The British Crown, since Queen Anne, has passed at the following dates:
| Anne, | 1702 |
| George I., | 1714 |
| George II., | 1727 |
| George III., | 1760 |
| George IV., | 1820 |
| William IV., | 1830 |
| Victoria, | 1837 |
| Edward VII., | 1901 |
| George V., | 1910 |
Thus, in 208 years, the Crown has passed eight times, or, on the average, once in about 26 years.
I have investigated the dates at which a considerable number of well-known estates have passed at death during two centuries and have found the most remarkable variations in different families. The Earldom of Suffolk has passed at average intervals of 16.7 years between 1731 and 1898. The Earldom of Coventry has passed at intervals of 22 years between 1712 and 1843. These are intervals which are well under the average, while above the mean are cases quite as remarkable. The Earldom of Essex, between 1709 and 1892, has passed only four times, giving an average of 45.7 years. The Earldom of Bathurst, again, between 1775 and 1892, passed only five times, giving an average of 43.4 years.
Taking the mean of a large number of actual cases, I get an average of 29.2 years and I have decided to take 30 as a round figure which cannot be far from the truth. Assuming, then, that there are thirty living property owners for every dead one in the final column of the table on page 53, I have constructed the table entitled "The Division of Property: An Argument from the Dead to the Living," which appears on pages 74 and 75. The figures in columns 1 and 2, taken from the table in Chapter 4, are multiplied by 30 to form the figures in columns 3 and 4. The results are exceedingly interesting.
THE DIVISION OF PROPERTY: AN ARGUMENT
FROM THE DEAD TO THE LIVING
| CLASSES OF ESTATE | THE DEAD | |
| Averages of the Death Duty Records in the five years 1904-5 to 1908-9. | ||
| (1) PERSONS. | (2) PROPERTY. | |
| £ | ||
| Less than £100 net | 15,956 | 900,00 |
| Less than £300 gross | 18,917 | 3,600,000 |
| £300 to £500 gross | 9,288 | 3,700,000 |
| £100 to £500 net | 6,074 | 2,700,000 |
| Total Estates not over £500 | 50,235 | 10,900,000 |
| | ||
| £500 to £1,000 net | 10,404 | 8,600,000 |
| £1,000 to £10,000 net | 16,910 | 62,100,000 |
| £10,000 to £25,000 net | 2,338 | 41,000,000 |
| £25,000 to £50,000 net | 910 | 35,100,000 |
| £50,000 to £75,000 net | 291 | 19,400,000 |
| £75,000 to £100,000 net | 145 | 13,200,000 |
| £100,000 to £150,000 net | 133 | 16,900,000 |
| £150,000 to £250,000 net | 90 | 19,700,000 |
| £250,000 to £500,000 net | 54 | 20,600,000 |
| £500,000 to £1,000,000 net | 19 | 13,600,000 |
| Over £1,000,000 net | 7 | 18,100,000 |
| Total Estates over £500 | 31,301 | 268,300,000 |
| | ||
| Grand Total | 81,536 | 279,200,000 |
| CLASSES OF ESTATE | THE LIVING | AVERAGE VALUE OF ESTATES PER HEAD. | |
| Figures of columns 1 and 2 multiplied by 30 upon the assumption that each dead property owner in column 1 corresponds to 30 living ones. | |||
| (3) PERSONS. | (4) PROPERTY. | ||
| £ | £ | ||
| Less than £100 net | 478,680 | 27,000,000 | 56 |
| Less than £300 gross | 567,510 | 108,000,000 | 190 |
| £300 to £500 gross | 278,640 | 111,000,000 | 398 |
| £100 to £500 net | 182,220 | 81,000,000 | 444 |
| Total Estates not over £500 | 1,507,050 | 327,000,000 | 216 |
| | |||
| £500 to £1,000 net | 312,120 | 258,000,000 | 826 |
| £1,000 to £10,000 net | 507,300 | 1,863,000,000 | 3,672 |
| £10,000 to £25,000 net | 70,140 | 1,230,000,000 | 17,536 |
| £25,000 to £50,000 net | 27,300 | 1,053,000,000 | 38,571 |
| £50,000 to £75,000 net | 8,730 | 582,000,000 | 66,600 |
| £75,000 to £100,000 net | 4,350 | 396,000,000 | 91,034 |
| £100,000 to £150,000 net | 3,990 | 507,000,000 | 127,067 |
| £150,000 to £250,000 net | 2,700 | 591,000,000 | 218,800 |
| £250,000 to £500,000 net | 1,620 | 618,000,000 | 381,481 |
| £500,000 to £1,000,000 net | 570 | 408,000,000 | 715,789 |
| Over £1,000,000 net | 210 | 543,000,000 | 2,585,714 |
| Total Estates over £500 | 939,030 | 8,049,000,000 | 8,571 |
| | |||
| Grand Total | 2,446,080 | 8,376,000,000 | 3,424 |