Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and predecessors: Statistics Divisions:...

MAF 68

1866-1988

Summaries of annual returns from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and its predecessors on livestock and acreage in England and Wales given by proprietors on a voluntary basis. The summaries in this series begin in 1866, but those for 1868, 1871 and 1872 have not survived. Figures for the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and the Isles of Scilly have been included, where available. The majority of the annual returns were normally collected in June of each year, a pattern set in 1866, though there may be variations. The original returns have been destroyed.

For the most part the series is arranged alphabetically by county within each year. This generally follows piece number order. From 1982 Avon, Humberside and the Welsh counties are not listed in alphabetical order. This is due to these counties having been listed according their respective agricultural census return numbers, which vary slightly from strict alphabetical order.

In respect of returns for Numbers of Livestock and Acreages of Crops, information relating to Parishes in the London Area will be found for 1895 and succeeding years in the returns for the County of Middlesex.

Earlier returns are in HO 67

For summaries after 1988 see MAF 408

Public Record(s)

English

• Board of Agriculture, 1889-1903
• Board of Trade, 1786-1970
• Privy Council, Committee of Council for Agriculture, 1884-1889

6144 files and volumes

Subject to 30 year closure unless otherwise stated

Topics

Food and drink

Fishing

Farming

Although some information about acreages was collected from farmers and graziers in Great Britain with the decennial population censuses from 1851 to 1881, the first census of livestock taken from all owners of livestock was not until March 1866, followed in June 1866 by a census of crops. Statistics of labour employed on farms were first collected in 1908; again in 1915; and annually from 1920 onwards.

Excise officers (reporting to the Board of Trade up to 1889, and thereafter to the Board of Agriculture set up under an Act of 1889) collected the agricultural returns up to 1918. In 1919 the new Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries set up a network of some 300 crop reporters who were local fee-paid agents of the ministry, each being responsible for the distribution and collection of the returns within a defined group of parishes. From 1949 to 1956 the returns were collected by the ministry's County Advisory Officers. From September 1956 the completed forms have been returned by farmers direct to the Agricultural Census Branch of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food at Guildford.