Agricultural History Review, Volume 52 Part 2 (2004), p. 214

The surviving papers of the Culley family of County Durham and north Northumberland are deposited in the Northumberland Record Office. The publication of selections from these papers is a welcome addition to the British Academy’s series on records of social and economic history. The journals describe tours made between 1765 and 1798 to many areas in the Midlands and to most of Scotland. The letters of 1784–5 cover a journey by George Culley to visit Robert Bakewell at Dishley, followed by a joint tour around central England. The subjects covered by the book include agriculture, social history, economics, topography, dialect, material culture and, remarkably, a fascinating section on the Scottish piping traditions and the piping schools associated with Highland music.

Much agricultural writing and journalism has been produced by people who struggled to have any success in the challenging world of practical farming. It is good to have published some of the Culley papers for they were very successful as both farmers and businessmen. The Culley brothers were originally based at the 200acre Denton farm near Darlington in County Durham. Following visits by two of the brothers in 1762 and 1763 to Robert Bakewell in Leicestershire, the farm of Fenton in north Northumberland was rented and became the basis of a growing farming empire. By the 1790s their stock had grown to 550 cattle and 4440 sheep on some 4000 acres of improved land, much of which was in arable cultivation. In 1801 they were paying over £4000 in rent and tithes and returning a profit of £9000 per year. Their stock, much of which had been developed from Bakewell’s own or utilizing his systems, was accepted as among the best in Britain. Many agricultural experts of the time consulted the Culleys, whose publications were lauded even by the ascerbic Yorkshireman William Marshall. The Culleys were close friends of Robert Bakewell and knew more than most agriculturalists of the work of this key figure in the improvement of cattle, sheep, horses and pigs.

How do the Culleys, whose financial successes were founded on practical wisdom, peform as commentators? history review The publication of the journals and letters does not disappoint. This volume is a must for any agricultural historian interested in the period. It is packed full of detailed comments and quotable passages with insights into farmers and breeders visited. With the exception of one of the Scottish tour journals, which was smartened up for potential publication, the words are the Culleys’ own and survive as private family records, containing the kind of comments which would not appear in any print publication of the period. The tours seem to have been undertaken for the purpose of information-gathering and self-improvement. George Culley remarks during his 1765 visit to Bakewell: ‘I must be dull and stupid indeed if I do not improve’. Material on the Culleys’ dealings with Robert Bakewell is scattered throughout the book, reflecting their involvement with him from 1762 right up to his death in 1795. It is apparent that both brothers had enormous respect for Bakewell and his stock, though there are some disagreements and misgivings about his work: ‘rather to be admired than imitated’ George remarks during a visit to Dishley in 1771. The publication of these papers gives greater access to new information on Bakewell and the volume is worth its £35 for this alone.

But there is much more here than descriptions of visits to Dishley. The Culleys recorded a great deal of information wherever they went, and this material deserves the attention of historians of diverse interests. Their comments on Wiltshire harness and horse bells would make a fine addition to any book on horse brasses, the 34 black horses counted in the Duke of Hamilton’s park is a must for any history of Clydesdale horses, and students of the scandalous sons of George III might note the judgement of Culley’s stockman on the Duke of Cumberland: ‘goes badly on his legs; perhaps Lady Grosvenor thinks differently’.

The editor of the volume has done an excellent job with what must have been difficult writing to transcribe. There are errors: for example on page 247 ‘Mr Nasson’ is likely to be Mr Mason, the famous breeder of Chilton. But these seem to be few. I found the maps a little sparse and would have liked the tours to have been marked in detail on maps to locate farms to which particular comments relate. The volume is well indexed and contains a sound introduction, a bibliography of published and unpublished sources, a page on the non-standard weights and measures used by the Culleys and a glossary of less familiar words from the manuscript.

This book is a real treasure. I hope the publishers have printed enough to go around all the historians who will want it on their shelves.