pen being a secret millionaire is such a slay ngl

Penelope paid for her sisters' ball, not Portia. Prudence and Phillipa only assumed that their Mother paid for it, and Penelope was happy to let them think that.

I was impressed that Simon refused her dowry and demanded it be put in a trust for Daphne.

I felt quite bad for Cressida after her father took away her dowry.

Even dukes and earls could go broke in those days, and be on the lookout for a rich wife. A title was not a guarantee of wealth; it was a guarantee of status in society. It did not guarantee that the holder would be good at managing money.

Great Britain essentially extracted/stole $45 trillion worth of wealth from the Indian subcontinent, turning what was once an ancient and very wealthy civilization into a state of impoverishment . That effect is still felt today in India. A lot of their wealth came from their colonialization of other parts of the world.

From what I understand, the cost of an average wardrobe per season for a girl was about $100,000 in today's money.

I hope we see Cressida again. I would like to know how it turns out for her. Without a dowry, she might have to resort to those professions to earn a living. But I have a feeling her Aunt has a plan for her.

Thank you for this. I was always curious, especially after Penelope said she could afford to pay Cressida's blackmail price.

So Francisca married an Earl and he’s worth more than the Bridgerton

The Bridgertons are richer than most in their class due to a few factors. It is implied that the father and previous generations did a good job investing and managing the money, so the family didn't fall into the trap many of the landed gentry did with overspending and poor investments. If you have read or watched The Buccaneers, Guy Thwarte was to inherit a lot of money from his mother, but his father, who is portrayed as a cad and irresponsible, invested it poorly, took risks, and lost it all, which is why Guy has to go make his fortune. Violet was also the only child of a wealthy family and likely had a large dowery that would have been invested for the children to inherit.

Yay more Bridgerton! My hyperfixation lives on!!

The viscount could've been wealthier than duke eventually, etc... because the families squandered wealth over the years until all that is passed down is pedigree, title, and memories of better years. As the industrial age rose many gentleman deigned to engage in business with the rising middle/merchant class, and definitely not marry from/into even if a dowry would be presented or the son could keep a noblemans daughter in style and help the family.

Saying “slightly more” feels like understatement. I wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t double or triple the amount

Thank you for this video. Hope you can make other videos like explaining the rankings of people in society. It would also be interesting to explain about the household staff, their roles, etc.

Thank you 😊 for another excellent video! I always appreciate your content and all the hard work you put in within your channel 👏👏👏. Have a wonderful Sunday and upcoming week! Sending your channel and your viewers positive vibes and positive energy!

ALL leading characters we see in Bridgeton are aristocrats. It is generational wealth. They are already old money at that time. What this video doesn't explain well is the British class system and the aristocracy.

It is no different today. The King gave his son the properties he had as a prince. The Dutchie is now providing the Prince and his family a bloody good income!!

Great clip! Very educational on that period.

This was very informative! Thank you!

As an added detail, the timeline in the book is a lot longer (somewhere around 10 years that she’s been writing). So while Pen still made a HUGE sum it took her longer than 2 and a bit seasons in the novel which maybe makes it a little more “realistic.” It doesn’t diminish that it’s still a shocking and impressive sum though! I just thought as a book reader it was interesting to me they kept the earnings the same (actually they had her earn a bit more in the show even, I think it was just under 9k in the novel) but had her earn that in waaayy shorter of a time🙂 people did love to read their Whistledown!

Divorce? Divorce only (very rarely) occurred by an act of Parliament, and always favored the man.

this question was burning in my head thank you!!

So in U.S. dollars that’s $1,417,136 😭

Great video. I was actually wondering how much Pen's fortune would've translated in today's terms.

Well explained 😊

Very informative!

They made their money owning lots of properties. That um... seems like today.

Colin also became a published author in the end so he would have had his own income after that.

your research is better than the books lol, in the books simon doesn't accept a dowry. Great video! ❤

It’s still wild to me that Colin could just get $1 million from his family with like no questions asked.

You're so good at analysing content!

Thanks for making this because I have always wondered how did the leisure class able to stay in leisure while they hardly work in life. I know Rich people have mutiple streams of income such as passive income but now I know more thanks to your video 🥰

the only broidgerton era that ever existed is maybe the one we live in now.

