I had never realized that his securing the estate to the child ensured that it was kept within the family for three generations. That seems quite rational.

But then I got to wondering about this quote...

"He meant not to be unkind however, and, as a mark of his affection for the three girls, he left them a thousand pounds a-piece."

We know that 1000 pounds a-piece was not enough to keep them in the style of living they were used to. My question becomes would giving them more have diluted the wealth of the estate too much? Or would he have expected that they would always be cared for with family money?

I can see that he may not have anticipated Henry Dashwood's death so soon after his own.

Also, what would happen to the estate had John's boy died? Revert to John?