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Abstract
This research seeks to trace the transfer of wealth down the male line of a rural French family through the 19th and 20th centuries, and to decipher the logic of accumulating and transferring wealth. The subject will be approached from an angle different from that of Segalen [Ethnol. Fr. 8 (1978) 271], who followed which farmers had cultivated the same farm through two centuries. The itinerary of wealth passing through the six generations examined here was traced using the range of legal documents that mark a person's life: purchases, sales, exchanges, marriage contracts, gifts, and inheritances. Wealth behavioral patterns that are assumed to follow an economic logic are described using neoclassical economic models.
Keywords:
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Jean-Marie Trambert for allowing us to consult family archives and Andrejs Plakans for commenting on a previous version of this text. This work was undertaken as part of a research program (APN) initiated by Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and by Maison des Sciences de l'Homme in Nantes. We also thank La Poste for financial support.
Notes
1 To date, no French studies on the accumulation of wealth have had such a follow-up. The part of the TRA survey dealing with wealth should make this approach more common by the treatment of 3000 descending lines over a period covering the 19th and 20th centuries Citation(Grange, Kessler, Masson, & Rosental, 1985).
2 To sum up briefly the methodology of this survey: “This involves examining microscopically, from 1803 to the current date, a sample of 3000 descending lines, representative of the French population, through all the civil events in their life (births, marriages, deaths) and their wealth (successions)” Citation(Dupâquier & Kessler, 1992, p. 23). The surnames of the males of the descending lines used to begin with the three letters TRA.
3 The use of longitudinal data over a long period particularly enabled us to study the impact of the appearance of public retirement plans on wealth behavior and to learn if, for example, rights to a pension have replaced individual savings. Once financial matters in old age are ensured, do other motives for savings appear, such as the desire to transmit wealth to descendants? And, if so, in what form (human capital or material wealth)?
4 In fact, only one deceased generation (G5) of the Trambert line ever lived in the 20th century—Pierre Trambert-Lebastard (G4), who died in 1916.
5 Loire-Inférieure is the earlier name of the current Loire-Atlantique department. Chapters 1 and 2 from the first part of CitationBourrigaud (1994) mainly inspired this section. They are entitled “La croissance de la production” and “Le monde rural: changements et traditions.”
6 Departmental Archives of Loire-Atlantique (DALA), Ref. 3 E 8004. Hereafter, references to these archives will be incorporated into the text using the abbreviation DALA and reference number.
7 Survey of Year IV does not mention any Trambert in Nort sur Erdre Citation(Nattiez, 1999).
8 Family archives, “Livret de Famille.”
9 Developments relating to the operation of registry sources were largely inspired by Arrondel and Grange Citation(2002) (see also Grange & Rosental, Citation1988; Grange et al., Citation1985). When documents are less than 100 years old, they remain the responsibility of the tax administration of the department. They can be found either at the tax office or in the department's archives.
10 As in the rest of the department, the population of these two cantons grew in the 19th century, moderately in Nort sur Erdre (increasing by 10–30%) and more substantially in Nozay (30–50%).
11 “Nort sur Erdre was also the most modern port in Erdre east of Nantes. Most economic exchanges between Nantes and the region of Chateaubriand occurred along this navigable route since roads were impractical, and there were no railway lines. With the improvement in land travel, its port activities declined” Citation(Bourrigaud, 1994, p. 73).
12 The witnesses of the marriage were members of the family, usually close relatives. Thus, we noted Jean Lemasson, 75 years old, “paternal uncle of the groom and also maternal uncle,” and his wife Marie Trambert; Pierre Carquoit, age 50 years, maternal cousin of the groom by marriage to the fourth degree, and his wife Jeanne Lemasson; Jean Courgeon, 33 years, maternal uncle of the bride, and René Langlais, 48 years, “paternal and maternal uncle of the bride” by marriage, and his wife Anne Courgeon. The four witnesses were laborers in Saffré. This description of witnesses shows that they were exclusively chosen within the family. It also reveals overlapping of family ties between witnesses and spouses. All the witnesses resided in Saffré, yet the groom came from Nort sur Erdre, which demonstrates the geographical spread of the groom's family.
