In the Leeds wills of the early 1830s, 58 per cent of the men and 37 per cent of the women mentioned real property. In terms of the strategies of family and life cycle, these will makers had the same concerns as the others. They were embedded in the property cycle. They sought an income for old age which was less demanding in terms of risk and management. Many wanted to ensure the support and welfare of a widow and to treat their children, or their reserve army of siblings and cousins, with the equity which would ensure order and good relationships in the family. Others wanted to ensure that the upbringing and education of minors was completed. These objectives brought them into close relationships with the landscape and built environment around them. The bundles of property described in their wills and in the deeds and conveyances in their solicitors' deposit boxes acquired meanings linked to family and age. In turn the objectives of family and life cycle had a fundamental influence on the nature of that landscape and built environment. The creation of much of that built environment was made possible by the needs of age and family.

Contemporaries saw that urban landscape, growing in size and density and complexity, with both delight and alarm. Areas of the town became increasingly differentiated and acquired new social meanings. Concern was expressed for the perceived social segregation which this involved.