Nolan, Frances (2020) The representation of female claimants before the trustees for the Irish forfeitures, 1700–1703. The Historical Journal, 63 (4). pp. 836-861. ISSN 0018-246X

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Abstract

This article examines the rate and nature of female representation before the board of trustees for the forfeited estates in Ireland, established by the Act of Resumption in 1700. The legislation was introduced by a discontented English parliament to nullify William III's grants of forfeited Irish land, which he awarded after victory over James II in the War of the Two Kings (1689–91). The act's remit extended well beyond the resumption of freehold land, incorporating real property, judgements, securities, obligations, debts, and goods and chattels forfeited by outlawed Jacobites. It was also retroactive, as all parties with a legitimate title to a property that predated 13 February 1689 were entitled to enter a claim. Using a printed list of 3,140 claims submitted to the trustees, this article analyses the commonality of female claimants, considers their economic, social, and marital status, and identifies the legal or equitable basis for their representation before the trustees. In doing so, it examines prenuptial and familial practices in post-Restoration Ireland, underlines the economic importance of marriage and inheritance as means of conveyance, and suggests that women's and female minors’ successful claims provided a number of Catholic families with a lifeline in the early eighteenth century.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Cite as: Nolan, F. (2020). The Representation of Female Claimants before the Trustees for the Irish Forfeitures, 1700–1703. The Historical Journal, 63(4), 836-861. doi:10.1017/S0018246X19000529
Keywords:	representation; female claimants; trustees; Irish Forfeitures; 1700-1703;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Arts & Humanities > History
Item ID:	14113
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1017/S0018246X19000529
Depositing User:	Frances Nolan
Date Deposited:	02 Mar 2021 15:39
Journal or Publication Title:	The Historical Journal
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	Publisher
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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