LEARN ABOUT
NNING FROM
Y FAIR?
story line. George disobeyed his
Father’s request to go to war
as well as the request to marry
Amelia and runs the risk of
disinheriting himself.
The next episode will certainly be
enlightening. What will happen
to Lady Crawley, will George
Osbourne reunite with his father
and what will Becky’s fate be? Will
she find fortune?
Our characters will be thinking
more about their demise in later
episodes. Napoleon has escaped
and is coming back to France, our
gallant officers are going to war
and our wealthy and more mature
(in age) characters like Lady
Crawley and Mr Osbourne will be
thinking about inheritances and a
line of succession.
Interestingly, Inheritance law was
different in the early 1800’s when
Vanity Fair was set. The more
modern inheritance tax legislation
didn’t come into force until 1894
and was introduced in order to
help the government pay off a
whopping £4m deficit. Death tax
in some form has been in place
since 1694 and for as long as
there has been Inheritance Tax,
there has been tax avoidance and
in . Savvy businessmen like Mr
Osbourne will no doubt be wanting
to gift assets in his lifetime to
avoid any charges. He’ll be even
more intent on avoiding charges at
the time including the 1796 tax on
estates introduced to help fund the
war against Napoleon, especially
as he didn’t want his son to go to
war.
Stay tuned for the next installment
of Vanity Fair.
The Society of Will Writers
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