I can vaguely remember a sort of practice amongst the landed English gentry of old, and I'm hoping someone can correct or confirm the details.
I believe the eldest son is traditionally groomed to inherit from his father.
I believe the second son is supposed to choose a profession, something like law or medicine.
I believe the third son is supposed to go into service, either the military or the church.
How far wide of the mark am I?
AJ
How far wide of the mark am I?
1st son inherits
2d son join the army
3rd son joins the church
2d son join the army
Damn, I would have expected them to keep the spare safe.
Oh well, thanks for the correction.
AJ
2d son join the army
Damn, I would have expected them to keep the spare safe.
I've read 2nd church (to keep the spare save), 3rd army.
If something happend to the heir, the bishop or cardinal would rescind the vows of the second son so he could become heir.
Maybe who joins the church depended on the behavior of the sons, a deep black sheep was even then unacceptable for the church.
HM.
From the early 1600s to mid-1800s ...
2nd son join the Honourable John Company to serve in India or East Indies ...
3rd son join the RN or army in India to protect the Honourable John Company tea shipments and personnel ...
... so the 2nd son can return home very wealthy after 30 years and restore the family fortune ...
I may probably have confused English nobs with South Asian middle classes.
No 1 son inherits the family business.
No 2 son becomes a professional, which is why medical training is extremely popular in South Asia (and a lot easier to get into).
That leaves No 3 son - is religion his traditional career?
AJ
You are talking about primogeniture Which derives from the feudal system.
You should also consider entails. I did at Uni and still suffer from shell shock.
Somewhere in the system sons joined the Navy rather than the Army, at least in stories I remember.
Probably easier to buy an officer's commission in the Navy than in the Army.
Buy a commission? How does that work? Who got paid? And if you paid for it, did you also have a time commitment?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purchase_of_commissions_in_the_British_Army
The purchase of officer commissions in the British Army was the practice of paying money to the Army to be made an officer of a cavalry or infantry regiment of the English and later British Army. By payment, a commission as an officer could be secured, avoiding the need to wait to be promoted for merit or seniority. This practice was the usual way to obtain a commission in the Army from the 17th to the late 19th century. The practice began in 1683, during the reign of King Charles II, and continued until it was abolished on 1 November 1871, as part of the Cardwell Reforms. Formally, the purchase price of a commission was a cash bond for good behaviour, liable to be forfeited to the Army's cashiers (accountants) if found guilty of cowardice, desertion, or gross misconduct.
During the eighteenth century the purchase of commissions was a common practice in many European armies, although not usually to the same extent as in Britain.
This also ensured the officer class in the army was always made up of the sons of landed gentry and aristocrats. Not much chance of joining a revolution when your family's wealth and prestige depends on the system remaining in place and your retirement nest egg (commission payment / good behavior bond) depends on continued loyalty to the system.
Nope, direct purchase of a commission, or elevation to a higher rank was pretty much a British Army practice.
the most that could be directly purchased in the RN was a Midshipman's position, because they were controlled by ship's Commanding Officer. However, much more often they were filled by "influence" or favors to relatives or relatives of other, more senior officers. Promotion to LT required passing a board of Captains to ensure sufficient skill in seamanship, navigation and other nautical specialties.
Once passed the board, then "the needs of the Navy", fortunes of fate and again - "influence" affected whether one went from "Passed Midshipman" to a LT commission, and further promotions.
