This ground-breaking book reveals the economic reality of ordinary women between the late 16th and early 18th centuries. Drawing on little-known sources, Amy Louise Erickson reconstructs day-to-day lives, showing how women owned, managed and inherited property on a scale previously unrecognised. Her complex and fascinating research, which contrasts the written laws with the actual practice, completely revises the traditional picture of women's economic status in pre-industrial England. Women and Property is essential reading for anyone interested in women, law and the past.

Amy Louise Erickson

Part 1 Background; Chapter 1 Introduction; Chapter 2 Law, society and documents; Part 2 Maids; Chapter 3 Upbringing; Chapter 4 Inheritance; Chapter 5 Portions and marriage; Part 3 Wives; Chapter 6 The nature of marriage settlements; Chapter 7 Marriage settlements in the Court of Chancery; Chapter 8 Marriage settlements in probate documents; Part 4 Widows; Chapter 9 Widows of men who made wills; Chapter 10 Widows of men who did not make wills; Chapter 11 How lone women lived; Chapter 12 Lone women's wills;