Agricultural History Review, Volume 69 Part 1 (2021), p. 154

This book is the first full-length study of one of the most significant aristocratic families in south-west Wales. It takes in a broad chronology in charting ‘the changing fortunes’ of a substantial landowning family. The chapters are arranged thematically, and as one would expect of one of David W. Howell’s students, Davies’s approach follows Howell’s seminal study Patriarchs and parasites (1986, rev. ante AgHR 35.2).

Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the Campbells of Cawdor, and to individuals we meet later in the volume, as well as providing an overview of the family’s estates and landholding. The second chapter considers issues of estate administration and land management, including a section on the land agents, showing the variable relationships that existed between landlord and agent. The chapter provides insights into the structure of land management, followed by chapter 3’s overview of agricultural practices. We see landlords as agricultural improvers, patriarchal interactions with tenants, and the nature of tenancies and leases. The Campbells were certainly living up to the ideals of the moral economy of the landed estate, as argued by Matthew Cragoe in his study of the Carmarthenshire landed elite, An Anglican aristocracy (1996, rev. ante AgHR 45.1).

The Campbells were ready to exploit the resources on their land, and chapter four details the industrial ventures they undertook, from lead mining to selling timber. They supported road building schemes, and the expansion of the railways in south-west Wales. Chapter 5 focuses on the Christian paternalism of the family, in particular within the spheres of religion and education. Charitable bequests were doled out, and financial support offered to church and school building projects, with a preference shown towards Anglican requests for aid. Indeed, the Campbells used their influence to uphold the status of the established Church and its schools within the locality. Within this framework, there was little sympathy or support for the Welsh language, with the Campbells conforming to the traditional image of an anglicized and increasingly distant elite.

Chapter 6 focuses on the Campbells at the local level, and how the family kept their status and position as generations served in local government. There is an interesting account of Baron Cawdor assuming the role of lord lieutenant in leading the force to see off the French during the last mainland invasion of Britain, at Fishguard on 22 February 1797. Others undertook their civic duties in less dashing ways, as magistrates and members of various committees and boards, increasingly against a backdrop of the declining power of the elites in this sphere over the course of the nineteenth century. The Campbells were political leaders in south-west Wales, as chapter 7 shows, and supported the status quo during the late nineteenth century, when critiques of the elite were presented by ‘nationalist campaigns’. Significantly, as a Scottish family, they were seen as newcomers to the county. Another handicap was financial, with lack of money also requiring caution within the political sphere, with notoriously expensive electoral campaigns in the pre-reform years.

The eighth chapter begins with an appraisal of the development of the Stackpole mansion and surrounding landscape park. There was also a secondary seat, Golden Grove in Carmarthenshire. The chapter also provides an insight into household management and the role of servants. The country house was a hub for leisure and recreation, and a means of displaying wealth and status. Away from the estate, the ‘London season’ beckoned, as did continental travels, and in this context, absenteeism is discussed. All this came at a price however, and debt was an ever-present burden for many families to shoulder.

The final chapter, entitled ‘The End of the Welsh Estates’, charts a tale of decline, with the prominence of agriculture waning, the impact of the Local Government Acts of 1888 and 1894, calls for land reform, and threats to the lifestyle and position of the elite in society. Whilst the Campbells were hit by death duties, they were in a position to sell land to settle debts, unlike many owners of smaller estates. After 1906, the Campbells left Wales for Cawdor Castle in Scotland, leaving their Welsh estates to be managed by agents. With the ravages of the Second World War, and military requisition, Stackpole Court and Golden Grove suffered. Whilst Golden Grove was leased to Carmarthenshire County Council, later becoming an agricultural college, Stackpole Court was sadly demolished in 1962. During the 1960s and 1970s, the family set about selling their Welsh properties and possessions.

This volume is the result of scrupulous archival research, which comes as no surprise considering the author’s former career as county archivist for Carmarthenshire. Indeed, a range of collections in the Carmarthenshire Record Office were consulted, but also from the record office of neighbouring Pembrokeshire, the National Library of Wales, and further afield, including the Cawdor Castle estate papers still in private ownership. In appraising the source material available, Davies highlights the disappointing lack of sources about women in the Cawdor papers. Mere glimpses are provided by a handful of letters, a few diaries, and a travel journal. As Davies himself states: ‘The silence of the women, or at least their lack of a direct voice, is a sad loss’ (p. 4). Such are the limitations provided by some estate archives.

Whilst a number of Scottish families acquired Welsh estates, most notably the Bute family, who transformed Cardiff during the nineteenth century, significantly, the Campbells chose to establish themselves in Wales. Considering notions of identity, and the influx of newcomers, it would be intriguing to know how the Campbells appear between the pages of the Welsh language press, in particular, building on the reference to the ‘nationalist campaigns’ of the late nineteenth century alluded to in chapter 7.

Within this case study of a single estate, the multifaceted identity of the landed elite emerges. They were landlords, agricultural improvers, entrepreneurs and industrialists, and social and political leaders. The Campbells of Cawdor certainly conformed to this patriarchal ideal.