Council Clerk's Department relating to smallholdings, 1907-1965, including copies of legislation relating to smallholdings and agriculture; papers of the Smallholdings Committee; papers relating to the tenancy of smallholdings including rent review and responsibility for repairs and building works; smallholdings competitions and reports on smallholdings.

Papers relating to the management of individual estates including Burrows Hill Close Estate, Denham Place Estate, Mayfield Farm, Moorcroft Estate, West Drayton Estate and Yeoveney Manor Estate.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

MCC/CL/SH-1: General and individual estates.

Conditions governing access:

Available for general access.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copyright to these records rests with the Corporation of London.

Finding aids:

Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm

Archival Information

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Acquired with the records of its parent authority, the Middlesex County Council, and with successor authorities.

Allied Materials

Related material:

See also MCC/CL/L/SH.

Publication note:

For further information on the history of the Middlesex County Council please see Middlesex by Sir Clifford Radcliffe (2 editions, 1939 and 1953), LMA Library reference 97.09 MID; and The County Council of the Administrative County of Middlesex: 76 years of local government, 1 April 1889 to 31 March 1965, by Middlesex County Council (1965), LMA library reference S97.09 MID.

Description Notes

Archivist's note:

Rules or conventions:
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
April to June 2009