APPENDIX A (5)
Haute Huntre, Lincs.—Enclosure Act, 1767
Area.—22,000 Acres ‘more or less.’
Nature of Ground.—Haute Huntre, Eight Hundred or Holland Fen and other commonable places adjacent.
Owners and Proprietors of Houses and Toftsteads in the following 11 Parishes or Townships have Right of Common:—Boston West, Skirbeck Quarter, Wyberton, Frampton, Kirton, Algarkirke, Fosdyke, Sutterton, Wigtoft, Swineshead, and Brothertoft; and also in a place called Dog Dyke in the Parish of Billinghay.
Parliamentary Proceedings.—December 4, 1766.—Petition for enclosure from various owners and proprietors with right of common, asking that the fen shall be divided up into specific allotments for each Town. Leave given. Bill read first time, December 9.
March 4, 1767.—Long petition against the bill from (1) the Master, Fellows and Scholars of Trinity College, Cambridge, which College is Impropriator of the Great Tythes, and Patron of the Vicarage of Swineshead, (2) the Rev. John Shaw, Patron and Rector of Wyberton, (3) Zachary Chambers, Esq., Lord of the Manor of Swineshead, and others. The petition gave a history of the movement for enclosure. On August 26, 1766, a meeting of several gentlemen and others was held at the Angel Inn, Sleaford, at which a resolution was passed that a Plan or Survey of the fen with a return of the Houses etc., with Right of Common should be made before a bill was brought in. On October 16, 1766, a public meeting of several proprietors was held at Sleaford at which some of those present proposed to read a bill for dividing and inclosing the fen; the great majority however of those present objected to this course, and requested and insisted that as no Survey had been produced, nothing further should be done till the following spring, ‘but notwithstanding the said Request, some few of the said Proprietors then present proposed that a Petition for the said Bill might then be signed; which Proposition being rejected by a considerable Majority, the said few Proprietors declared their Resolution to sign such a Petition, as soon as their then Meeting was broke up, without any Resolutions being concluded upon, or the Sentiments of the Majority of the Proprietors either entered down or paid any Regard to, and without making any Adjournment of the said Meeting; and that, soon after the said Meeting broke up, some of the Proprietors present at the said Meeting signed the Petition, in consequence of which the said Bill hath been brought in.’ The petitioners also pointed out that the petition for enclosure was signed by very few proprietors except those in Boston West, and requested that no further measures should be taken till next session, and that meanwhile the Survey in question should be made, and suggested that the present bill was in many respects exceptionable, and asked to be heard by Counsel against the bill as it now stood. Petition to lie on table till second reading.
March 6, 1767.—Bill read second time and committed. Petition referred to Committee.
March 21.—Petition against the bill from Sir Charles Frederick, Knight of the Bath, sole owner of Brothertoft, where there are 51 Cottages or Toftsteads with right of common. Referred to Committee.
March 27.—Petition against the bill from Sir Gilbert Heathcote, Bart. and others; bill injurious to interests. Referred to Committee.
Report and Enumeration of Consents.—April 29, 1767.—Lord Brownlow Bertie reported from the Committee; Committee had heard Counsel in favour of the first petition and considered the other two; that the Allegations of the Bill were true; and that the Parties concerned had given their consent to the Bill to the satisfaction of the Committee ‘(except 94 Persons with Right of Common and Property of the Annual Value of £3177, 2s. 6d. who refused, and except 53 Persons with Right of Common and Property of the Annual Value of £694, 10s. who could not be found, and except 40 Persons with Right of Common and Property of the Annual Value of £1310, 0s. 6d. who declared they were indifferent, and that the whole Number of Persons with Right of Common is 614, and the whole Property of the Annual Value of £23,347, 8s.).’ Several amendments were made in the Bill and it was sent up to the Lords. In the Lords, petitions against it were received from Sir Gilbert Heathcote (May 7) and Samuel Reynardson, Esq. (May 14), both of which were referred to the Committee. Several amendments were made, including the insertion of a clause giving the Proprietors or Occupiers the same right of common over the Parish allotment as they already had over the whole. Royal Assent, June 29, 1767.
Main Features of Act.—(Private, 7 George III. c. 112.)
