Agricultural History Review, Volume 58 Part 2 (2010), pp. 217–235

This paper uses evidence from the Cheshire epidemic of Cattle Plague in 1865–6 to examine current ideas about the character of the landlord-tenant relationship in nineteenth-century England. Earlier work by a number of historians, notably David Stead, has suggested that landlords used the tenurial relationship to transfer the risk of farming to their tenants in return for fixed rents. This paper reviews the debates which surrounded the plague epidemic – whether, for instance, it was the duty of government to offer compensation – and shows that, in these extreme conditions, landlords were compelled to offer at least some support to their tenants. It suggests that they did so for a variety of reasons, including a sense of responsibility towards them, but also out of a long-term concern for the future of farming and the landscape on their estates. 

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