Rural Moral Reform in Nineteenth-Century England

English nineteenth-century farm workers were broadly of two kinds: agricultural labourers, hired by the day, and annually-hired farm servants living on the farmstead. Farm servants, and the annual fairs at which they were hired, are neglected subjects and this study is a welcome addition to our knowledge. Moses disputes Kussmaul's view that farm service was a declining institution in the nineteenth century. He shows that in the East Riding of Yorkshire it flourished until the end of the century and beyond. During the third quarter of the century, with which Moses is chiefly concerned, the ratio of farm servants to agricultural labourers actually increased. The vogue for ‘high farming’ encouraged farmers to maximise arable output, requiring numerous horses as well as men to work and care for them. Given the nature of their work, reliability and availability were essential attributes of livestock workers, giving farmers an incentive to offer long, ‘live in’ contracts. This preference was reinforced by the post-enclosure settlement pattern of the East Riding, dominated by scattered farmsteads, and by the increasing availability of non-agricultural work in the region's expanding towns. Farm service also had attractions from the worker's point of view, guaranteeing board, lodging and employment over the winter peiod when work was otherwise scarce

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