It wasn't until the end of the nineteenth century that married women had any rights over their property - either that which they owned at marriage or any which they acquired after marriage either by inheritance or by their own earnings. All property within marriage legally belonged to the husband. But this isn't surprising if you consider the attitude to marriage. According to Blackstone, writing in about 1765, the husband and wife were one person in law: the legal existence of the woman was suspended and incorporated into the personality of her husband. A husband could leave property to his wife in his will (because that would not take effect until after the marriage was ended by his death), but could not make a legal gift to her and was responsible for all her debts, whether contracted during the marriage or before.

Legally, therefore, prior to the Married Women's Property Act 1884 married women were classed as 'femmes covert' and a woman's personal property was transferred automatically to her husband on marriage; her real property came under her husband's control but remained hers for inheritance purposes.

Married women during their 'coverture' (that is, during the marriage) had no legal testamentary rights at all in relation to real estate. Any personal property of a woman which she had before the marriage, or acquired after the marriage, became her husband's absolutely, and as such, he had the right to leave it by will. Only with her husband's permission could a wife make a will leaving personal property - even if it had been hers before her marriage. Moreover, his consent only applied to a particular will and this consent had to be strictly proved. His consent could be revoked even after her death. The only exception to this was her right to make a will leaving her 'paraphernalia' - clothing and personal ornaments.

A married woman might make a will if she had an equitable interest such as a trust in her favour. Harriot Mellons provides us with one of the best examples of this. Harriot was an actress who married the incredibly wealthy banker, Thomas Coutts. On his death he left her nearly three quarters of a million pounds. She put it in trust which meant that on her second marriage to the Duke of St Albans, she was able to retain control of her property.

Such separate estate was usually set up by a 'strict' settlement, involving a life estate to the husband with remainders in tail to each of his male children in order of seniority with provision for the wife and younger children of the marriage. The wife's provision comprised 'pin money' (an annual income for personal expenses during her husband's life) and 'jointure' (provision for her after her husband died).

In the context of marriage, a "settlement" is a legal document that usually ensures that some or all of the property that the wife brings to the marriage ultimately belongs to her, and will revert to her or her children (though she does not necessarily have personal control over it during her marriage); otherwise it would basically belong entirely to her husband. And a settlement can also specify a guaranteed minimum that the children of the marriage are to inherit. For instance, using Jane Austen as a guide here in Northanger Abbey, Henry Tilney can't be entirely disinherited by his father, General Tilney, because some of his inheritance is guaranteed by the marriage settlement of his late mother.

Pride and Prejudice overs us an interesting insight into just how these work. We read that "Five thousand pounds was settled by marriage articles on Mrs. Bennet and the children.". A settlement was generally part of an overall pre-marital financial agreement between the wife or wife's family and the husband or husband's family. Therefore we read that the negotiations made to Persuade Wickham to marry Lydia guarantee "by settlement, her [Lydia] equal share of the five thousand pounds secured among his children after the decease of [ Mr. Bennet and his wife,] and, moreover, to enter into an engagement of allowing her, during his life, one hundred pounds per" year. In addition, Darcy undertook to pay his debts and purchase an officer's commission (as an ensign or sub-lieutenant) in the regular army.

Before the 1884 Married Women's Property Act, most women were not allowed to own houses or gardens. This was the fate of Dorothy Nevill (1826-1913), who was unfortunately typical of the period. Having been as she said, "compromised in a Hampshire summerhouse", she was married off to a wealthy cousin, in whose 23-acre Hampshire garden she was able to pursue her horticultural interests. She built 13 greenhouses, corresponded with leading scientists, including Darwin, and amassed a vast and important collection of plants, rivalled only by Kew. When her husband died, however, he left his remaining money in trust to his chidren, and Nevill was obliged to sell her home, her garden and her collection.

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