One sunny day in May 2016, Brigg Blog gave a short guided tour to a professor from New Zealand who was visiting our town.
She was interested in North Lincolnshire's 18th and 19th century rabbit industry and we took her to look at Coney Court, whose name recalls this trade.
We've now been sent a copy of Professor Carolyn King's fascinating research paper, with extensive references to Brigg and district.
In the late 19th century, New Zealand was having major problems with wild rabbits on grass set aside for valuable sheep.
It was decided to ship large numbers of weasels and stoats - trapped in our area - and set them free to keep the rabbit population down.
The predators sold for huge sums after arriving in New Zealand.
However, nature being as it is, the weasels and stoats did not limit themselves to a diet of rabbit and also ate other species.
So what might have seemed to be a good idea to many at the time turned out to be anything but.
The full title of Professor King's work is The History of Transportation of Stoats (Mustela Erminea) and Weasels (M. Nivalis) to New Zealand, 1883-92.
It includes a photograph of a rabbit display in Brigg Heritage Centre "celebrating the importance of rabbits to the local economy during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries."
Dr Frank Henthorn's book A History of 19th Century Brigg was among works used as reference.
Unexpectedly, Brigg's Blog's tiny contribution is recognised in a section called Acknowledgements, alongside many other people in New Zealand and the UK who gave much more valuable assistance, we are sure.
This topic would certainly make an interesting subject for a future monthly meeting of BASH (Brigg Amateur Social Historians).
An Abstract of the 80-plus page research paper can be read through this link...
Nige, there is no direct evidence that Coney Court was the centre of the rabbit fur industry...or even had any connection.
ReplyDeleteBefore circa 1865, Coney Ct was called Nicholson Yard...and by 1865 the local rabbit trade had dwindled enormously....so there is no evidence to indicate why Coney Ct is so-called...
.it's so-called history is based on assumption, which has erroroneously evolved as fact.
However, the earliest trade directory for Brigg shows a number of glove makers working in the town (probably rabbit skin) in the c17th, thus perhaps indicating the town's reliance on rabbit for its industry.
Obviously, rabbit fur would be bi-product of glove making....but the quantity would have been small.
Morley, a guy who owned property in Morley Yard was a fur trader and early censuses indicate that there were the odd and separated spinners about Brigg...but no so many to write home about.