Women and the Transmission of Property: Inheritance in the British Isles in the 17th Century

The effect of the law and practice relating to the ownership by and transmission of property by and to women in the British Isles, was to favour men. However, by a variety of means, not least the multiple jurisdictions in the three kingdoms which made up the Britain and Ireland, it was possible for women to circumvent some of these restrictions, or at least to vary them. While it is true that the mechanisms by which they were able to do so often derived from ancient jurisdictions, it is generally not the case, as has often been suggested, that there was some earlier golden age for women in which they had much more economic freedom