Description:Letters in the Sutherland Papers reveal that by the 1870s the Vicarage House at Barlaston was being used as a farmhouse.
In the 1870s the Duke’s Chief Estate Agent George Loch received a letter from Reverend R. L. Farmer regarding the building of a vicarage house at Barlaston. Reverend Farmer had been given the living at Barlaston by George Granville William Sutherland-Leveson-Gower (1828-1892), the third Duke of Sutherland, and was anxious to build himself an improved vicarage house to live in. In his letter dated 19th April 1871 Farmer writes ‘now that I am inducted to this Living which the Duke of Sutherland has so kindly given me, it is my wish to take some steps to build a Vicarage House’.
Reverend Farmer informs George Loch that ‘the present Vicarage’ was ‘very small’ and was currently being used ‘as a farm house’. He writes ‘if that should be taken for my residence a new farm house must be built’. Concerned about causing disruption to the present arrangements, Reverend Farmer proposed to leave the farmhouse where it was ‘and build a Vicarage elsewhere where a good site can be obtained, if sufficient money can be raised for the purpose’.
Reverend Farmer asks Loch if the Duke would provide him with money for building a new vicarage house. He enquires whether ‘His Grace, as Patron of the Living’ would be willing to assist him. He asks Loch’s advice about how his ‘appeal’ to the Duke ought to be made.
As well as writing to the Duke, Reverend Farmer planned to appeal to the Parishioners in Barlaston for money to build the new vicarage house. He writes ‘I have made no appeal to the Parishioners or any one as yet, feeling that my list should be headed by His Grace’s name, as Patron of the Living’.
Reverend Farmer’s letter tells us about the politics of patronage during this period. Farmer had been granted the curacy at Barlaston through the Duke of Sutherland’s patronage. In this letter he appeals to the Duke, as his Patron, for assistance out of courtesy, before petitioning his parishioners. It is possible that Reverend Farmer considered the Duke likely to grant him the money for a new vicarage, the Duke being a wealthy man with an invested interest in the parish of Barlaston.