William Lawson (co-operator)
At home, he took an active role in field sports, where he managed the Cumberland Foxhounds for his brother, who had acquired some hounds from the famous pack belonging to John Peel.
Seeking for a worthwhile occupation, he packed his saddlebags, mounted a pony at his father's gate, and set off for London, to experience his own ‘rural rides’.
As a member of a rural community, he took a particular interest in agricultural matters and noted in his journal that the highest wages earned by farm labourers was two shillings and eight pence (13p) per day.
Mechi's modern methods, his technique of irrigation using liquid manure, his advanced sowing procedures and the novelty of housing livestock on boards above the ground left a memorable impression.
[3] In his autobiographical journal, ‘Ten Years of Gentleman Farming’,[4] published in 1874, Lawson humorously alluded to his three big mistakes; the purchase of a steam plough; the procurement of low priced guano; and the elevation of his father's coachmen to the position of headman.
Of the fifty-three eligible voters, forty-seven initially expressed an interest, however, after he published the value of the investment and the anticipated rewards from its success, their apathy increased and they withdrew their support.
Although no one suffered injury, the subsequent explosion ignited a heap of loose hay, and quickly spread to the dutch barn, packed to the roof with the recent harvest.
The shop window also advertised a variety of wares, including seeds, specimens of manure, crushed bones, mint lozenges, notepaper and envelopes.
They were very aware that any unjustifiable increase would diminish the amount of money available to the fund for the ‘Public Good.’ One successful resolution proposed the establishment of a village post-office.
The affectionately named ‘Cyclops,’ the first of its kind in Cumberland, comprised a 12-horsepower (8.9 kW) portable steam engine, with the capacity to drive a grubber, plough, cultivator, and scarifier.
The engine continued to promenade the streets of Aspatria, accompanied by a large concourse of people, finally arriving at Brayton Hall, the scene of the inaugural trials.
After a series of mishaps, misfortunes, breakages and repairs, ploughing commenced, which provoked a bystander to remark, "Well she's gitten up Thompson's Brow, and she's ploow'd 'er fust furro', but she'll nivver pay.
The library provided a wide choice of reading material, good fiction, all forms of religious matters, history, travel, biography and poetry; it also included works by ‘undesirable, controversial, banned’ writers.
Lawson failed in his attempts to establish Reading Rooms in the neighbouring towns of Wigton and Maryport, notwithstanding his offer of £50 to any individual or organisation willing to promote such institutions.
In the winter of 1868, Lawson converted a small corner of the ‘turnip house’ into a bathhouse, comprising a spray, a douche, a wooden plunge bath, and a changing trestle, a facility sadly destroyed in the 1871 fire.
[16] Lawson also offered a group of London missionaries, free access to the farm for recreational purposes at an annual cost to the fund for the public good of £60.
The problems arose from lack of experience, a shortage of cooking facilities, and from Lawson's insistence that the food comprise a truly national flavour, thus excluding rice, raisins, currants, pepper, sugar, salt and other readily available imports.
On this occasion, the application for free tickets was so immediate and numerous that after receiving almost 3,000 requests he closed the offer on 3 December, although ruined by rain, observers recalled two novel events, labourers using Cain's boiler to heat the water to mash tea, and an attempt by Lawson to introduce a non-smoking policy.
In addition to festivals, there was the annual mid summer outing, which saw fifty excursionists sitting on wooden planks and bails of straw travelled the sixteen-mile distance in open farm carts to Keswick, where they were ‘encouraged to enjoy their own entertainment’.
After he submitted the list of proposed lectures to Sir Wilfrid Lawson, the custodian of the only suitable meeting room in Aspatria, his brother rejected the request for a variety of reasons.
He first suggested purchasing land in the centre of the town and conceived plans to erect a handsome building capable of seating 550 people, with shops and houses below.
Lawson led an opposition labelled ‘communists’ by their opponents; and from this turmoil came a race to establish two rival Public Halls to serve this small community.
[21] Lawson purchased a parcel of land for £220 and immediately offered it free of charge with an additional sum of £100, to any group of people willing to build a Public Hall.
He also erected a row of five new terraced cottages, each comprising three large rooms a kitchen and outhouse; they cost £132 each to build and realised a weekly rent of two shillings and sixpence.
Shortly after assuming the role of a farmer, Lawson rearranged the largest field of about 180 acres (73 ha) into a modern market garden, from where he grew a wide variety of crops.
To distribute the large quantity of food and bedding required by the cattle throughout the estate Lawson constructed a small railroad fitted with turntables and the necessary rolling stock.
To supply the water required to create the energy needed to power the machinery and distribute the liquid manure Lawson dug a cutting from the River Ellen, which he connected to a deep underground stream, thirty feet below the site of the turbine, before pumping it into a large cistern, attached to a high tower.
A glance at the balance sheet for the ten-year period shows that of the 17 defined departments only four were profitable and the total loss amounted to £18,622, a figure equivalent to almost £2,000 per year, or five percent on the average capital.
After the failure of the Mechi experiment Lawson left Cumberland and resided for many years in America, where he met and later married Miss Emilie Jane Tyler, of Wanick, Massachusetts.
He distributed hundreds of these packages; 1,500 throughout the United Kingdom, while numerous others went to Russia, Japan, France, Germany, New Zealand, Bulgaria, Brazil, San Salvador and South Africa.
