Devon Commission

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The Devon Commission was a commission that was appointed by Sir Robert Peel to research the problems with land leases. This was a positive step for the government as it made the Irish believe that reform would come soon afterwards. In fact this was the first time that a British government had taken a step towards reforming the unfair leases.

The Devon Commission was headed by Lord Devon and it reported in 1845 that the population of Ireland had exploded from 6 million people to close on 8 million people. Similarly they concluded that the leases were unfair and were favorable to the landowners (Usually Anglo-Irish). Indeed the tenants had no forms of protection, they could be , and often were summarily evicted. The Devon Commission had wide reaching consequences and though too late to prevent the famine, it did galvanize change afterwards.