New Forest New Town
New Forest New Town, Lyndhurstcounty:
Hampshire
Period - 18th century, early
I cannot omit to mention here a proposal made a few years ago to the late Lord Treasurer, Godolphin, for re-peopling this forest [New Forest], which for some reasons I can be more particular in, than any man now left alive, because I had the honour to draw up the scheme, and argue it before that noble lord, and some others who were principally concern'd at that time in bringing over, or rather for providing for when they were come over, the poor inhabitants of the Palatinate; a thing in it self commendable, but as it was manag'd, made scandalous to England, and miserable to those poor people.
Some persons being ordered by that noble lord, above mention'd, to consider of measures, how the said poor people should be provided for, and whether they could be provided for, or no, without injury to the publick: The answer was grounded upon this maxim, that the number of inhabitants is the wealth and strength of the kingdom, provided those inhabitants were such, as by honest industry applied themselves to live by their labour, to whatsoever trades, or employments they were brought up: In the next place it was inquir'd, what employment those poor people were brought up to? it was answer'd there were husbandmen, and artificers of all sorts, upon which the proposal was as follows.
NEW FOREST in Hampshire was singl'd out to be the place.
Here it was propos'd to draw a great square-line, containing four thousand acres of land, marking out two large highways, or roads thro' the center, crossing both ways, so that there should be a thousand acres in each division, exclusive of the land contain'd in the said cross roads.
Then it was propos'd to single out twenty men, and their families, who should be recommended as honest industrious men, expert in, or at least capable of being instructed in husbandry, curing and cultivating of land, breeding and feeding cattle, and the like; To each of these should be parcell'd out in equal distributions, two hundred acres of this land, so that the whole four thousand acres should be fully distributed to the said twenty families, for which they should have no rent to pay, and be liable to no taxes, but such as provided for their own sick or poor, repairing their own roads, and the like: This exemption from rent and taxes, to continue for twenty years, and then to pay each 50l. a year to the queen; that is to say, to the Crown.
The form of the several farms would be laid out thus. [diagram]
a the church, b the shambles, c the market house, d a town hall, e a conduit with stocks, &c. F the conduits, or wells, G houses, H the lands enclosed behind, I streets of houses for tradesmen.
To each of these families, who I wou'd now call farmers, it was propos'd to advance 200l. in ready money as a stock to set them to work, to furnish them with cattle, horses, cows, hogs, &c. and to hire a pay labourers, to enclose, clear, and cure the land; which it would be suppos'd the first year would not be so much to their advantage as afterwards; allowing them timber out of the forest to build themselves houses, and barns, sheds, and offices, as they should have occasion; also for carts, waggons, ploughs, harrows, and the like necessary things, care to be taken, that the men and their families went to work forthwith according to the design.
Thus twenty families would be immediately supplyed, and provided for, for there would be no doubt, but these families with so much land given them gratis, and so much money to work with, would live very well; but what would this do for the support of the rest? who were suppos'd to be to every twenty farmers, forty or fifty families of other people; some of one trade, some of another, with women and children? to this it was answer'd, that these twenty farmers would by the consequence of their own settlements, provide for, and employ such a proportion of others of their own people, that by thus providing for twenty families in a place, the whole number of Palatinates would have been provided for, had they been 20000 more in number than they were, and that without being any burthen upon, or injury to the people of England; on the contrary, they would have been an advantage, and an addition of wealth and strength to the nation, and to the country in particular where they should have been thus seated: For example;
As soon as the land was mark'd out, the farmers put in possession of it, and the money given them, they should be oblig'd to go to work, in order to their settlement; suppose it then to be in the spring of the year, when such work was most proper; First all hands would be requir'd, to fence, and part off the land, and clear it of the timber, or bushes, or what ever else was upon it, which requir'd to be remov'd: The first thing therefore which the farmers would do, would be to single out from the rest of their number, every one three servants, that is to say, two men, and a maid; less cou'd not answer the preparations they would be oblig'd to make, and yet work hard themselves also; by the help of these, they would with good management soon get so much of their land cur'd, fenc'd off, plow'd, and sow'd, as should yield them a sufficiency of corn and kitchin stuff, the very first year, both for horse-meat, hog-meat, food for the family, and some to carry to market too, by which to bring in money to go farther on, as above.
At the first enterance, they were to have the tents allow'd them to live in, which they then had from the Tower; but as soon as leisure, and conveniences admitted, every farmer was oblig'd to begin to build him a farm house, which he would do gradually, some and some, as he could spare time from his other work, and money from his little stock.
In order to furnish himself with carts, wagons, plows, harrows, wheel-barrows, hurdles, and all such necessary utentisils of husbandry; there would be an absolute necessity of wheelwrights, or cartwrights, one at least to each division.
Thus by the way, there would be employ'd three servants to each farmer, that makes sixty persons.
Four families of wheelwrights, one to each division; which suppose five in a family, makes twenty person; suppose four head carpenters, with each three men, and as at first all would be building together, they would to every house building have at least one labourer, four families of carpenters, five to each family, and three servants, is thirty two persons, one labourer to each house building, is twenty persons more.
Thus here would be necessarily brought together, in the very first of the work 132 persons, besides the head farmers, who at five also to each family are a hundred more, in all two hundred thirty two.
