Baron Maunchausen

An 

Historical Sketch

of

Baron Maunchausen

of 

Farden Range

An Historical Sketch ridiculing William Busfeild Ferrand and his forays against the Chartists would be a digression if it did not concern in part "the moor" and attitudes towards its enclsoure.  On first reading this pamphlet is a light and almost good humoured piece of satire on William Busfeild Ferrand who resided at Harden Grange (now St Ives).  However, closer examination reveals a great deal about the issues that were exercising people in Harden and Bingley during the 1840s, including, class, rights, enclosure, inequality, religion and morality.

The date of publication  is not known but "June 1849" has been added in ink to the head of the front page.  The date would seem accurate as one of the events it depicts -  "revolution in Bingley" most likely refers to the events of 1848 when a number of Bingley Chartists were arrested and tried at York Assizes (Gammage, R.G., History of the Chartist Movement 1837-1854).  The word "Trash" in what appears to be the same hand has added to the head of the page and "W. B. Ferrand" and "Harden Grange" added beneath the titles, presumably to avoid any future confusion about the identity of the Baron, the place or the opinion of the annotator.  As the article forms part of the Busfeild Ferrand Collection at West Yorkshire Archives, it is reasonable to assume that these were added by Busfeild Ferrand himself or at least  one of his family or retinue.

The author uses Busfeild Ferrand's "edict" not only as an opportunity to ridicule Ferrand but also to air and rehearse Chartist and general grievances about inequalities and double standards.  By casting Busfeild Ferrand as the ridiculous Baron Manchausen the author perhaps reveals something of how their magistrate was regarded by much of the local population, as D G Wright observed, he was someone given to "wild exaggeration" and "personal heroics" (Wright 1987)

Particularly relevant in the context of Harden moor and 19thC enclosure are comments made that point to the loss of the moor as common land.  Harden Moor was the subject of a Parliamentary Enclosure Award in 1847-48 and by 1849-50 enclosure walls would have been erected by the new landowners.

"ling and stone"

The Chartists in holding their meeting on the moor had, it seems, "trodden upon a quantity of the Baron's ling and stones".  The precise location of the meeting is not given but the author suggest it is a "piece of moor" granted as a "play-ground" by the Baron.  (It may well be that the piece of moor in question could be that held in trust by the Harden Moor Allotments for the Labouring Poor and now owned by City of Bradford MDC along with St Ives Estate, formerly Harden Grange itself).  The author surmises based on the known tastes of Ferrand that the play-ground was most likely intended for "dog fights, cricket matches and above all...a Noodle (simpleton) Grand Review and Exercise".   The author goes on:

"But to think that the piece of ground which he had so generously set apart  for the above mentioned noble and intellectual purposes should be used and that on a Sunday too, by a number of starving, over-wrought Chartists, or rather vassals, and so near his castle, was too much for his generous spirit to brook." 

The author goes on to depict Ferrand as a "representative of the feudal age" not only in terms of Ferrand's reactionary views on the "rights of man" but also as a feudal lord intent on enclosing his domain "within walls".  This act of enclosure not only prevented access on to the land itself but also to its produce, particularly its game: hares, rabbits, birds etc which are now reserved for the Baron's "maw" and not for the enjoyment  of the "plebeian stomach of a working man".

Revolution in Bingley

In 1848 the Chartists prepared to submit a third petition to Parliament and there appears to have been an increase in activity on Bingley Moor where a Chartist Camp (26 March 1848)  attracted five to six thousand supporters from around the district who paraded with the colours of the French Republic and banners proclaiming "The Charter and No Surrender"   Whilst the petition was being investigated by Parliament in April, Bingley according to Wright was quiet, however, in May following Parliament's rejection it seems there was more unrest.  Busfeild Ferrand busied himself with sending alarming reports of the disturbances to the Home Secretary, Sir George Grey, including a report that the moors near his home (Harden Grange) had been set on fire "in a dozen places".  A fuller account of events and Busfeild Ferrand's activities is given by Wright in The Chartist Risings in Bradford.

The Document

The pamphlet is quarto (10x8) folded?
The pamphlet itself carries no imprint or date.  A date has been added in writing: June 1849.  From the references made to  Ferrand gaining title to Harden Moor and enclosing St Ives behind a wall this publication date is likely correct: Harden Moor Enclosure Awards were settled in 1848 and if the usual convention applied (to be checked) then enclosure walls were to be erected within 12 months.  However, the 1852 OS County Series 1:10,560 does not show the enclosure walls.