In message of 26 Oct, Eve McLaughlin <eve@varneys.demon.co.uk> wrote: > I had written: > > an ancestress of mine had left something (a wedding > > veil) on a "female-entail", to be owned in turn by the eldest > > daughter of the eldest daughter and was clearly specified in her > > will. > > I like that - and the fact that it worked, with the veil surviving. > (What happened if the heiress was a little girl who would have used it > for dressing up, or caught it on nails etc?) This happened a few years ago. But you have to remember that minors canot be legally given anything as they cannot sign a receipt. So any formal gifts have to be given to their parent or guardian. The veil was thus preserved from any temptation and indeed released for the weddings of two cousins of hers while the minority was in progress. -- Tim Powys-Lybbe tim@powys.org For a miscellany of bygones: http://powys.org

>> I like that - and the fact that it worked, with the veil surviving. >> (What happened if the heiress was a little girl who would have used it >> for dressing up, or caught it on nails etc?) > >This happened a few years ago. But you have to remember that minors >canot be legally given anything as they cannot sign a receipt. So any >formal gifts have to be given to their parent or guardian. But Daddy, Granny left it to ME. I just wanted to look at it, Daddy, really, just for a minute.... oops!' -- Eve McLaughlin Author of the McLaughlin Guides for family historians Secretary Bucks Genealogical Society