I have a questions that relates to land ownership (or leasing). An ancestor of mine, Alexander Wylie, lived with his wife Jean Allison and their 7 sons at Fullwood, Stewarton, Ayrshire. Alexander died in 1844 and by 1850 several of his sons had emigrated to Illinois, USA. Jean Allison and her eldest son are still in Fullwood in the 1851 census, then they also emigrated. Jean Allison died in Illinois in 1875 and her probate papers refer to property ("house in Stewarton") that she received rent for. After her death, some back taxes and insurance on the property were paid on the property. Her will and probate papers do not mention disposition of the property.
I'm curious; was it common for people to retain ownership of property after emigrating? Legally, what would have happened to this land after Jean Allison Wylie's death? All her sons had emigrated to Illinois. Was this a way to keep property in the extended Wylie family?
Ayrshire landlord in USA?
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ksyoung
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- Location: California USA
Ayrshire landlord in USA?
Wylie, Parker, Young (East Lothian), Pringle, Grieve, Wardrob, Walker (Dalry)
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winslowsmom
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I notice (looking at the Scotland Free Cen search) that in 1841 a `15 year old Agnes Wylie lives a few farms away (hit previous household button 3 or 4 times)
as a Female Servant with the Steven family (they had 1 and 2 year old bairns). Could she be a daughter? If I had 7 brothers at home, taking care of 2 little ones would be a walk in the park!
Maybe the house was left to the daughter and her man?
My great grandparents sold house, business and everything when they came to America, but that was much later, in the 1920s.
Cathy H.
Fountain Valley
as a Female Servant with the Steven family (they had 1 and 2 year old bairns). Could she be a daughter? If I had 7 brothers at home, taking care of 2 little ones would be a walk in the park!
Maybe the house was left to the daughter and her man?
My great grandparents sold house, business and everything when they came to America, but that was much later, in the 1920s.
Cathy H.
Fountain Valley
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Currie
- Posts: 3924
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- Location: Australia
Hello ksyoung,
I don’t really know much about the subject but the 19th century concept of “owning land” could be much different in places such as the United States and Australia to what it was in the United Kingdom, in particular Scotland. A story passed down about the family’s farm or house in the UK can so often just end up being about a piece of ground leased from and to a considerable extent at the whim of the local Lord.
The subletting of properties by absent tenants who had lifetime or other leases was probably fairly common and there would rarely have been anything due to the tenant at their death.
A bit of background reading about the history of land ownership in Scotland might be of interest.
“Such substantial losses (of common land) occurred quite simply because the landowners made the law and because both they and the legal profession, with which they had strong kinship and commercial ties, saw the public interest as represented by their own prosperity. The ordinary citizen had neither a vote nor a voice in the matter.”
www.scottishcommons.org/docs/commonweal_3.pdf
“The majority of land in the UK still belongs to private individuals. Land ownership is of course highly unequal with just over 1% of the adult population owning 70% of the land. This ownership gives these individuals a great deal of power in the countryside and with their wealth and often aristocratic status comes political power.”
http://users.aber.ac.uk/dip/modules/cor ... /lowns.htm
“Although Scotland was one of the first nations to establish a written record of land transactions, it was the last to finally to abolish feudal tenure, in 2004.”
http://www.cairngormsmoorlands.co.uk/mo ... ership.htm
Hope this helps,
Alan
I don’t really know much about the subject but the 19th century concept of “owning land” could be much different in places such as the United States and Australia to what it was in the United Kingdom, in particular Scotland. A story passed down about the family’s farm or house in the UK can so often just end up being about a piece of ground leased from and to a considerable extent at the whim of the local Lord.
The subletting of properties by absent tenants who had lifetime or other leases was probably fairly common and there would rarely have been anything due to the tenant at their death.
A bit of background reading about the history of land ownership in Scotland might be of interest.
“Such substantial losses (of common land) occurred quite simply because the landowners made the law and because both they and the legal profession, with which they had strong kinship and commercial ties, saw the public interest as represented by their own prosperity. The ordinary citizen had neither a vote nor a voice in the matter.”
www.scottishcommons.org/docs/commonweal_3.pdf
“The majority of land in the UK still belongs to private individuals. Land ownership is of course highly unequal with just over 1% of the adult population owning 70% of the land. This ownership gives these individuals a great deal of power in the countryside and with their wealth and often aristocratic status comes political power.”
http://users.aber.ac.uk/dip/modules/cor ... /lowns.htm
“Although Scotland was one of the first nations to establish a written record of land transactions, it was the last to finally to abolish feudal tenure, in 2004.”
http://www.cairngormsmoorlands.co.uk/mo ... ership.htm
Hope this helps,
Alan
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ksyoung
- Posts: 36
- Joined: Mon Jul 18, 2005 1:56 am
- Location: California USA
Thanks Alan and Cathy,
Jean Allison Wylie left no children or grandchildren in Scotland, so if she was subleasing the property or trying to pass the lease on to another Wylie, it was a more distant relative.
I've always found the Scottish land laws to be a bit of a puzzle. I understand that ordinary folk leased the land from the local Lord, rather than owning it outright. I've always wondered how much leeway a leasee had in subleasing, inheriting, or selling the lease. From reading the source that Alan quoted, it looks as though the local Lords could interfere as it suited them. I am guessing that the land/house that Jean Allison Wylie leased (and rented out) would have reverted to the Lord at her death.
All these legalities won't tell me anything more about the Wylie genealogy, but these are the kind of questions that set me to thinking about the lives of these folks.
Katherine
Jean Allison Wylie left no children or grandchildren in Scotland, so if she was subleasing the property or trying to pass the lease on to another Wylie, it was a more distant relative.
I've always found the Scottish land laws to be a bit of a puzzle. I understand that ordinary folk leased the land from the local Lord, rather than owning it outright. I've always wondered how much leeway a leasee had in subleasing, inheriting, or selling the lease. From reading the source that Alan quoted, it looks as though the local Lords could interfere as it suited them. I am guessing that the land/house that Jean Allison Wylie leased (and rented out) would have reverted to the Lord at her death.
All these legalities won't tell me anything more about the Wylie genealogy, but these are the kind of questions that set me to thinking about the lives of these folks.
Katherine
Wylie, Parker, Young (East Lothian), Pringle, Grieve, Wardrob, Walker (Dalry)