The management of agricultural estates in Catalonia in the 19th and early 20th centuries. An approach through bookkeeping

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyse the management of rural estates during the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century using basically the expenditure registered in bookkeeping records. The information collected proceeds from eight private archives, and from them we have reconstructed a total of ten series of bookkeeping records which describe a group of farms spread throughout the main agricultural zones of Catalonia (Spain). The changes in the quantities provided by the landowners towards the running costs can help us to understand their role in the processes of growth and intensification of agricultural production. We show that, while the level of investment they made was modest, the landownwers did not behave like absentee landlords or idly live off their rents. The examples analysed give us some insight into the rationale behind some of the landowners’ decisions and the diverse responses that they adopted according to the circumstances and the prevailing social and environmental conditions on their estates. The accounting records have proved to be a valuable source in this sense.