14 December 2010
Over 6 million Victorian and early 20th Century Wills have just been made public giving an insight into the last wishes of some of the most important figures of the age.
The documents, dating from 1861 to 1941, also give an indication of how financially successful they were. Eminent Victorians Dickens and Darwin, for example, left estates worth the equivalent of millions of pounds while Karl Marx, not unexpectedly, left the more modest equivalent of approximately £9,000.
The information comes from the England and Wales's National Probate Calendar, a summary of all Wills processed each year and we’ll be featuring some of the more interesting ones here.
Charles Dickens made his fortune during his lifetime. The author of “David Copperfield”, “Great Expectations” and “Oliver Twist” left “effects under £80,000”, equivalent to around £7.1m today. While the popularity of D H Lawrence's books came too late for the author to fully benefit from them. He left behind a relatively meagre £2,438 on his death in 1930, worth around £113,000 today.
The God-fearing scientist Charles Darwin struggled with his conscience before publishing one of the most important works ever produced: 'The Origin of Species', explaining his theory of evolution. He left an estate worth £146,911, the equivalent of £13m today.
By contrast, the Prussian-born political theorist, socialist and communist Karl Marx, left only £250, worth around £20,000 today. Marx was exiled from his home country and eventually made his way to Britain via France. His signature work Das Kapital made him famous but not necessarily rich: he left his £250 to his youngest daughter, Eleanor.