Habits and obsessions have barely changed. They play polo and love guns, horses and hounds. The 10th Duke of Beaufort was master of his eponymous hunt for 60 years and the hunt still meets regularly at Badminton, Gloucestershire. Emma, Duchess of Rutland, hostess of the Belvoir hunt and countless shooting parties , is so committed to making shooting a central attraction at Belvoir that she toured all the best shoots in the land and published her rhapsody to hunting in Shooting: A Season of Discovery.
H ow have the aristocracy achieved such a remarkable recovery of their fortunes? First, in common with their ancestors, they have systematically, repeatedly and successfully sought to avoid tax. The 18th-century satirist Charles Churchill wrote words that might have been the common motto of the aristocracy:. If he succeeds in ordering them so as to secure this result, then, however unappreciative the commissioners of Inland Revenue or his fellow taxpayers may be of his ingenuity, he cannot be compelled to pay an increased tax.
His fellow peers took this principle to heart. Nobody pays more tax than they have to. Extraordinarily, in the Court of Appeal agreed.
This tax loophole was closed in the budget. The primary means of squirrelling away substantial assets so as to preserve them intact and deliver a healthy income for aristocratic descendants without bothering the taxman is the trust. Countless peers with major landholdings and stately homes have put all their assets into discretionary trusts, thereby evading both public scrutiny and inheritance tax. Income is subject to tax, but the patrimonial asset remains intact.
Legally, he was quite correct. Dozens of the old nobility have done the same, meaning that the family trust can quietly provide a house, an income, a lifestyle and, if required, a divorce settlement to any number of beneficiaries without fearing inheritance tax or the prying eyes of the public. The figures are staggering. The richest have carried off the most. This is all in a single year. Multiplied across the years, the payments from the EU have benefited the British aristocracy to the tune of many millions of pounds.
Exploiting the system is second nature to the landowning class. The 11th Duke and Duchess of Beaufort, the owners of Badminton House, have benefited handsomely from their property rights. Leisure was a mark of status in Britain unlike in the U. You and I would get a job. But that would humiliate Sir John, and he probably has few marketable skills anyway. Some nobles and gentry did adapt and became investors in industry, while others took the plunge and supplemented farm rents with jobs.
But the 20th Century brought disaster for many others. They sold out and often ultimately joined the middle classes. And most of those who remained lived humbler lives, with smaller houses, less leisure, less purchasing power, less political power, and less status — as well as fewer servants, or none. In the real world, this is Inveraray Castle, Scotland. Industrial Society Until the 19th Century, Britain was a paradise for landed wealth: for landowners who rented out farmland and did not work.
Trentham Hall in As a result of his success in battle, the knight was usually awarded additional land and titles by the king. Currently, Britain's or so aristocratic families are as wealthy as they were at the peak of the country's imperial expansion in the 19th century. One billion pounds is the combined value of ten of the largest aristocratic estates remaining in the past decade.
Approximately one third of British land is owned by the aristocracy, according to a country life report from While some title extinctions and sales of land occurred in the early s, the lists of major aristocratic landowners in and are notable for their similarities.
Various methods were used by kings to collect money. Taking up arms and pillaging other lands was one way. Fees were collected from their lords, as well as taxes levied by individuals. During the Feudal System, barons were the executors of land leasing contracts between the King and the landowners.
A Lord of the Manor was in total control of this land; they set their own tax rates, issued their own currency, and executed their own justice. There are numerous baronies, both present day and historical, in various European countries in the form of ranks of nobility or titles of honour. The monarch holds the fief in the hands of the barons - their lands and income. It is less common for barons to be vassals. Barons were in Europe when feudal societies prevailed, pledged their loyalty and service by giving land to their descendant.
He held his lands "of no one," i. This means, independently - with the baron as his primary tenant. Within the peerage, barons dominate the list of titled members. A total of barons and lords of Parliament currently hold their hereditary titles not including courtesy baronies and lordships in addition to nine ladies of Parliament.
You must be logged in to post a comment. Home Business Rich how did nobility become rich? Home how did nobility become rich? Does aristocratic mean rich? How did English nobility make money? The authors of the latest research said further work is needed to establish the extent of the influence of the aristocracy now that the veil over their fortunes has been partially lifted.
It may well be the case that having a rich and vital aristocracy is good for the country. We are interested in understanding this group as objectively and deeply as possible. Figures are adjusted for purchasing power at prices to allow comparison. He was succeeded by his son, Henry Fitzroy, the former Viscount Ipswich.
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