It was the wife's to do with as she saw fit. Interesting to think of all those Irish peasants toiling away to keep one Englishwoman in ribbons and laces.

]. . . a lady's pin money depended upon the fortune she brought into the marriage, doesn't it? Which makes for a very hard question about Lizzy's source of income, since Lizzy only has fifty pounds a year from her parents. Assuming that Mrs B does actually know what she's talking about, though, I suppose it's probable that Lizzy 's marriage settlement cites an amount of money given to her by Darcy himself. I do wonder how one would negotiate such a thing.

I know of a fictional example -- the Peter Wimsey/Harriet Vane marriage settlement in Busman's Honeymoon. In this case, I suppose Mrs. D would be happy to take whatever the love struck Mrs. D was pleased to settle on her. Such negotiations as there were would have been handled by her father, who, as you say, was not in much of a position to insist on more than D was willing to give.

] The other interesting thing is that in the examples you gave,the lady's pin money is reliant on something that may, or may not, be stable in her lifetime. Money invested in funds, or in rents would be fairly secure, I suppose, but if it came from other sources, such as trade income, then it might disappear very suddenly.

In this class of people at this time, rents and the funds are where it would come from.

] I'm wondering about other things, too. I suppose it was paid quarterly? That it was paid directly to her, and didn't come through her husband? That she would have a separate bank account for it?

Excellent questions to which I don't have an answer.