Can anyone offer an explanation of a few terms I have encountered in a late seventeeth century will? The writer was a yeoman (at least that was what he called himself) and he refers many times to various plots of land he wishes to bequeath : one-yard land two-yard-land and half-yard land is this a reference to old 'strip-farming' allocations prior to enclosures? Steve

Yard-Land Yard-Land a quantity of land, containing in some countries 20, in others 24, 30 and 40 acres; but at Wimbleton in Surry, no more than 15 Definition taken from The Universal Etymological Dictionary, edited by Nathan Bailey (1736). Found online. Or - Yardland From - the Harmsworth Encyclopedia c.1910 A yardland or virgate was an old English measure of land, varying from 10 to 30 or 40 acres. It was the normal holding of a tenant of arable land, and the variation probably arises from the fact that in early times land was measured more by quality than by extent. On 12-Jun-12 8:49 PM, SBrainstev@aol.com wrote: > > Can anyone offer an explanation of a few terms I have encountered in a > late seventeeth century will? > > The writer was a yeoman (at least that was what he called himself) and he > refers many times to various plots of land he wishes to bequeath : > > one-yard land two-yard-land and half-yard land > > is this a reference to old 'strip-farming' allocations prior to enclosures? > > Steve > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > Oxfordshire Family History Society now has its own page on Facebook - www.facebook.com/oxfordshirefhs - press the "like" button to receive Society news& updates > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to OXFORDSHIRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

Yard-Land Yard-Land a quantity of land, containing in some countries 20, in others 24, 30 and 40 acres; but at Wimbleton in Surry, no more than 15 Definition taken from The Universal Etymological Dictionary, edited by Nathan Bailey (1736). Found online. Or - Yardland From - the Harmsworth Encyclopedia c.1910 >A yardland or virgate was an old English measure of land, varying from >10 to 30 or 40 acres. It was the normal holding of a tenant of arable >land, and the variation probably arises from the fact that in early > times land was measured more by quality than by extent. This generally works - it is the quality of the land which counts, so lush grassland is better than thin upland acreage. However, be wary of the fact that the term 'yardland' is also used as equiavalent to a half acre strip. The context will usually tell you, since if a man leaves 'four acres in the common fields of X' and then itemises them as an acre here, an acre there and a yardland there, it is likely that he is using the 'half acre' definition. >he writer was a yeoman (at least that was what he called himself) yeoman in the last C17 probable did mean a freeholder. Later the term was extended to lessees or tenant of very large farms. EVE Author of The McLaughlin Guides for Family Historians Secretary, Bucks Genealogical Society