Commissioners.—Five are to be appointed; they are to be chosen by eleven persons, each representing one of the eleven townships. These eleven persons are to be elected in each township by the owners and proprietors of Houses, Toftsteads, and Lands which formerly paid Dyke-reeve assessments; except in the case of Brothertoft, where Sir Charles Frederick, as sole owner and proprietor, nominates the person. No person interested in the inclosure is to be chosen as Commissioner, and in addition to the usual oath of acting ‘without favour or affection’ the Commissioners are required to take the following oath:—
‘I, A. B., do swear, that I am neither Proprietor nor Occupier of, nor, to the best of my Knowledge, am I concerned as Guardian, Steward or Agent for any Proprietor of any Houses, Toftsteads, or Lands within any of the Parishes of’ (names given) ‘or for any Person to whom any Allotment is to be made by virtue of the said Act.’
Three Commissioners are a quorum. Vacancies are to be filled by the 11 persons elected as before. If they fail to do so, the remaining Commissioners can nominate. Survey to be made by persons appointed by the Commissioners, and number of present Houses and Toftsteads to be recorded except in Boston West and Brothertoft. Edward Draper of Boston, Gentleman, to be Clerk.
Payment.—Commissioners each to have £210 and no more. Two guineas to be deducted for each day’s absence.
Claims.—Nothing is said about sending in claims, as the survey giving the Houses, etc., does instead. If any difference or dispute arise between parties interested in the division with respect to shares, rights, interests, and proportions, the Commissioners are to hear them, and their determination is to be binding and conclusive.
System of Division—Special Provisions:
To Lords of the Manor.—Zachary Chambers, Esq., is Lord of the Manor of Swineshead; Charles Anderson Pelham, Esq., is Lord of the Manor of Frampton. These two are intitled jointly to the soil of the fen, and Charles Anderson Pelham, Esq., is also intitled ‘to the Brovage or Agistment’ of 480 head of cattle on the fen every year.
(1) Zachary Chambers, Esq., is to have 120 Acres in one piece in a part called Brand End in lieu of his rights of soil and of all mines and quarries of what nature whatsoever.
(2) Charles Anderson Pelham, Esq., is to have 120 Acres in one piece, near Great Beets, for his rights of soil and of mines and quarries.[492]
Charles Anderson Pelham, Esq., is also to have in lieu of his right of Brovage a parcel of the same number of acres that were given by an Act of 9 James I. to the Lords of the Manor of Swineshead for Brovage.
Tithe Owners.—Not mentioned.
Allotment of Residue.—After part has been sold for expenses (see below) and after allotment to the Lords of the Manor, the residue is to be divided amongst the eleven townships and Dog Dyke in proportion and according to the number of Houses and Toftsteads in each parish. For Brothertoft and Dog Dyke there are special arrangements; in the ten remaining townships or parishes, the following method is to be pursued:—For each House or Tenement there must be 4 acres, and for each Toftstead 2 acres allowed; when this proportion has been set out, the remainder is to be shared out in proportion to the Dyke-reeve assessments before the passing of a recent drainage Act. Quantity, Quality, and Situation are to be considered. Special provision.—Boston West is to have the same proportion of fen as Frampton.
The share that each of the above ten townships receives is to be the common fen belonging to the township or parish, subject to the same common rights as the present fen, and is to be contiguous to the township.
Brothertoft and Dog Dyke allotments.—The allotment for Brothertoft is to be half as many acres as are allotted to Boston West, and is to go to Sir Charles Frederick, sole owner and proprietor, and to be near Brothertoft.
The Allotment to Dog Dyke is to be calculated in reference to the share that Brothertoft receives. Each House or Toftstead in Dog Dyke is to have ⅔ of the proportion that each House or Toftstead in Brothertoft is assigned. The Dog Dyke Allotment is to go to Earl Fitzwilliam, the sole owner, and is to be near the Earl’s gardens.
If any half-year lands, and other inclosed lands, directed to be sold (see Expenses) remain unsold, these are to be sold and the leases are to be allotted to the parishes in such proportions as the Commissioners direct.
An award is to be drawn up and its provisions are binding and conclusive.