For the necessary supply of these with provisions, cloaths, houshold-stuff, &c. for all should be done among themselves; first, they must have at least four butchers with their families; twenty persons, four shoemakers with their families, and each shoemaker two journeymen for every trade; this would encrease the number of customers to every trade: This is twenty eight persons more.
They would then require a hatmaker, a glover, at least two ropemakers, four tailors, three weavers of woollen, and three weavers of linnen, two basketmakers, two common brewers, ten or twelve shop-keepers to furnish chandlery and grocery wares; and as many for drapery and mercery, over and above what they could work, this makes two and forty families more, each at five in a family, which is two hundred and ten persons; all the labouring part of these must have at least two servants, the brewers more, which I cast up at forty more.
Add to these two ministers, one clerk, one sexton, or gravedigger with their families, two physicians, three apothecaries, two surgeons, less there could not be, only that for the beginning it might be said the physicians should be surgeons, and I take them so; this is forty five persons, besides servants; so that in short, to omit many tradesmen more who would be wanted among them, there would necessarily, and voluntarily follow, to these twenty families of farmers at least six hundred more of their own people.
It is no difficult thing to show that the ready money of 4000l. which the government was to advance to those twenty farmers, would employ and pay, and consequently subsist all these numerous dependants, in the works which must severally be done for them, for the first year; after which the farmers would begin to receive their own money back again; for all these tradesmen must come to their own market to buy corn, flesh, milk, butter, cheese, bacon, &c. which after the first year the farmers having no rent to pay, would have to spare sufficiently, and so take back their own money with advantage; I need not go on to mention, how by consequence provisions encreasing, and money circulating, this town should encrease in a very little time.
It was propos'd also that for the encouragement of all the handicraftsmen, and labouring poor, who either as servants, or as labourers for day-work, assisted the farmers or other tradesmen, they should have every man three acres of ground given them, with leave to build cottages upon the same, the allotment to be upon the waste, at the end of the cross-roads where they entered the town.
In the center of the square was laid out a circle of twelve acres of ground, to be cast into streets for inhabitants to build on, as their ability would permit; all that would build to have ground gratis for twenty years, timber out of the forest, and convenient yards, gardens and orchards alloted to every house.
In the great streets near where they cross each other, was to be built a handsome market-house, with a town-hall for parish or corporation business, doing justice and the like; also shambles, and in a handsome part of the grounds mention'd to be laid out for streets, as near the center as might be, was to be ground laid out for the building a church, which every man should either contribute to the building of, in money, or give every tenth day of his time to assist in labouring at the building.
I have omitted many tradesmen, who would be wanted here, and would find a good livelihood among their country folks; only to get accidental work, as daymen, or labourers; of which such a town would constantly employ many, as also poor women for assistance in families, such as midwives, nurses, &c.
Adjacent to the town was to be a certain quantity of common land, for the benefit of the cottages; that the poor might have a few sheep, or cows as their circumstances requir'd; and this to be appointed at the several ends of the town.
There was a calculation made of what encrease here would be, both of wealth and people in twenty years in this town; what a vast consumption of provisions they would cause, more than the four thousand acres of land given them would produce; by which consumption and encrease, so much advantage would accrue to the publick stock, and so many subjects be added to the many thousands of Great Britain; who in the next age would be all true born Englishmen, and forget both the language, and the nation from whence they came; and it was in order to this that two ministers were appointed, one of which should officiate in English, and the other in High Dutch; and withal to have them oblig'd by a law to teach all their children both to speak, read and write the English language.
Upon their encrease they would also want barbers, and glasiers, painters also, and plumbers; a wind-mill or two, and the millers and their families, a fulling-mill, and a cloth worker; as also a master clothier, or two, for making a manufacture among them for their own wear, and for employing the women and children; a dyer or two, for dying their manufactures; and, which above all, is not to be omitted, four families at least of smiths, with every one two servants; considering that besides all the family work, which continually employs a smith, all the shoeing of horses, all the iron-work of plows, carts, waggons, barrows, &c. must be wrought by them.
There was no allowance made for inns, and ale-houses, seeing it woud be frequent that those who kept publick houses of any sort, would likewise have some other employment to carry on.
This was the scheme for settling the Palatinates, by which means twenty families of farmers, handsomely set up, and supported, would lay a foundation, as I have said, for six or seven hundred of the rest of their people; and as the land in New Forest is undoubtedly good, and capable of improvement by such cultivation, so other wastes in England are to be found as fruitful as that; and twenty such villages might have been erected, the poor strangers maintain'd, and the nation evidently be better'd by it; as to the money to be advanc'd, which in the case of twenty such settlements, at 4000l. each, would be 80000l. two things were answer'd to it.
1. That the annual rent to be receiv'd for all those lands after twenty years, would abundantly pay the publick for the first disbursses on the scheme above, that rent being then to amount to 40000l. per ann.
2. More money than would have done this, was expended, or rather thrown away upon them here, to keep them in suspense, and afterwards starve them; sending them a begging all over the nation, and shipping them off to perish in other countries: Where the mistake lay is none of my business to enquire.
I reserv'd this account for this place, because I pass'd in this journey over the very spot where the design was laid out; namely, near Lindhurst, in the road from Rumsey to Limington, whither I now directed my course.
