The Great Landowners of Great Britain and Ireland facts for kids
The Great Landowners of Great Britain and Ireland was an important book published by John Bateman between 1876 and 1883. It was originally called The Acre-Ocracy of England. This book listed people who owned a lot of land in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
To be included, a person had to own at least 3,000 acres of land. Or, their land had to bring in at least £3,000 in income each year. This book became a key resource for historians studying the Victorian era. It helped them understand who owned what land during that time.
Creating the Landowners Book
The information for The Great Landowners came from a government report. This report was called the Return of Owners of Land, 1873. People often nicknamed it the "Modern Domesday Book".
John Bateman carefully put together all the information from this report. He organized it county by county. He also fixed mistakes and dealt with different spellings of family names. Bateman added notes to explain confusing parts or differences in land ownership or income.
He even marked special landowners. Some were noted if their families had owned the land since the time of King Henry VII. Later versions of the book also marked other families who proved they had owned their land for just as long.
About John Bateman
John Bateman (1839–1910) was the person who put together The Great Landowners of Great Britain and Ireland. He lived in a place called Brightlingsea Hall in Essex, England.
Bateman was an important person in his community. He served as a justice of the peace, which meant he helped keep law and order. He was also a deputy lieutenant for both Essex and Staffordshire.
In 1865, John Bateman married Jessy Caroline Bootle-Wilbraham. She was the sister of a nobleman named Edward Bootle-Wilbraham, 1st Earl of Lathom. John Bateman and Jessy had one daughter.
