Amongst the families of British landed estates, a portion was the amount of money allocated to maintain all children apart from the eldest after the father’s death. Usually the portion was stipulated as one or two year’s annual revenue of the estate. Thus if there were five children and an estate worth £10,000 a year, each child would receive £2,000, or the interest thereon. For further discussion, see George Brodrick’s
English Landlords: An Enquiry into the Origin and Character of the English Land System, with Proposals for its Reform(London: Petter, Galpin and Co., 1881), pp. 89-116. Portions might also form part of the calculations used to establish the dowry of a woman on marriage, whether as part of the money she would provide to her husband or as a condition for her…
166 words
Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "Portion". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 November 2001 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=884, accessed 23 November 2024.]
