Before the Industrial Revolution, the aristocracy's economy depended entirely on land rents and feudal privileges. They profited by controlling manors, collecting rent from tenant farmers, and monopolizing local judicial and administrative powers, placing them firmly at the top of the economic hierarchy.
After the Industrial Revolution, traditional income from land rents was hit by industrial capital. Some conservative nobles gradually fell into decline by clinging to their land, while more forward-thinking nobles turned to investing in railways, mines, and factories, gradually converting their land-based advantages into capital and maintaining their wealth and status.
For example, the nobility had made a fortune from resources desperately needed in the early days of the Industrial Revolution, such as cotton, iron ore, and coal.
But as time passed, the Industrial Revolution begun by Roselle had already been going on for more than a hundred years. The "advantages" of the old aristocracy had dwindled, while more and more ordinary people became capitalists through generations of accumulated wealth and the tides of the times.
Once this new class had money, they began seeking higher social status. For instance, they might buy a "noble" title for their family or enter politics and start gaining power.
Of course, these "old" nobles couldn't just stand by and watch "the children of former serfs" threaten the very foundation of their position—their "legislative power." So they pressured the House of Lords to require every noble to own land commensurate with their title, which greatly slowed the "erosion."
The enactment of this law also effectively slammed the doors of the House of Lords shut. Still, some people did manage to become "nobles," such as the lowest-ranking knights and baronets.
A baronetcy could be purchased by donating to a political party. The price was fixed: £300,000 for a baronetcy, with no seat in