Ulster custom

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Ulster custom was the name given to the informal rights of Ulster tenants. These included security of tenure so long as the rent was fully paid, and the freedom to sell the right of occupancy to any new tenant who met with the landlord's approval. In practice the Ulster custom was not uniformly honoured in Ulster, and was not confined to the province. The custom had initially no legal force. In 1847 the tenant rights advocate William Sharman Crawford attempted to gain legalization for the custom, but failed. Only in 1870, through Gladstone's Land Act, was this objective nominally attained.

Alvin Jackson

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