Married Women's Separate Property in England, 1660-1833

Elite Women and the Agricultural Landscape, 1700–1830

“…18 Where dower had entitled the widow to the land itself, jointures could be serviced by rent-charges or even financed by stocks, bonds or other financial instruments. 19 We might therefore point to the shift from dower to jointure as one way in which women were increasingly distanced from property ownership: strictly speaking what jointure entitled widows to was the profits of a specified portion of land, not the land itself. 20 At the same time -as Habakkuk demonstrates -the average portion to jointure ratio seems to have declined over the course of the seventeenth century from 5:1 in to 10:1 by 1700, at least amongst the aristocracy, even while the value of portions seems to have risen.…”

Property law and practice in seventeenth-century London

“…The former, notably Susan Staves, have focused on the law itself and the process of reform. 29 They do not hide their distaste for the 'feme covert' and 'sole' rules, which had the effect of denying women a full legal personality during marriage. Their property rights were essentially suspended.…”

‘His Estate’ – or Hers? Three Chapters in the History of Married Women's Property Rights in Sweden, 1350–1850

“…This emphasis on privacy, which has been found in England as well, went hand in hand with a propensity to reduce the roles previously played by kinsmen and local courts. 30 Kinsmen, it was now argued, had little business meddling in the affairs of spouses. Why should they express an opinion on how husband and wife used the property that was in their estate?…”