Full Description
The history of the family has become an area of great interest, yet the property arrangements entered into upon marriage, a crucial aspect of the process of familial wealth transmission and distribution in the landed classes in early modern England, have never been systematically studied. In the light of evidence provided by hitherto unused family muniments, Dr Bonfield analyses the legal, social and economic aspects of these settlements, and discusses the development and impact of the strict settlement.
Contents
1. The medieval inheritance and the Statute of Uses; 2. Law in transition: the conflict over restraints upon alienation; 3. Patterns of marriage settlement 1601-1659: the development of the 'life estate-entail' mode; 4. The emergence of the strict settlement; 5. The adoption of the strict settlement 1660-1740: Kent and Northamptonshire; 6. Marriage settlements in perspective: the social and economic aspects.
