Divisions of Labour: Inter-managerial Conflict among the Wentworth-Fitzwilliam Agents

This chapter examines the Wentworth-Fitzwilliam estates in Yorkshire and Ireland and explores the hierarchical structure of the management system, by charting how this tripartite agency developed as a consequence of estate expansion. It discusses the agents’ background, education and training and in so doing, exposes the core belief system underpinning the earls Fitzwilliam philosophy. While morally admirable, this ideology had a somewhat negative effect on the estate in terms of economic progression. However, from the mid-nineteenth century, the impact of landlord paternalism was minimised by the improved economic climate in south Yorkshire which also placed the land agent in a more favourable position when challenged about his management practices. Unlike the Irish land system which was chiefly concerned with agricultural land, the south Yorkshire estate was quite distinct, for in addition to its agricultural interests, it contained industrial elements predominantly coal and ironstone and thus, required a more elaborate administration structure. Perhaps unsurprisingly, in creating an array of roles to oversee the external divisions of labour, internal fissures developed which over time widened to reveal the sometimes flawed management system on the estate.