Reading the Regency

Dower, Jointure and Dowagers

"Mrs. Dutton's jointure is nothing nearly so large as mine was, even before the addition to it which my son so handsomely, and indeed unexpectedly, made to it this morning. And did I tell you, my dear? Mr. Palmer, this day, has been so kind as to leave me all his immense fortune for my own life. But don't mention it, lest it should get round, and make ill-will: the Walsinghams know nothing of it."
[Chapter 13, Manouvering by Maria Edgeworth]

When two people married, any money or property brought to the union by the wife automatically became her husband's property. A wife could not put money aside for her old age or widowhood, because anything she saved would have been considered part of her husband's estate. Legal arrangements were often put in place to financially support a widow for the rest of her life if her husband died first.

Two types of arrangement that could be used were Dower or Jointure.

A Dower was a part of, or interest in, a deceased husband's property provided to his widow. The dower was written in Common Law as one-third of the husband's estate, so even if a wife had had no dowry she was entitled to financial support from her husband's estate for her life if her husband died before her.

The dower only applied to a wife who was married to her husband at the time of his death. An official divorce, through an Act of Parliament, would make her ineligible for a dower, but if they were legally separated, but not divorced, the wife would still be entitled to her dower.

She could also receive a dower if the husband committed suicide, was committed to jail or banished from the country. Even a "lunatick" wife who killed her husband would receive a dower, as she was considered to have "been deprived of her understanding by an act of God."

If a man married a woman from another country, legally known as "an alien", she would not be entitled to a dower unless they were married by a licence granted by the king. Also, a widow would not receive a dower if her husband had been judged a traitor to the country.

Today, wealthy people take financial advice to minimise the amount of tax they have to pay. Similar financial planning was also available to the wealthy families of the early 19th century so they could limit the value of their estates to reduce that one-third figure. Property or land could be put into a trust or strictly entailed for the benefit of specific future heirs.

"Mr. Bennet had very often wished, before this period of his life, that, instead of spending his whole income, he had laid by an annual sum for the better provision of his children, and of his wife, if she survived him."
[Chapter 50, Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen]

When calculating one-third of the husband's estate, the law took into consideration all un-entailed property or property held in a general entail that was capable of being inherited by any of his descendants, both male or female. This is why Mrs Bennet, in Pride & Prejudice, was so concerned about her future, and the future of her unmarried daughters. As he had no sons, Mr Bennet's estate was entailed away to his cousin and Mrs Bennet would not have been entitled to one-third of the income from Longbourne through a dower.

Also, if part or all of the estate was strictly entailed to the heirs of a husband and his first wife, a second wife would not be entitled to a third of that part of the estate. Jane Austen showed an example of this at the beginning of Sense & Sensibility, where Norland Park was left in such a way that Elinor and Marianne's father was unable to leave more than £10,000 to his second wife to maintain her and his daughters for the remainder of her life.

Once a widow died, any income she received from her dower would cease. She could not leave that income to anyone else in a will. She would also lose her dower if she remarried because her financial support would become the responsibility of her new husband.