Devonshire is now more commonly known as Devon.

"Devon, administrative, geographic, and historic county of England. It forms part of the South West (or Cornish) Peninsula of Great Britain and is bounded to the west by Cornwall and to the east by Dorset and Somerset. The Bristol Channel lies to the north, and the English Channel abuts it to the south" (Devon, Encyclopedia Britannica, Web).

“Sussex, historic county of southeastern England, covering a coastal area along the English Channel south of London. For administrative purposes, Sussex is divided into the administrative counties of East Sussex and West Sussex and the unitary authority of Brighton and Hove” (Sussex, Encyclopedia Britannica, Web).

Abilities used here to describe: "mental power or capacity; cleverness, astuteness. In later use also: academic aptitude" (OED).

"A half, one of two equal parts." (OED)

Used here to explain that the father has half the control of the fortune while the son will inherit the other half when he comes of age.

"The quality of being readily and strongly affected by emotional or artistic influences and experiences; emotional awareness; susceptibility or sensitivity to, keen awareness of" (OED).

“Quality of character entitling a person to great respect; nobility of mind or spirit; honourableness, uprightness; a fine sense of, and strict adherence to, what is considered to be morally right or just" (OED).

“England was a very patriarchal society. Not only in the public sphere, but also in the private one as well. Women did not have any power in any portion of the nation, whether it be economic, political, or social. In England there was no law written expressly concerning inheritance other than, that the will or desire of the man of the home or estate will be carried out. This meaning that if the man of the estate wished for his nephew to inherit the land it was to be so. The common practice was that a son or nephew to the head of the family was to inherit all of the assets, because he would be more worthy of the property than a woman.” (Davis, Brooke. Inheritance Laws in the Early 1800s in England, Web)

“Before the nineteenth century, most families were organized according to patriarchal tradition. Household heads owned and controlled the means of production, and their wives and children were obliged to provide the unpaid labor needed to sustain family enterprises. Masters of the household had a legal right to command the obedience of their wives and children—as well as any servants or slaves—and to use corporal punishment to correct disobedience.“ (Ruggles, Steven. Patriarchy, Power, and Pay, Web)