Arthur Young

Born 1741
Died 1820
Place of Birth Whitehall, London, England
Place of Death London, England
Gender Male
Biographical Notes This agricultural reformer and writer was born in Whitehall, London, the son of Arthur Young, rector of Bradfield Combust, Suffolk, and chaplain to Arthur Onslow, speaker of the house of Commons. Young’s mother was Anne Lucretia, daughter of John de Cousmaker. The youngest of three children, Young attended school at Lavenham, but did not attend university. He was apprenticed to a wine merchant’s at King’s Lynn but was slow to complete his training, not finishing until 1761. An early publishing venture in London was a failure. In 1763 he took over the tenancy of a farm in Bradfield, read extensively on farming and began to write on the topic himself. In 1765 Young married Martha Allen and they had four children, three girls and one boy. Young travelled extensively within the British Isles including a trip to Ireland in 1776. He wrote and published extensively on agriculture, agricultural experimentation and rural economics in the 1770s. Following his trip to Ireland in 1776 he took up the position of resident agent for Lord Kingsborough’s estate at Mitchelstown Co. Cork. He did not remain in Mitchelstown for long but his book a Tour in Ireland, published in 1780: “has since become a valuable source as one of the few accounts of conditions in Ireland at this time”. Between 1787 and 1790 Young visited France, Catalonia and northern Italy and wrote extensively of his travels. From 1793 Young took up a position with the newly established Board of Agriculture and worked on a series of agricultural reports each addressing an individual English county. Young also continued to publish his own pamphlets on agriculture between 1813 and 1817. He died in London, aged seventy-eight in 1820.

Works

Travel Account(s)

Images

Powerscourt Waterfall (Draughtsman, Author of travel text)

An Irish Cabbin (Draughtsman, Author of travel text)

Woods near Lucan (Draughtsman, Author of travel text)

Castletown House the Seat of the Right Honourable Thomas Connolly (Draughtsman, Author of travel text)

Irish Cabin with Livestock (Draughtsman, Author of travel text)

Construction of an Irish cabin (Draughtsman, Author of travel text)

The Castle of Slane, the Seat of the Right Honourable Lord Viscount Conyngham (Draughtsman, Author of travel text)

Slane Castle (Draughtsman, Author of travel text)

Sketch map of Co. Wexford (Draughtsman, Author of travel text)

General Cunninghame’s Arbutus (Draughtsman, Author of travel text)

Powerscourt Waterfall [ink wash] (Draughtsman, Author of travel text)

The Field of Battle on the Boyne (Draughtsman, Author of travel text)

Turnip Hoe (Draughtsman, Author of travel text)

View of London Derry on the River Foyle in the North of Ireland (Author of travel text)

A View from a Boat taken between the Bays of Rossengole and Rossmore (Draughtsman, Author of travel text)

View of Lough Erne (Draughtsman, Author of travel text)

A View of Mary’s Island, Ennisfandra and Carlat, a distant view of Knockninny, Lord Ross Park, on Lough Erne (Draughtsman, Author of travel text)

View of Lough Erne near Belleisle, with boat and house (Draughtsman, Author of travel text)

View of Lough Erne near Belleisle, with scattered islands (Draughtsman, Author of travel text)

Ballysadare Waterfall (Draughtsman, Author of travel text)

Ballina, Co. Mayo (Draughtsman, Author of travel text)

Clew Bay near Newport (Draughtsman, Author of travel text)

Plough (Draughtsman, Author of travel text)

Cattle Harness (Draughtsman, Author of travel text)

View of Lough Leane (Draughtsman, Author of travel text)

View of Lough Leane with mountains (Draughtsman, Author of travel text)

Tork Mountain across the Upper Lake, with islands (Draughtsman, Author of travel text)

Tork Mountain across the Upper Lake (Draughtsman, Author of travel text)

Muckross Waterfall (Draughtsman, Author of travel text)

O’Sullivan’s Cascade (Draughtsman, Author of travel text)

Seed Drill (Draughtsman, Author of travel text)

The Galtee Mountains (Draughtsman, Author of travel text)

Waterfall in the Galtee Mountains (Draughtsman, Author of travel text)

Plan of circular structure at Blarney (Draughtsman, Author of travel text)

Façade of building with gate at Blarney (Draughtsman, Author of travel text)

Façade of building at Blarney (Draughtsman, Author of travel text)

Two prospects of building at Blarney (Draughtsman, Author of travel text)