British Inheritance Laws - early 1800's

In the modern civil law, two systems are used to provide protection against disinheritance. Under the Frenchsystem, a testator who is survived by descendants, parents, or (in some countries) brothers, sisters, or even other close relatives, cannot dispose at all of the "reserved portion" of his estate, the size of which depends upon the number and the degree of nearness of relationship of the surviving "forced heirs." Under the civil code of France, for instance, donations inter vivos or by last will cannot exceed one-half of the property of the disposer, if he leaves at his decease one child; one-third, if he leaves two children; and one-fourth, if he leaves three or a greater number. The indisposable share is one-half of the property if the disposer, having no children, leaves ascendants of both his father's and his mother's lines and three-quarters if he leaves ascendants in only one line. Under the German pattern, the surviving spouse, a descendant, or, if there are no descendants, a parent can claim to be paid in money one-half the value of the share that would have been his in the case of intestate succession.

In England those customs that required a minimum share in the personal property to be left to the surviving spouse and descendants disappeared in the 17th and 18th centuries. The interest of dower, which guaranteeda life estate to the widow in one-third of each parcel of the real estate of the predeceased husband, lost its protective effect in 1833. At the turn of the 20th century, freedom of disinheritance was complete in England as well as in the dominions but not in Scotland. There, in the movable estate, the legitim (bairn's part) is still reserved to the children, the ius relicti to the widower, and the ius relictae to the widow. Until 1964 (in immovables) the widower was entitled to curtesy, a life rent in his wife's heritage (i.e., immovable) property, and the widow had the right of terce?-i.e., a life rent out of one-third of her husband's inheritable estate. In England, freedom of testation, while unlimited by law, was kept within narrow limits by the custom among wealthy families of preventing the splitting up or alienation of the family wealth by means of a so-called strict settlement. In each generation, the head of the family would settle the estate upon the eldest son in such a way that it would descend to him undivided but subject to a generous life estate for the widow and to provisions for the daughters, younger sons, and other needy relatives.

When looking for a specific law in Great Britain, you should know of the differences in e.g. Scottish and English law.

This is a more general view about the history of the European Inheritage and Succession Law:

Quote:

In the modern civil law, two systems are used to provide protection against disinheritance. Under the Frenchsystem, a testator who is survived by descendants, parents, or (in some countries) brothers, sisters, or even other close relatives, cannot dispose at all of the "reserved portion" of his estate, the size of which depends upon the number and the degree of nearness of relationship of the surviving "forced heirs." Under the civil code of France, for instance, donations inter vivos or by last will cannot exceed one-half of the property of the disposer, if he leaves at his decease one child; one-third, if he leaves two children; and one-fourth, if he leaves three or a greater number. The indisposable share is one-half of the property if the disposer, having no children, leaves ascendants of both his father's and his mother's lines and three-quarters if he leaves ascendants in only one line. Under the German pattern, the surviving spouse, a descendant, or, if there are no descendants, a parent can claim to be paid in money one-half the value of the share that would have been his in the case of intestate succession.

In England those customs that required a minimum share in the personal property to be left to the surviving spouse and descendants disappeared in the 17th and 18th centuries. The interest of dower, which guaranteeda life estate to the widow in one-third of each parcel of the real estate of the predeceased husband, lost its protective effect in 1833. At the turn of the 20th century, freedom of disinheritance was complete in England as well as in the dominions but not in Scotland. There, in the movable estate, the legitim (bairn's part) is still reserved to the children, the ius relicti to the widower, and the ius relictae to the widow. Until 1964 (in immovables) the widower was entitled to curtesy, a life rent in his wife's heritage (i.e., immovable) property, and the widow had the right of terce?-i.e., a life rent out of one-third of her husband's inheritable estate. In England, freedom of testation, while unlimited by law, was kept within narrow limits by the custom among wealthy families of preventing the splitting up or alienation of the family wealth by means of a so-called strict settlement. In each generation, the head of the family would settle the estate upon the eldest son in such a way that it would descend to him undivided but subject to a generous life estate for the widow and to provisions for the daughters, younger sons, and other needy relatives.

source: Encyclopedia Britannica


You will find a more specific -but popularly written- answer from a dictionary of that time here:
The Victorian Dictionary: THE LAW OF WILL-MAKING


Sorry that I can't give you more information re Scottish Law (although I'm friendly with the Dean of the law department of a Scottish University ).