‘Newlands’ Farm in Ceres
Edward Piper (1743–1818) worked as a farmer in north-west Devon.
During the late 18th and early 19th centuries in the parish of Bradworthy, the vast majority of heads of households were engaged in agricultural labor, classified either as a tenant farmer, yeoman, or husbandman. He was a local farmer managing land in the Pancrasweek and Bradworthy areas.
Records for Edward Piper and Dorothy Cleverdon show that their children and grandchildren primarily lived and worked on two notable leasehold properties in the Bradworthy parish of Devon:
South Newlands: This farm was owned by the Earl of Stanhope and comprised roughly 19.5 to 30 acres. Edward’s son, John Piper (born c. 1783–1785), successfully held the lease, living and farming there for decades as recorded in the 1841 and 1851 UK Censuses. John eventually passed away at South Newland in July 1865.
Kimworthy: Located just half a mile away from South Newland, this property was also leased by the Piper family. John Piper’s daughter (Edward’s granddaughter) Jane married Joseph Francis in 1830, and they managed the agricultural operations on this land. [1]
Because these lands were heavily concentrated under the Earl of Stanhope’s estate, the family “inherited” the tenant rights and subsequent leases to these properties rather than owning the absolute freehold title.
‘South Newlands’ – Bradworthy
