32
The Tse clan had clearly bought into the village at a slightly earlier period - probably the grandfather of the household-heads recorded in 1902 had been the first to settle here. The family owned a complete subsistence estate - three houses within the walls, and one outside, and a total of 4.21 acres of arable land. They had probably bought out one or more of the Chan households. The Tse households had their landholdings arranged in a very closely interlinked fashion - the family was still, in 1902, clearly functioning very much as a single economic unit. There seem to have been four households, but only two were recorded as owning houses (in total, they owned four houses). 3.49 acres of the family agricultural land, however, were recorded as being owned by those two households not recorded as owning houses.
Of the households recorded from the Ng clan in 1902 there were, as is to be expected, considerable variations in wealth. Of those household heads who owned their property without any other joint owner, the arable land owned varied from 0.41 acres (Ng Un-po), 0.56 acres (Ng Kun-po) and then through 0.83 acres (Ng Yuk-sing), 0.90 acres (Ng Kwong-ip), 1.23 acres (Ng Man-hi), 1.49 acres (Ng Shui) to 1.58 acres (Ng Kwai-cheung), and 1.61 acres (Ng Tak-tat). Of the joint owners, Ng Cheung-sing and Ng Lam-yau (probably uncle and nephew jointly inheriting from the younger man's grandfather) held 0.68 acres, Ng Fo-sang and Ng Tin-yau (probably another uncle and nephew joint inheritance) held 1.05 acres, Ng Hing-tak and Ng Loi-fat held 0.47 acres, Ng Hop and Ng Tak-lap held 1.20 acres, Ng Kit-san and Ng Yuk-chan held 0.81 acres, Ng Shing-fu and Ng Shui-fat held 1.37 acres, while Ng Tseuk-hin and Ng Tso-fuk held no less than 4.93 acres. In many of these cases one or other of the joint owners are also recorded as owning small areas of land as individuals in addition to their joint estates, but in each case the joint estate provided the great bulk of the property owned.
All the estates listed above would have been enough for subsistence. Farms in this area of less than an acre (if used for rice cultivation) did not need more than a single adult's labour, except at the peak harvest periods. Most families, however, had more than one single pair of adult hands (there would be both a husband and a wife, and often teenage or married children, and frequently a married sibling). It was normal in the area for one person to work the farm, or perhaps two, while others would go off to earn cash income as labourers or
32
The Tse clan had clearly bought into the village at a slightly ear- lier period - probably the grandfather of the household-heads recorded in 1902 had been the first to settle here. The family owned a complete subsistence estate - three houses within the walls, and one outside, and a total of 4.21 acres of arable land. They had probably bought out one or more of the Chan households. The Tse households had their land- holdings arranged in a very closely interlinked fashion - the family was still, in 1902, clearly functioning very much as a single economic unit. There seem to have been four households, but only two were re- corded as owning houses (in total, they owned four houses). 3.49 acres of the family agricultural land, however, were recorded as being owned by those two households not recorded as owning houses.
Of the households recorded from the Ng clan in 1902 there were, as is to be expected, considerable variations in wealth. Of those house- hold heads who owned their property without any other joint owner, the arable land owned varied from 0.41 acres (Ng Un-po), 0.56 acres (Ng Kun-po) and then through 0.83 acres (Ng Yuk-sing), 0.90 acres (Ng Kwong-ip), 1.23 acres (Ng Man-hi), 1.49 acres (Ng Shui) to 1.58 acres (Ng Kwai-cheung), and 1.61 acres (Ng Tak-tat). Of the joint owners, Ng Cheung-sing and Ng Lam-yau (probably uncle and nephew jointly inheriting from the younger man's grandfather) held 0.68 acres, Ng Fo-sang and Ng Tin-yau (probably another uncle and nephew joint inheritance) held 1.05 acres, Ng Hing-tak and Ng Loi-fat held 0.47 acres, Ng Hop and Ng Tak-lap held 1.20 acres, Ng Kit-san and Ng Yuk-chan held 0.81 acres, Ng Shing-fu and Ng Shui-fat held 1.37 acres, while Ng Tseuk-hin and Ng Tso-fuk held no less than 4.93 acres. In many of these cases one or other of the joint owners are also recorded as owning small areas of land as individuals in addition to their joint estates, but in each case the joint estate provided the great bulk of the property owned.
All the estates listed above would have been enough for subsistence. Farms in this area of less than an acre (if used for rice cultivation) did not need more than a single adult's labour, except at the peak harvest periods. Most families, however, had more than one single pair of adult hands (there would be both a husband and a wife, and often teenage or married children, and frequently a married sibling). It was normal in the area for one person to work the farm, or perhaps two, while others would go off to earn cash income as labourers or
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