Language In Clarissa, Evelina And Pride And Prejudice

centuries. Wills, still used and still subject to common
law ruling, continued to give wives some power, at least
with personalty, or real money, in their possession.
Jointure replaced dowry as the most common form of
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marriage settlement. Dowers had come to run as much as
one-third of an estate, an immense amount of money or
land, or both. Jointures were parcels of land from an
estate set aside for the exclusive ownership of use of a
husband and wife, with the wife inheriting the land
should her husband predecease her. Jointures were
usually less than one third of an estate, but they were
stable and provided good income. Strict settlement was
implemented in the eighteenth century to preclude the
loss of family property and loss of title through female
inheritors. It took away the chance that children would
be given portions of an estate, allowing the estate to
lose its mass or be sold off, and thus, lose its wealth,
its power.
How strict settlement worked within a family was
nearly as important as the settlement itself. When a
young man came to majority or marriage, he and his father
Spring's introduction in Law, Land and Family to the convolutions
of inheritance practice just prior to and during the eighteenth
century is extensive and provides a coherent, straightforward
discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of all inheritance
practices during the period and the reasoning for their influx and
demise.