What happened when the rich stopped intermarrying in Britain
But landholdings are not the only type of wealth, and specifically at that time with the industrial revolution going on, stuff like factories become a source of great riches. So marrying down 44 percentiles in land does not mean marrying 44 percent down in wealth, it could just be marrying the same amount of wealth with a more industrial component.<p>Also the industrial revolution itself seems more likely to cause education reform than changing peers, who are lifetime appointments. Fewer hands needed in agriculture, plus more jobs requiring people to be able to read means you need kids in schools instead of on farms.<p>It&#x27;s probably true that prestige went down. It takes a long time for that sort of thing to change. There are still people around today who are impressed by titles.<p>It seems very unlikely that the elites would not fight tooth and nail for the best matches for their kids. Not having the queen around makes no difference, it seems most likely there would still be a scene where people went and made connections, and the criteria would be largely the same.