Bennett's of Ballinacurra Descriptive List (Ref. B609)

B609/

instead [see also B609/9/A/8]. A letter of 2 February 1889 to Hanrahan & Co, Cork, concerns Bennett’s tenancy of premises at Ballinacurra owned by Mr Longfield. Marked ‘Murphy v Longfield’ [see also 11 & 19 June 1888]. In a letter of 13 September 1889 to Richard Heard, Clonakilty, Bennett explains the duties and conditions of employment involved in managing his farm. He also outlines the malt house work available to Mr Heard’s sons, but notes that he has no employment for his wife. In a letter of 25 September 1890 to Beamish & Crawford, Bennett comments on the adverse effect which the paying of high prices for all qualities of barley is having on production standards in the district, and on his business, and outlining the approach he intends to take this season. A letter of 19 March 1894 to Cork Harbour Commissioners complains of the ‘grievous want of some sanitary accommodation in the shape of a water closet or earth closet upon your quay here [Ballinacurra]’. In a letter of 14 June 1894 to AGS, Bennett comments on the proposed railway from Midleton to Ballycotton. He thinks it unlikely to ‘get beyond the preliminary stage’. He notes such a railway ‘would greatly facilitate the conveyance of your stout to Ballycotton which place is annually becoming more popular as a sea side resort’, but adds that the railway ‘may tend to convey Barley past my Maltings to Cork and thus tend to raise prices here’. A long letter dated 24 April 1899 to Mr Ferguson, AGS, details the condition of buildings and production at Ballinacurra, and discusses a loan, or an increase in malting commission, to meet the costs involved in effecting substantial improvements [see also following letters, including 29 May to G.D. La Touche, AGS]. In a letter of 20 November 1899 to AGS, Bennett refers to his need for a new manager, Thomas Rea having fallen ill. He states ‘I do not need a high class maltster and least of all an Englishman who would assuredly be looked upon with jealous dislike by the other employees’. In a letter dated 29 March 1901 to AGS, Bennett expresses his ‘very great disappointment at the prospect of obtaining no better terms of commission’, despite his interview with the directors, and his expenditure on plant and higher wages. He hopes for a concession to spare him ‘the sense of failure which must accrue if I have to regard myself as completely unremunerated for what has really been a very big effort on my part’ [see also B609/9/A/20]. A note in pencil records the steps taken by AGS in response to this appeal. In a letter of 10 May to AGS regarding his liabilities for improvements, Bennett makes reference to the building of labourers’ cottages. He states he is ‘by no means anxious’ to start building these, but notes the ‘tumble down’ and ‘overcrowded’ state of existing houses, ‘with nobody to come to the rescue except the Firm or myself through the Firm’. A letter of 11 August 1901 to Dr Brown concerns the new [experimental] barley cultivations, and the possible extension of the business by Bennett taking a partner [see also 2 August 1902 to Mr Baird]. A letter of 16 December to Mr Sheringham [who has been running the experimental plots] concerns his new position as an official of the Department of Agriculture. In a letter of 22 January 1902, Bennett outlines the terms of an offer of an advance to his manager, Mr Smith, in consideration of his intention to marry. A letter of 11 November 1904 to AGS concerns the lease of a strip of ground to Cork Harbour Commissioners for a boat slip at Ballinacurra. In a letter of 28 May 1905 to ‘Janie’ [his sister, Mrs Humphreys], Bennett expresses himself ‘grieved and astonished’, in view of her limited income, at her decision to rent Woodview, and to go on a musical tour in America. In a letter of 11 August 1905 to Mr La Touche, Bennett gives his reasons for a continuance of AGS’s ‘liberal policy towards Irish Barley’, warning of possible agitation against Guinness Stout, and the effect