William Humphrey Marshall (1745–1818) was an 18th-century English writer on contemporary

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

. He was an early proponent of the establishment of a state-sponsored body to promote improved farming standards and agricultural colleges.

Early life

William Humphrey Marshall was born in 1745 in

Sinnington Sinnington is a village and civil parish in the Ryedale district of the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is located on the southern boundary of the North York Moors National Park. According to the 2001 UK census, the parish has a tota ...

, in

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He was the younger son of William and Alice, yeoman farmers. Marshall left home at the age of 14 and worked in commerce in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

for fourteen years.

Intellectual contributions

At the age of 28 he had what he thought was a miraculous recovery from illness, and determined to devote himself in future to the study of agriculture. He had already been pursuing the study in his spare time and he thought that the proper area for analysis should be the natural agricultural district rather than the regions demarcated by

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

boundaries. He also thought that no less than twelve months' personal observation and practical experience of

farming Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

in an area was needed before a realistic assessment could be made. This method of research differed from his contemporaries in that others, notably Arthur Young, his great rival, investigated farming practices by cursorily touring a county and interviewing the inhabitants. In pursuit of this belief, in 1774 Marshall rented a farm near

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, and four years later he published an account of his experiences. Marshall did not, however, have Young's lively writing style and his status as an internationally renowned agricultural expert. In 1780, Marshall applied for a grant from the

Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

to conduct his research in another area of England, but the committee, which included Arthur Young, turned down his request. Instead Marshall found employment as an estate manager first in

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

and then

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

to fund his research and writing. Subsequently, he lived and worked in a number of places throughout England. In 1798 he finally completed an ambitious twelve-volume study of England's Rural Economy. He was also employed as a landscape gardener, writing three books on the subject. When the Board of Agriculture was created in 1793, after years of lobbying by Marshall, the post of Secretary went to Young. Marshall disliked the Board's decision to commission rapid surveys of counties, but contributed the report covering the central Highlands of Scotland. By 1807, he was pursuing his second ambition, a ''Review and Abstract'' of the Board's county surveys. This ''Review'', which was in five volumes published over ten years, was critical of the quality of the Board of Agriculture reports. Marshall was scathing about Young, once comparing him to 'superficial charlatans'.

Personal life

He married Elizabeth Hodgson in 1807.

Death and legacy

When he died in 1818, Marshall was building an agricultural college at his home in Pickering, in his native county of

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

. Today, this building houses the Beck Isle Museum of Rural Life, rather a fitting use for this fine Grade II* Listed Building.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, William English farmers History of agriculture in England 1745 births 1818 deaths Agricultural writers People from Ryedale (district)