Farm Bailiff question

[tj_]

Hi all,

Having been helped to 'find' an ancestor (one of my 3xgt grandfather), I've just looked at a '61 census - snippet attached.

Most of my ancestors were ag labs, but this one is a bailiff and I'm guessing that the first word is 'farm'.

I appreciate that tenent farmers were thrown off 'their' land quite readily, particularly after a bad harvest, but was there really a full-time job of farm bailiff?

Looking forward to being educated,

Tim

[James1950]

A bailiff was  the steward or agent of a landowner. He may well have have been involved in enforcing evictions but would also have had responsibilty for keeping a check on poachers and rustlers. He may well have overseen  other farm workers and may have been responsible for taking on farm workers. He would have had responsibiity for collection of rents. He would certainly have been responsible for managing staff. Water Bailiffs were responsible for enforcing fishing rights

[tj_]

Ah,

So not just in the negative sense of the word these days.

Thank you.

[yn9man]

I have a relative in the 1861 Hampshire census with the occupation of "farm bailiff".   

Were the farm bailiffs required to keep any records? Would they have responsibility for more than one farm? What type or records were kept (if any)?If so, are they available?

I would assume the actual "owner" of the farm would monitor the bailiff's activities around the farm or farms.

yn9man

[NewRhi]

Hi folks
I come from a farming family and just wanted to add that farm baliffs weren't necessarily just working on large farms-my great grandmother(a widow) employed a baliff, and I always understood him to be a kind of foreman-managing the other workers on the farm.  Our farm is about 80acres-small in farming terms-and there were certainly no tenants or rents to collect.   
Best Wishes 

[NewRhi]

I have a relative in the 1861 Hampshire census with the occupation of "farm bailiff".   

Were the farm bailiffs required to keep any records? Would they have responsibility for more than one farm? What type or records were kept (if any)?If so, are they available?

I would assume the actual "owner" of the farm would monitor the bailiff's activities around the farm or farms.

yn9man

If you know which farm your ancestor worked on, I guess you could always ask the famer who lives there now(I would suggest writing or telephoning with the info you have).  If the farm is still there, of course.  You might strike it lucky and find a family that's been there for years.  I know my parents were always interested in the history of our farm.

[GR2]

In Scotland the "bailiff" is usually called a grieve or overseer. He was the foreman in charge of the other workers.

Graham.

[annieoburns]

I translate my gr grandfather's occupation in Victorian times of bailiff to a large property to be the equivalant in today's world as 'estate manager'.

[behindthefrogs]

The evidence in our family is that the two bailiffs actually ran the farms for largely absent owners.  In both cases these were Manor Farms where other farms within the manor were farmed by tenants.  Some years later one of the bailiffs became tenant farmer of the manor farm.