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Ancestry Daily News
9/23/2003 - Archive
What Is an Improprietor?
What is an improprietor? You might well ask! Not anything to do with impropriety,
but everything to do with church tithes in England and Wales.
About Tithes
Centuries ago, tithes (first paid in the 700s) were payable only in kind--the
one tenth of the grain, newborn animals, etc. Tithes were a means of support for
the church. Simple as this may sound, closer examination reveals a complex range
of tithes as well as rules for their collection. There were tithes due to the
rector (great tithes) and tithes for the vicar (small tithes); tithes collected
by the church and tithes collected by agents; and then there were tithes owned
by lay people, known as improprietors.
Ownership of a tithe was a property right; it could be bought, sold, leased, or
mortgaged. Generally it was the great or rectorial tithes that changed hands and
passed to lay owners, particularly after the dissolution of the monasteries in
the reign of Henry VIII. When a layman become the owner of monastic lands not
only might he acquire the rights to the great tithes, but he also became responsible
for appointing the parish vicar (on the approval of the bishop), and for maintaining
the chancel and the vicarage.
Needless to say, payment of tithes, whether to the church or to improprietors,
was resented and those interested in agricultural improvement regarded them as
an impediment to reform. There were constant struggles; farmers tried to pay as
little tithe as possible, and Quakers did not want to pay them at all. As time
went on, more parishes negotiated a commutation of the tithe in kind to a money
payment. This was accelerated by enclosure of common land, and in 1836 legislation
was passed requiring all parishes to make the change.
The Tithe Commutation
Tithe commutation involved several steps. First was the necessity of identifying
every parish or township in which tithes were paid and where commutation had already
taken place. Next the apportionment of each tithe unit had to be prepared; this
involved preparation of a map and a written schedule. Some of the maps (less than
20%) are remarkably detailed, done specifically for this purpose, while others
were existing estate maps or rough sketches. Accompanying the map were the written
details of the agreement. These included landowners' names, occupiers' names,
plot reference (to the map), name and description of land and premises, state
of cultivation, area, and the calculated tithe rent charge
(i.e., the amount due
to replace the former tithe in kind).
Three copies of the parish tithe survey were made; one went to the Tithe Commissioners,
one to the registrar of the diocese, and one to the parish. Depending on whether
it is England or Wales, The National Archives and the National Library of Wales
hold complete records (those submitted to the Commissioners); records of some
border areas are in both locations. County record offices or reference libraries
generally hold other surviving copies.
Genealogical Uses
Because of the potential value of very detailed maps accompanied by lists of landowners
and occupiers, parish tithe commutation records should be identified and assessed.
The facts are helpful in several ways: to pinpoint place of abode and land holdings,
to find an ancestor's occupation, to match to the 1841 census, or to check whether
or not a house or building is still standing.
The National Library of Wales reports within the map section at its website (www.llgc.org.uk/dm/dm0030.htm
) that a database of Welsh tithe apportionment maps and schedules will soon be
available. The National Archives at Kew, through its catalog, PROCAT (catalogue.pro.gov.uk
), provides information on tithe records in its collection.
To find a survey reference, at the search screen, put the place name in the first
box (no need to put a date in box 2), and then insert IR29 in box 3 (this is the
class reference). To find a map use the same procedure, but substitute IR30 in
the third box. If you wish, you can use the browse option at the PROCAT home page,
go directly to IR29 or 30, open up the sub-sections, select a county and open
up its subsections. In this way you see a list of places.
Some tithe records can be found in the Family History Library; a keyword search
for "England tithe apportionment" turned up 77 results. Using a place
search, input the name of the parish and then examine the listings under "Church
Records," including reading the film notes, as the reference to tithes may
not be in the record title.
For More Information
There is a lot more to this subject, and both of these repositories have excellent
information on tithes. The site listed above for Wales includes an explanation.
At the National Archives home page (www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
), select "catalogues" and then "leaflets" or go to (www.pro.gov.uk/catalogues/leaflets.htm
).
In print, I recommend you read the appropriate sections in "The Parish Chest"
(W.E. Tate, Phillimore, 1983).
Sherry Irvine, CGRS, FSA (Scot) is an author, teacher, and lecturer specializing
in English and Scottish family history. She is the author of Your English
Ancestry (2nd ed, 1998) and Your Scottish Ancestry (1997) and she is
a regular contributor to several journals including Genealogical Computing.
Since 1996, she has been a study tour leader, course coordinator, and instructor
for the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research at Samford University.
She teaches online for the family history program of Vermont College and has lectured
at conferences in Canada, the United States, and Australia. She is the president
of the Association of Professional Genealogists.
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