The strict settlement: The tool of the capitalist landlord or a way to delay capitalism in landed society?

In England, from the end of the seventeenth century to the end of the nineteenth century, there was a device used by landowners called the strict settlement that allowed them to tie up their land for several generations and bypass contemporary laws against perpetuities. During this same period, capitalism permeated England's society. Since capitalism depends on a free market for land there is a contradiction in the two trends. Why did English landlords of the 1700s and 1800s seek to entail their land, when they could have benefited materially from alienable land?; To understand the actions of the English landowners, I used a hermeneutical approach. That is, I tried to immerse myself as much as possible in the culture of the eighteenth and nineteenth century landlords, so that I could better interpret their motivations. I used seven families from the Northamptonshire as case studies. Each family provided a lot of material in terms of letters, diaries, biographies and autobiographies. In addition, I relied upon contemporary novels and newspapers as well as the strict settlements of the families that were on record. What I discovered from my research was that the landlords, although certainly not averse to an increase in wealth, had as their first objective maintaining their status, and with that their identity. The role of the landlord, and all that it entailed; with its responsibilities and corresponding privileges, was defined by his ownership of land. A free market for land threatened this existence. The strict settlement was not at odds with capitalism so much as it was the weapon used by a portion of society to help to defend their culture which would surely be destroyed by capitalism.