In the 19th and early 20th centuries many people had small plots of land attached to their houses, from which they produced fodder for their cow or cows. Some villages possessed common grazings, on which village cow keepers had the right to graze their animals during the grazing season. It was to assist these small cow keepers that the Ayton and District Society for Insuring Cows was originally founded, each member paying an annual subscription for each cow in his possession. In the event of the cow dying, or being slaughtered by order of a veterinary surgeon, a compensation payment was made to the owner, this payment being a valuable contribution towards the purchase of a new cow.