Dots i llegats dels Baldrich de Valls (1768-1863)

Abstract

This article is concerned with the difficulties faced by the heirs of the Baldrich family of Valls when, during the period 1768 to 1863, they were attempting to fulfil their obligations related to dowries and inheritances. Anton Baldrich Janer named his eldest son by his first marriage hereu, or universal heir, as was the custom in Catalan families, but with the obligation to pay his siblings, and especially his half-brothers and sisters, large amounts of money adjudicated at a time when trade between America and northern Europe had considerably raised financial expectations. During the first half of the 19th century, poor harvests, continual wars and the independence of the American colonies diminished the familys resources and weakened their financial situation. Successive generations of hereus struggled to meet the continuous claims of their brothers and sisters the cabalers and cabaleres who would normally have the legal right to a percentage of the inheritance with the result that they were unable to invest in new enterprises which would have expanded and modernized their commercial activity. In 1863, the last hereu of the Baldrich family died childless, having paid off the last of the family debts but without having opened up new horizons for his successors.