THE WHIGS NOW STAND at the heart of historical accounts of British politics in the 1830s and 1840s. In the last twenty-five years their policies and thought have been explored through a number of studies, which have highlighted the achievements of the administrations led by Grey, Melbourne and Russell, whilst also drawing attention to the Whigs' pivotal contribution to nineteenth-century liberalism. 1 Yet our knowledge of how the Whigs' support was forged on the ground remains surprisingly limited. Whilst Benjamin Weinstein has recently published an important study examining their political appeal in London, little attention has been paid to the way they operated and were perceived outside of the metropolis. 2 This article begins to fill that gap. It explores the relationship between Whigs and liberals in Yorkshire between 1830 and 1850, concentrating on the post-1832 county constituency of the West Riding.The West Riding was the largest parliamentary constituency in the nation, ranging from the moors around Haworth to the great towns of Leeds, Sheffield and Bradford. By 1835, it contained over 29,000 voters, many of whom were freeholders. 3 This size and diversity meant that contemporaries were apt to suggest that the Riding's decisions indicated the nation's mood. Richard Cobden, for one, described it as one of the 'testing points of public opinion'. 4 It is therefore surprising that the most valuable studies of reforming politics in the region in this period, by F.M.L. Thompson and Derek Fraser, are over thirty years old. Although exploring the impact of national events, both accounts focus on the local relationship between the Riding's liberals and

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This essay explores the career of John Henderson, land agent to the Earls of Carlisle at their Castle Howard estate in Yorkshire between 1827 and the late 1860s. In recent scholarship, historians have increasingly begun to appreciate the importance of land agents in nineteenth-century rural life. It is now evident that agents, as intermediaries between landowners, their tenants and the wider local population, were deeply involved in the social relationships of rural communities. Making use of the voluminous and well-preserved estate records, the essay complements such studies by emphasising the multi-faceted nature of Henderson’s role in the Castle Howard district. It will particularly focus on Henderson’s role as a facilitator of social, economic and technical change. Under the active encouragement of the 7th Earl of Carlisle, a noted liberal politician and reformer, Henderson not only introduced a range of agricultural improvements to the estate, but also a large number of projects aimed at improving the social, economic and moral condition of its population. In doing so, the essay shows that landed estates - and land agents - may have played no less an important part than urban areas in the Victorian culture of 'progress': in participating in what the 7th Earl described as 'stirring and advancing times'.