The Cattle Plague of 1865-67

: A comparative study

Abstract

This thesis presents a comparative study of the 1865-67 outbreak of Cattle Plague in Britain. Reactions to and the effects of the outbreak are investigated through local newspaper reports in Cheshire, Norfolk and Wiltshire. A quantitative investigation demonstrates no link between the number of newspaper reports and cattle losses or the number of outbreaks, indicating other factors were involved. Selected themes are investigated, one of which considers attempts to control the outbreak and reactions to these, which reveals failures to follow national and local restrictions by local authorities, groups and individuals. These failures indicate variations in local societies at county and sub-county levels. It is shown that Norfolk was agriculturally more market-orientated than Wiltshire which was more market orientated than Cheshire. Another approach considers support measures for those who suffered loss and investigates national compensation, local assurance societies and public subscriptions. Expectations of, and actual landlord support provided, differed between and within counties and indicates variations in the levels of paternalism at national, county and sub-county levels with Norfolk generally the least paternalistic and Cheshire the most. A study of how the outbreak affected local communities, through the focus of the local hunts, reveals variations in more general social attitudes. The importance of hunts to local economies is demonstrated and the importance to the hunts of being seen as open to all is shown to be related to changes in paternalism and class. Thus, through the prism of the Cattle Plague, this thesis engages with the historiography of English class structure and the relationship between local and central government in the mid-nineteenth century.

Date of Award	19 Jul 2022
Original language	English
Supervisor	Mark Allen (Supervisor), Simon Sandall (Supervisor) & Sian Edwards (Supervisor)