One of the more difficult problems confronting legal historians interested in conveyancing practice is determining the speed and the means by which innovations in mechanics were adopted. With regard to means, it has been suggested that printed precedent books furnished the practitioner with established rather than innovative forms, and that it is therefore unlikely that they were the vehicle for transmitting novel conveyancing forms. The centralized nature of legal education and practice in early modern England, however, may have exposed lawyers to advances in mechanics such as the strict settlement. Moreover, the existence of William Buckby's manuscript notebook suggests that some practitioners became familiar with the mechanics through their London-based education. Yet it must be conceded that the draftsmen of most of the settlements which will be under observation in this chapter are unknown, and it would be extreme to suggest that all were formally educated in London. While professional contacts may in the end prove to be the means by which innovation spread, a definitive answer awaits a more exhaustive study of the legal profession during the period.

With regard to the other question, how quickly innovation was disseminated, an enquiry into the use of the strict settlement in the latter half of the seventeenth century may be enlightening.