Concept
The landed gentry, or the gentry, is a largely historical British social class of landowners who could live entirely from rental income, or at least had a country estate. While distinct from, and socially below, the British peerage, their economic base in land was often similar, and some of the landed gentry were wealthier than some peers. Many gentry were close relatives of peers, and it was not uncommon for gentry to marry into peerage. It is the British element of the wider European class of gentry. With or without noble title, owning rural land estates often brought with it the legal rights of lord of the manor, and the less formal name or title of squire, in Scotland laird. Generally lands passed by primogeniture, while the inheritances of daughters and younger sons were in cash or stocks, and relatively small. Typically the gentry farmed some of their land, but leased most of it to tenant farmers. They also exploited timber and minerals (such as coal), and owned mills and other sources of income. Many heads of families also had careers in politics or the military, and the younger sons of the gentry provided a high proportion of the clergy, military officers, and lawyers. The decline of the gentry largely began with the 1870s agricultural depression; however, there are still many hereditary gentry in the UK. The designation landed gentry originally referred exclusively to members of the upper class who were both landlords and commoners (in the British sense)-—that is, they did not hold peerages. But by the late 19th century, the term was also applied to peers, such as the Duke of Westminster, who lived on landed estates. Successful burghers often used their accumulated wealth to buy country estates, with the aim of establishing themselves as landed gentry. The book series Burke's Landed Gentry records the names of members of this class. The term landed gentry, originally referred to all members of the nobility; beginning around 1540 in England, it came to refer only to the lesser nobility.
