B
bluegrizzly5
Guest
Until the Property Act of 1925, Britain's inheritance laws were of primogeniture, which means the eldest son inherited the family estate. An entailed property was one in which the inheritance was strictly controlled according to the entail. In effect, an entail was a series of 'inheritances for life', by which the inheritor held the property only until he died, after which it was held by the next in line.
Entailed properties usually descended to an eldest son, and then to his eldest son, and then to his eldest son, and so on. If there was no eldest son, it would go to the second son of the most recent eldest son, and then to his eldest son, and so on. Hence the development of the "directories of eldest sons", commonly known as Burke's Peerage or Burke's Landed Gentry, whereby family pedigrees outlined the descendants.
Sometimes, as in Downton Abbey, the lawyers would have to go back up several generations to find the next available son and his heirs.
Wives brought a dowry to the marriage, usually property. Huge estates cost money to run and many a family was ruined by these costs. A wife with a good dowry could save the estate. The estate got the money and the American heiress got a title, such as the American heiress who married Lord Grantham. (Downton Abbey was filmed at Highclere which had more than 200 servants or staff in 1912.)
A dowry of money was swallowed up in the estate and became part of it, so would be lost to whomsoever inherited the entailed estate. A dowry of property would be kept and inherited separately. Neither estate nor dowry was related to any titles. So it was quite possible for an Earl to be a poor man, while his estate was held by someone else.
It would make no difference if Lady Mary had a son, because she was not the eldest son herself. Both the eldest son and the second son were killed on the Titanic.
Entailed properties usually descended to an eldest son, and then to his eldest son, and then to his eldest son, and so on. If there was no eldest son, it would go to the second son of the most recent eldest son, and then to his eldest son, and so on. Hence the development of the "directories of eldest sons", commonly known as Burke's Peerage or Burke's Landed Gentry, whereby family pedigrees outlined the descendants.
Sometimes, as in Downton Abbey, the lawyers would have to go back up several generations to find the next available son and his heirs.
Wives brought a dowry to the marriage, usually property. Huge estates cost money to run and many a family was ruined by these costs. A wife with a good dowry could save the estate. The estate got the money and the American heiress got a title, such as the American heiress who married Lord Grantham. (Downton Abbey was filmed at Highclere which had more than 200 servants or staff in 1912.)
A dowry of money was swallowed up in the estate and became part of it, so would be lost to whomsoever inherited the entailed estate. A dowry of property would be kept and inherited separately. Neither estate nor dowry was related to any titles. So it was quite possible for an Earl to be a poor man, while his estate was held by someone else.
It would make no difference if Lady Mary had a son, because she was not the eldest son herself. Both the eldest son and the second son were killed on the Titanic.
I thought of the mad wife in an attic