> isn't that how titles also pass?
Yes, but titles pass that way because British law says so, while entails are written by the owners of the property and are therefore more flexible.
For example: titles always bypass women, but an entail doesn't have to. Anne de Bourgh is the heiress of Rosings, and Lady Catherine specifically mentions that Rosings wasn't entailed away from the female line. But if there had been a title as well, the title wouldn't go to Anne, even though Rosings would.
In order to avoid impoverished title-holders, an entail could be written to mirror the title succession, thereby ensuring the money and the title passed together to the same person. That exact issue arises in the first episode of Downton Abbey. Lord Grantham's late father had entailed the money to pass along with the title. Once a distant male relative becomes the heir, the characters struggle to find a way to split the money from the title, so that the daughters can inherit the cash and leave the new title-holder impoverished.
Longbourn is only entailed because some recent relative (most likely Mr. Bennet's grandfather) entailed it; and that person chose for whatever reason to preference men over women. Bad luck for Jane! :)
- Alan -
Yes, but titles pass that way because British law says so, while entails are written by the owners of the property and are therefore more flexible.
For example: titles always bypass women, but an entail doesn't have to. Anne de Bourgh is the heiress of Rosings, and Lady Catherine specifically mentions that Rosings wasn't entailed away from the female line. But if there had been a title as well, the title wouldn't go to Anne, even though Rosings would.
In order to avoid impoverished title-holders, an entail could be written to mirror the title succession, thereby ensuring the money and the title passed together to the same person. That exact issue arises in the first episode of Downton Abbey. Lord Grantham's late father had entailed the money to pass along with the title. Once a distant male relative becomes the heir, the characters struggle to find a way to split the money from the title, so that the daughters can inherit the cash and leave the new title-holder impoverished.
Longbourn is only entailed because some recent relative (most likely Mr. Bennet's grandfather) entailed it; and that person chose for whatever reason to preference men over women. Bad luck for Jane! :)
- Alan -