ABSTRACT
: During the mid-Victorian period, the East Riding of Yorkshire witnessed a vigorous campaign for the reform and abolition of hiring fairs. The most modern form of agricultural production, high farming, that proved to be most deeply attached to farm service was significant because it meant that in the East Riding the Golden Age of agriculture was also a Golden Age of farm service. From the Church of England's point of view, farm service drew the young of both sexes out of their parishes into a mobile way of life which was outside of its control and influence. The continuation of farm service in the East Riding had important ramifications for rural popular culture. As custom determined that the majority of farm servants' contracts were created at hiring fairs, the health of the hiring fair as a popular event was intertwined with the well-being of the institution of farm service as a labour system.