13 The inheritance archives of the registry keep declarations of inheritance of all deceased persons. They are divided into Tables of Succession and Absences, and Register of Transfers by Death. The Tables of Succession are records, partially organized in alphabetical order, in which, office by office, all the deceased are entered chronologically by date of death. They indicate the place and date of death, the occupation of the deceased, his marital status, and, if appropriate, the date of the declaration of succession. The tables also give his reference “section” in the General Repertory. From the date of the declaration of succession, the actual declaration can be traced. This is filed chronologically in the Register of Transfers at Death and gives the details of the composition, value, and beneficiaries of the property of the deceased.
14 Tables of Acquirers and Sellers record all movements of movable property and real estate whatever the origin: sale, donation, exchanges, inheritance, etc. The Tables of Acquirers indicate, again in partial alphabetical order, the list of individuals whose goods have been transferred. Depending on the period, the Tables of Sellers or the Tables of Acquirers record the nature and value of transmitted goods, as well as the names of the transferor and transferee, and contain an alphabetical classification of those who have transferred property.
15 Tables of Marriage Contracts classify spouses' names in partial alphabetical order and indicate the value of goods contributed by each spouse upon marriage. Each individual is classified under his or her name; therefore, the register has to be consulted in two places to discover the amount contributed by each spouse. In Pierre Trambert's act of marriage, dating from 1851 (DALA, Ref. 3 E 9339), it specified that no marriage contract was filed. The applicable regime was therefore the community of acquirers.
16 The General Registry was created in 1866 as the result of the merging of the above tables. As soon as a person received or transmitted, in whatever manner, some relatively large good, an account was opened in his name. This was symbolized by attributing a “section” to him in the register. All movements of estate carried out during his lifetime were recorded in this section. An individual was given the section immediately following the last space opened. Therefore, people were not classified alphabetically, but according to the date of their first recorded act. To locate an individual (volume and section), the record of his death must be consulted in the Tables of Successions and Absences, or his “Record Card.” Record cards are small, loose cards classified alphabetically and by Registry Office. For each individual, they indicate his corresponding volume number and space. Unfortunately, in many cases, these cards are out of order or have been destroyed.
16 Each section in the General Registry has an “Asset” column (on the left page) listing goods received or bought, and a “Liability” column (on the right page) of the goods transmitted. Transactions are listed chronologically with the date and nature of the transfer; the value of goods transferred (if appropriate, the name of the notary, as well as the date of the deed); and a description of the goods, their value, and a reference to the section of the preceding owner or new acquirer. The value of death estates is not mentioned, but the date of the declaration of succession is recorded as well as a reference to where the value is recorded in the Register of Transfers by Death. Finally, for married individuals, names and Christian names of the spouse are provided as well as references to the section where his or her estate transactions are recorded.
17 The position of Pierre Trambert's account in the General Registry (Ref. 1 Q 8750) was supplied by his mention in the Tables of Successions and Absences (Ref. 1 Q 8747) and his record card (Ref. 3 Q 1239).
18 DALA, Refs. 1 Q 8862 (Tables of Acquirers) and 1 Q 8879 (Tables of Sellers). We already knew about this gift from the declaration of succession of Jeanne Lemasson.
