Robert Payne (agriculturalist) facts for kids

Robert Payne was an English businessman who lived a long time ago, in the 1500s. He was known for planning and starting new projects, especially in farming and business. He moved to a part of Ireland called Munster. There, he became a strong supporter of a big plan to bring English settlers to Ireland. This plan was known as the Munster Plantation.

Robert Payne: A Planter's Story

Robert Payne was a type of businessman called a projector. This meant he came up with and organized new business ideas. He first started promoting his ideas in a place called Nottinghamshire in England.

Early Business Ideas

One of Payne's early ideas was to produce special wool from Jersey for making stockings. He also wanted to grow a plant called woad. Woad was used to make a blue dye. A powerful person named Francis Willoughby supported Payne in these early projects.

Building a New Life in Ireland

When Payne decided to start his project in Munster, Ireland, he found 25 business partners. Each partner received about 400 acres of land. Payne also brought many other people with him. These included five farmers, fourteen freeholders (people who owned their land), forty copyholders (people who rented land), and twenty-five cottagers and laborers.

Payne kept 1,600 acres of land for himself and his family. He also managed the lands of other landowners who were not living in Ireland. He stayed in touch with Francis Willoughby while he was in Ireland. Willoughby was a quiet partner in a plan to build an ironworks in a place called Kinalmeaky. An English iron expert was supposed to run this business. They planned to use wood from forests that Willoughby had already bought nearby.

In 1590, Payne started working for Phane Becher. Becher was a London businessman who was also involved in the Munster Plantation. However, when Becher arrived in Kinalmeaky, he found problems with Payne's business records and other issues. Because of these disagreements, Becher ended Payne's work for him. Robert Payne passed away the next year, in 1593.

A Book About Ireland

In 1798, Robert Payne published a book called A Briefe Description of Ireland. In this book, he wrote that the soil in Ireland was very rich and fertile. He also said that the local Irish people were very loyal.

The title of his book was similar to a book written by Thomas Harriot a year earlier. Harriot's book was about Virginia, a new land in America. This suggests there was a friendly competition between those who wanted to settle in Virginia and those who wanted to settle in Ireland. Both places were looking for new colonists.

Payne wrote his book shortly after a big conflict called the Second Desmond Rebellion. He spoke kindly of the Irish people. He explained that many Irish people faced very difficult choices during that time. They had to choose between being robbed by soldiers or joining the rebels. Payne's book was made up of letters he had written to his 25 business partners, most of whom lived in Nottinghamshire.