They had prenups ....I like it, smart.

so literally the same concept today lol

Poor Cressida. Her father is a monster.

back in the day, i would have been loaded!!! i’m on the right path! i’m renting properties that i own, took over the family business, spend wisely, live humbly, i’m finna be richer than all my haters who counted me out yet been in the game for years

I thought Cressida claimed to be LW as a last resort of getting out of that marriage with that old guy?

see! my dilemma is, not wanting to marry for money, but also, the man who loves me unconditionally & that i feel the same about can not be broke! so trying to find an amazing guy, who’s faithful, honest, respectful, handsome & loaded, is like a needle in a hay sack! but i get, what i want!!!

did this without a father & can’t no man take the credit!!! i’ve been telling ppl since day one, i was only ever meant to be wealthy! the journey was just some bs just for show & i hated every step of it! but the money now makes up for it!

30 £ wasnt to live comfortably, but to live. A typical English farmer earned between 15 and 50 £. In Pride and prejudice girls have 1000£ for dowry. Invested it would give a girl around 50 £ a year. It is enough to survival, but not to live as a single woman. (Rent, food, clothing, a maid couse she doesnt know how to do anything).

Sugar mama😂😂😂😂

My whole life I thought a dowry was lobola, but it's the anti-lobola. Nega-lobola. Lobola's evil twin.

Okay you just spoiled me! Between Pen and Collin

It's important to note that money has lost its value. That 10 000 pounds was worth more in 1815 than today. In today's value, they could never afford that luxurious lifestyle on that amount.

If the featheringtons had land as part of high society, why couldnt they cover their debts or atleast yeild some funds from it for this season. Why did they only seem to have money from the scam.

Wasn’t the Bridgerton Dad a Viscount

The dowry would go to the husband. The wife gave everything to the husband. The wife was the property of her husband in effect.

Why didn’t Penelope insist on paying off Cressida with her own money? Yes, she may not have had the whole sum. But Colin was trying to get Benedict to lend him the money somehow. She could give her share and asked Colin for the rest.

Remember that Jane Austen wrote about country people who lived pretty well but weren’t vaguely close to Bridgerton status. Her heroines had incredibly lucky marriages; these are Cinderella stories. Irl those girls were bumpkins who’d be happy to marry the rector.

Imagine being able to live with 30 pounds a year

as much as people say “it’s all about the journey” i’m here to tell you, i will NEVER appreciate the journey & i enjoyed NONE of it… let us move on to the stacks now! where I AM meant to be!

in the book she only made around 5000 pounds, i think the show made it 10 thousand to make it more 'modern'

Can you explain how their son is the Fetherington heir. But, the Fetherington’s are broke, how do s the heir to inherit nothing? Confused.

A real sugar momma…

So did someone pay Cressida?

Kinda funny when you think about it: the Bridgertons are basically the same as modern day landlords 😂 Also, I'll never forget when an English teacher told me that the amiable Mr Bingley (Pride & Prejudice) likely got all his money from the slave trade 😶

pen doesnt have a son

what feels weird in the bridgerton series is that the bridgerton house is the cheapest most humbe of the houses being made of brick instead of the limestone houses others have

They owned slaves,period

Yes, significant wealth is rarely made by working. It is usually made by controlling assets and other people's labor. But, be careful buying real estate, and don't think it will necessarily make you money.

There is no such thing as the Bridgerton era. The whole show is pure fantasy. It's like saying The Lord of the Rings is a portrait of rural Britain before and during WWII.

The way Bridgerton casually ignores slavery is quite astonishing. There was no way they could have kept up those lavish lifestyles *without* slavery. This video says slavery was banned in 1807, but what was banned was the transatlantic slave trade. People who were already enslaved stayed enslaved for another 30 years. Many aristocrats continued to profit from slavery. Sugar plantations are what funded the industrial revolution, which then grew into what we know as capitalism today and is how the wealthy classes grew in the 18th and 19th centuries. To pretend slavery didn't exist and to have people of colour playing the roles of enslavers is whitewashing of the worst, most ignorant kind.

Back in the days, the wealthy did not need to work, what you being taught at school now ? :D

England doesn't have Barons. Bridgerton's elastic sense of reality is practically sci-fi.

slavery...

she probably has at least 15k pounds

Landed gentry depend on their land and holdings. In the first season, Simon had to get down to brass tacks when he moved to his ancestral estate. He was a duke. Daphne was not well trained to be a wife. I’m guessing they were supposed to teach their daughters to manage money and their future home. Dowry is usually saved for future children if the man is rich enough. Men have to write up settlements before they married. Love was such a small part of marriages back then. 10,000 is what Darcy made per year. The writers need a dose of reality. Many titled people run through their money like water, and end up needing to marry for money. So this is nonsense. Penelope wouldn’t have that much money at hand just from a gossip rag as much as we want to believe she did.WAKE UP! Do some research. I know it’s a total fabrication and fantasy. It started out well, but kind of started going downhill just cutting from Colin and Penelope’s storyline. It got choppy as F. Not sure I want to see more.