19 Family archives. Copy of the second lot coming to Pierre Trambert-Flandrin (Bricaud, Notary in Saffré).
20 DALA, Tables of Successions and Absences, ref. 1 Q 8747, and the Register of Transfers by Death, ref. 1 Q 8932.
21 Using criteria determined by the registry enables a valuation of the goods.
22 To make up for this lack of documents, we first consulted the hypothecation registry. The catalogue of hypothecation formalities for this period, in theory kept by the Conservation de Châteaubriand, was inaccessible for unknown reasons. The absence of this registry meant that all transcript registries for the period 1866–1887 would have had to be searched, which we decided not to do. Notary archives were the last source likely to enable us to find any transactions. An attempt was made, but without an individual table in notaries offices in Saffré (Series 4E) or in the civil courts, we were forced to abandon this line of research (Series 10 U).
23 A full description of problems linked to the use of succession archives of the registry is provided by CitationDaumard (1973, pp. 3–114).
24 The research starts with a register that gives the family names of individuals mentioned in the registry. For each name, a reference with the volume and numbers of the table indicates where the group of names is located—this time associated with the Christian name. This alphabetical list in the registry of hypothecation formalities indicates the number of the volume and the section where the person sought has an account (Jacquemet, Citation1973; Merley, Citation1972).
25 The Hypothecation Registry is in Chateaubriant. The address of Pierre Trambert-Flandrin (G3) in the table is 321/Vol. iii. Four operations were recorded: two acquisitions (January 5, 1883 and July 7, 1902), one exchange (December 16, 1902), and a gift (February 18, 1917). This was the gift some months before his death to his two daughters and his minor, orphaned grandson.
26 To compare the amounts paid and received by each generation from G1 to G4, amounts were assigned Base 100 in 1908–1912 from the cost-of-living index supplied by CitationLévy-Leboyer and Bourguignon (1985). For G5, the amounts received and paid are indicated in 1921 francs.
27 CitationBéaur (1998) found identical situations in the case of winegrowers from Chartrain in the 18th century.
28 Time preference enables the measurement of future well being in terms of present well being. In general, we assume that individuals prefer to consume in the present rather than in the future at a given level of consumption; there is higher utility today than tomorrow Citation(Masson, 1995).
29 In the first part, the terms person and household are interchangeable.
30 These hypotheses concern the basic version (“hard core”) of the life cycle model Citation(Masson, 1991). Numerous later versions reassessed most of these assumptions Citation(Arrondel, 1993).
31 The return on an actuarially neutral life annuity is equal to the interest rate on the market increased by an instant factor of mortality Citation(Arrondel, 1994).
32 Adverse selection signifies that “bad risks” (those anticipating long lifetimes, in the case of life annuities) are the ones most likely to take out insurance. Lacking information, insurance companies overcharge for their services.
33 The degree of commitment of each child will depend on characteristics of each one, such as resources, and social category. Thus, the offspring who was in a good situation might possibly be less committed than a poorer one since the monetary cost of services given to his parents would be greater (the opportunity cost was higher, so to speak).
34 An example of the limited trust of his parents with respect to their children was supplied in the case of a partition between children of the father of Anne-Marie Flandrin, wife of Pierre Trambert (G3). His will stated: “I declare exempting my son Jean Flandrin, a laborer living with me, of transferring either to me and my wife Marguerite Flandrin or to my successors all the amounts which were spent to replace him during his military service at whatever rate it may be; I believe I know my other children and grandchildren well enough to be convinced that they will conform to the desire I have just made known; but if, against all expectations, one or several of them should oppose my intentions, I declare to give and bequeath as a legacy … as a supplementary legacy and without share… to my son Jean Flandrin the full and freehold property of the quarter of all the goods and movable rights and real estate that I leave upon my death without exception” (Archives of the family Trambert).
35 CitationSegalen (1995, p. 31) quoted an extreme example of ingratitude by a priest in 1844 in Gévaudan. “I have learned, wrote the priest, that the deceased declared before dying that she had been crushed by her children between two doors… It is claimed the widow said before dying “I have fed wretched children, they squeezed me, they made a good squash out of me, they will not pay my pension for much longer.”
36 Resignation of Pierre Trambert-Langlais (G2) kept by Bricaud, Notary, family archives.