These men were prominent in town government.
They usually had close family ties with the gentry, especially as
sons. When wealthy enough, they often bought a country estate. The
professional men included military officers, civil service
officials, attorneys, some physicians, and a few clergymen. The
instabilities of trade, high mortality rates in the towns, and
high turnover rate among the leading urban families prevented any
separate urban interest group arising that would be opposed to the
landed gentry. Also included in this second group were the most
prosperous yeomanry of the countryside.
The third class was the yeomanry at large, which included many
more than the initial group who possessed land in freehold of at
least 40s., partly due to inflation. Freehold was the superior
form of holding land because one was free to sell, exchange, or
devise the land and had a political right to vote in Parliamentary
elections. Other yeomen were those who possessed enough land, as
copyholder or leaseholder, to be protected from fluctuations in
the amount of the annual harvest, that is, at least 50 acres. A
copyholder rented land from a lord for a period of years or lives,
usually three lives including that of the widow, and paid a
substantial amount whenever the copyhold came up for renewal. The
copyholder and leaseholder were distinguished from the mere
tenant-at-will, whose only right was to gather his growing crop
when his landlord decided to terminate his tenancy.
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