The 1916 Tenancy

page · Updated 2026-10-14T17:47:37 · Original source

In February 1916 the Marquess of Bute… … read more

In February 1916 the Marquess of Bute granted John Williams a yearly agricultural tenancy of Great House Farm. Its description of the “whole farm” was relied on by every later landlord and by the courts. This page is the home of the grant and of how later records reused it.

Evidence

1916: The grant

Tenancy agreement 1916 tenancy, Marquess of Bute to John Williams

Placeholder: to be obtained; source not yet identified

Catalogue: GHF-E020-01

Location: Family archive / privately held material

Evidence description: a yearly agricultural tenancy of the whole farm from February 1916. The document itself has never been produced, so its plan and acreage are unknown; its terms are known from the 1987 judgment.

Evidence: Court of Appeal judgment, 1987

‹A + B as one ›By Mary’s account Bute had already sold the house parcel in 1877 (1877 sale), so Bute’s own interest ran only to the ~9 acres it kept (Parcel B).

Family note. The 1916 wording is the first record to fold both parcels into one “whole farm”.

1982 – 1987: Cited as if unchanged

Evidence description: BP’s registration narrative and the Court of Appeal judgment both begin the history with the 1916 tenancy of the whole farm, 60 years on, without the later changes: the 1928 end of quarry rent, the 1938–39 revised tenancy, the 1974 adjourned action and Mary’s refusals.

Evidence: What the judgments omit · First registration

What happened next: 1928: the house parcel… … read more

What happened next: 1928: the house parcel leaves the tenancy → 1938–39: reversion sold and tenancy revised.

See also: The two parcels · Master timeline