Fencing.—Each township’s share is to be divided by an 8-feet wide ditch and a quick hedge, and guarded with a fence and rail 4½ feet high, with double bars of fir or deal and with oak posts; the fence and the rail are to be nailed or mortified together. The Commissioners do this fencing out of the money raised for defraying the expenses of the Act, but each township is to keep up its fences according to the Commissioners’ directions. The fences, etc., are to be made within 18 months.
Penalty for wilfully and maliciously cutting, breaking down, burning, demolishing, or destroying any division fence:
1st offence (before 2 J.P.’s), fine of £5 to £20, or from 1 to 3 months in House of Correction.
2nd offence (before 2 J.P.’s), fine of £10 to £40, or from 6 to 12 months in House of Correction.
3rd offence (before Quarter Sessions), transportation for 7 years as a felon.
Expenses.—To defray all expenses the Commissioners can—
(1) sell the Right of Acreage or Common upon certain specified half-year lands,[493] e.g. The Frith, Great Beets, Little Beets, the Mown Rakes, etc., to the owners and proprietors of these lands. If the owners refuse to buy or do not pay enough to cover the expenses of the Act, the Commissioners can—
(2) sell part of the Fen. In this case the first land to be sold is Coppin Sykes Plot, Ferry Corner Plot, Pepper Gowt Plot, and Brand End Plot; the next land, Gibbet Hills.
As Coppin Sykes Plot, etc., belong to the Commissioners of two Drainage Acts, the drainage Commissioners can as compensation charge rates on the respective townships instead, and if any township refuses to pay, they can inclose a portion of its allotment, but not for tillage.
Penalty for taking turf or sod after Act.
Culprit can be tried before one J.P., and fined from 40s. to £10, or, if he or she fails to pay, be given hard labour in the House of Correction for 1 to 3 months, or till the penalty is paid. Notice of this penalty is to be fixed on Church and Chapel Doors and published in newspapers.
Power of Appeal.—To Quarter Sessions only, and not in cases where the Commissioners’ decisions are said to be final and conclusive.
Award.—Date, May 19, 1769. With Clerk of Peace or County Council, Lincoln.
From Annual Register, 1769, p. 116 (Chronicle for July 16):
‘Holland Fen, in Lincolnshire, being to be inclosed by act of parliament, some desperate persons have been so incensed at what they called their right being taken from them, that in the dead of night they shot into the windows of several gentlemen whom they thought active in procuring the act for inclosure; but happily no person has been killed.’
Amending Act, 1770.
Parliamentary Proceedings.—January 25, 1770.—Petition for an amending Act from the Commissioners who carried out the previous one; stating that ‘the Posts and Rails for many Miles in the Division Fences, which have been erected pursuant to the Directions of the said Act, have been pulled down, and the greatest Part thereof destroyed, together with great Part of the Materials for completing the said Fencing,’ and asking for leave to take down the Fencing and to make wide ditches instead.
Leave given. Bill passed both Houses and received Royal Assent.
Main Features of Amending Act.—(Private, 10 George III. c. 40.)
The Commissioners are empowered to take down the posts and rails, and to make ditches 10 feet wide and 5 feet deep as boundaries instead.
The Posts and Rails are to be sold, and the proceeds are to defray the expenses of this Act and the costs of the Commissioners. The Commissioners are to have a sum of £31, 10s. each as payment, with 2 guineas deducted for each day’s absence.
Edward Draper, Clerk to the Commissioners, is to be repaid up to £1000, his costs in prosecuting fence-destroyers.
If any proprietor has already made ditches wide enough, he is to be repaid his proportion.
Any surplus is to be handed over to Drainage Commissioners.
Notes:—
| Act. | Award. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston West division was enclosed in | 1771 | 1772 | |||
| Algarkirke cum Fosdyke | „ | 1771 | |||
| Frampton | „ | „ | „ | 1784 | |
| Kirton | „ | „ | „ | 1772 | 1773 |
| Skirbeck | „ | „ | „ | 1771 | 1772 |
| Swineshead | „ | „ | „ | 1773 | 1774 |
| Sutterton | „ | „ | „ | 1772 | 1773 |
| Wigtoft | „ | „ | „ | 1772 | 1773 |
| Wyberton | „ | „ | „ | 1789 | |