I INFLUENCE OF LAND LAWS 9 



I need not remind my historical friends how often the 

 estates of the great men fell to heiresses or coheiresses and 

 of the many political complications which were thereby 

 caused. Nevertheless it is a matter of interest to know how 

 often this occurred. Among those of noble estate alone 

 there has, since the Norman Conquest, been a failure of male 

 heirs in 467 cases, and in 205 of these cases the estates 

 passed to coheiresses. In 123 cases to 2 coheiresses, in 51 

 to 3, in 22 to 4, in 7 to 5, in 2 to 6 coheiresses. It is true 

 that where the estate passed to one daughter, this would 

 by her marriage often lead to a consolidation of estates. 

 But when it passed to coheiresses the estate would, for the 

 time at least be split up, and in any case the law of primo- 

 geniture was not responsible for the result. As to how 

 often this same fate has befallen the families of those below 

 the rank of peers I have unfortunately no evidence. But 

 I know no i&ason why they should have been more 

 fortunate, and, if this be so, we have here erne reason 

 for doubting the overwhelming influence of this law of 

 intestacy. 



But a stronger argument remains. Our law of inheri- 

 tance deals exclusively with the succession to land of those 

 who die intestate. Now the full right to dispose of lands 

 by will was possible through the agency of the Court of 

 Chancery, at least as early as the fifteenth century, that is 

 to say at a date anterior to any serious diminution in the 

 numbers of moderate sij^d landowners ; and was possible at 

 the common law partially after the statute 27 Henry VIII, 

 c. 10, and completely by the statute 12 Car. II, c. 24. 1 We 

 have unfortunately no adequate means of proving how often 



1 B-y.27 Henry VIII, c. 10, all fee simple lands held in soccage 

 touure and two-thirds of those held by knights service could be 

 devised. 12 <^ar. II, c. 24, turned all tenures by knights service into 

 soccage, and fckus allowed all estates in fee simple to be devised. 



