ABSTRACT
This chapter examines management practice on estates in the Northeast of England c. 1700 to 1780 through the lens of the accounts and supporting documentation. The new work makes the assessment of how typical the Bowes were of contemporary practice on Tyneside, as well as allowing for the inclusion of additional material in greater depth. Local variations make generalizations about estates difficult, and the North-east may not be typical of other regions. The relatively early industrialization of the area was matched by the recent origins of many of the local landowners, such as the Cotesworths, Liddells, Cans, Ellisons, Whites, Ridleys and Blacketts, who had made their fortunes in trade. The transition of the Bowes family to landed status had occurred in 1310 when Adam Bowes, a successful lawyer, married Alice, heiress of Sir John Trayne. By the eighteenth century they were a well-established landed family, whose seat of influence was estate and castle of Streatlam in south of County Durham.
