London Globe (23/Oct/1919) - Town Buys Out Landlord

The following is a transcription of a historic newspaper article and may contain occasional errors. If the article was published prior to 1 June 1957, then the text is likely in the Public Domain.

TOWN BUYS OUT LANDLORD.

TO OWN THE LAND IT STANDS ON.

SECRET DEAL.

Huddersfield is to own Huddersfield.

The "Yorkshire Observer" announces today that it understands that the Ramsden estate, which comprises the centre of the town and practically all the old part, has been purchased from Sir John Frecheville Ramsden on behalf of the Corporation.

The negotiations have been conducted with extreme secrecy, only about half a dozen people having knowledge of them.

There must, of course, be considerable time before the deal is completed. Even though the negotiations have been successful, the project has to be sanctioned by the Corporation, and Parliamentary powers will be needed to complete.

4,500 ACRES.

The peculiar case of Huddersfield, which left the ownership of all the important part of the town in the hands of a single person, has been a "classical" case in the literature of land reform for many years.

The estate extends over 4,500 acres, and includes the most important part of the town, the remainder of which is chiefly owned by the Clarke Thornhill and Whitley Beaumont Estates. The total acreage of the borough is 11,875.

There is at present no indication of the price paid, but a few years ago it was stated in a return to Parliament that the late Sir John Ramsden, the present baronet's father, owned 8,589 acres in Yorkshire, having a gross rental value, according to the rate books, of £167,601 9s. per annum. This was independant of his estates elsewhere.

The rental value, as the Parliamentary return took care to note, would not, of course, all go into the pockets of the Ramsden family as ground landlords, but much would be received by the lessors.

According to "Who's Who," the family estate of the sixth baronet extends to 150,000 acres.