At the thought of all those women working year after year and finding it hard to get twothousand pounds together, and as much as they could do to get thirty thousand pounds, weburst out in scorn at the reprehensible poverty of our sex. What had our mothers been doingthen that they had no wealth to leave us?
in the 19th century, married women in many parts of the world had limited legal rights, particularly concerning property ownership. In the UK, a woman was considered her husband’s property so any assets or earnings she had automatically became her husband’s, leaving the wife financially vulnerable and dependent. In common law, a wife was often referred to as ‘feme covert’, meaning she was placed under the protection and influence of her husband.
Wives were unable to hold their own property, sue or be sued, write a will (or inherit land in the same way that a man could) or even be recognised as a separate legal person. It was commonplace to consider a woman who had been engaged and subsequently left to have a lower value and a lower social position in society. These legal and societal norms perpetuated inequality and hindered women’s autonomy.