I need some recondite information on Inheritance and disinheritance in late eighteenth century UK..

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I need some recondite information on Inheritance and disinheritance in late eighteenth century UK..

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1LucindaElliot
Modifié : Août 30, 2013, 9:11 am

Hello Everyone, greetings from the UK!

I'm writing a Cod Regency (actually, Georgian, it's 1793) Romance (follows on from my previous Cod historical paranormal romance) and am having fun with a hackneyed theme - a disinherited heir to an Earldom.

I'm fairly well up on general eighteenth century European history but I need to find out detailed information.

I need information on a recondite subject, inheritance and disinheritance of peerages in late eighteenth century UK. Not sure if that could be done, in fact. Can anyone suggest a good book (looks about hopefully)?

Thanks in advance.

2lilithcat
Août 29, 2013, 3:49 pm

I'm pretty sure it wasn't (and still isn't) possible to "disinherit" a peerage. Titles are established by letters patent, which set forth the terms on which the title passes, and no holder can change them*. Property, particularly real property, is likely to be entailed upon the heirs male, and it's extremely difficult to break an entail without the consent of those heirs. However, if the holder of a title also has unentailed property, he is, of course, free to dispose of that by will.

*unless, of course, he commits treason and he and his blood are attainted. But that would be a pretty extreme thing to do just to prevent your heir from getting the title!

3Marissa_Doyle
Août 29, 2013, 6:29 pm

What lilithcat said--an heir (eldest son or otherwise eldest male in line to inherit) to a peerage can't be disinherited, except of non-entailed property.

The Romance Writers of America has a very active chapter for writers of Regency (the "long" Regency, 1780-1830) romance, with a lot of extremely knowledgeable members. It would definitely be worth your time to check it out.

4LucindaElliot
Modifié : Août 30, 2013, 4:40 pm

Thanks for helpful advice, lilithcat and Marissa.

That does ring a bell, now I come to think of it - I seem to remember a whole thing about 'tainted blood' through treason and disinheritance...

Well, in fact, that the peerage and the entailed property couldn't be removed if the Wrongly Accused (and disgraced) heir was living as an outlaw is excellent for my plot (as murder isn't treason)!

Interesting, how in that terrible old book 'The Outcast of the Family' author Charles Gervaise - I think, 1892 - a Lord IS disinherited, but while he doesn't seem to use his title after that until he is reinstated at the end, it may be that an unentailed property was the main thing, and this not using the title misled me (couldn't endure to reread it, though!)

Thanks so much for the suggestion about checking out that site. I am not sure I wouldn't be a wolf in ewe's clothing to join the UK branch or equivalent of that organisation, as this (even more than my first paranormal historical romance) is a Cod, a spoof subverting the Regency Romance genre with a heroine who dares to question the gender roles so beloved by traditional romantics (obviously, she has to be groping in the dark in this in that era before even Mary Wollenstonecraft (never can spell her name) had written.

Anyway, it might be possible to read up on the stuff without joining, thanks again.