Eileen Spring presents an interpretation of the history of inheritance among the English gentry and aristocracy. In a work that recasts both the history of real property law and the history of the family, she argues that one of the principal and determinative features of upper-class inheritance was the virtual exclusion of females from land holding. Tracing the gradual nullification of common law rules under which 40 per cent of English land would have been inherited or held by women, Spring seeks to makes possible a fuller understanding of the social history of land law.

A 1995 "Choice" Outstanding Academic Book

About the Author
Eileen Spring is an independent scholar who lives in Baltimore, Maryland.


Book Information
ISBN 9780807846421
Author Eileen Spring
Format Paperback
Page Count 212
Imprint The University of North Carolina Press
Publisher The University of North Carolina Press
Weight(grams) 371g