Language In Clarissa, Evelina And Pride And Prejudice

a daughter or daughters, or in the case of other children
surviving beyond the eldest male, then estates often
could be settled with much bequeathed for daughters and
younger children, including realty that was not in tail
(an estate that was not "in tail" had no restrictions on
who could inherit it). The implementation of the laws
of primogeniture and strict settlement did not have to
involve a civil will (Law, Land and Family 17-22).
For centuries, civil wills had not been fashionable
among the landed classes, but as middle and upper class
families began to accumulate money as well as land, wills
became important once again, since inheritance laws for
land did not include provision for personalty (money) in
their jurisdiction unless the money in question was for
marriage settlement and portions.
The re-emergence of the civil will in the eighteenth
century gave to landed gentry and aristocracy an
advantage to leave what they liked to whom they liked as
long as the terms did not interfere with the settlement
of the landed estate (Spring Law, Land and Family 12-15,
129). The newness of Harlowe Place and the rapidly
changing customs for settlement allowed Grandfather
Harlowe to do as he wished. Willing The Grove did not