Lets do a quick breakdown before we discuss specifics.

The key difference between “dower” and “dowry” lies in who provides the wealth and when it is given. Dowry is the property a bride brings to her marriage, typically from her family to the groom’s family. Dower, on the other hand, is a widow’s right to a portion of her deceased husband’s estate, traditionally ensuring her financial support after his death. 

Here’s a more detailed breakdown:

Dowry:

• Definition: Property or wealth transferred from the bride’s family to the groom’s family at the time of marriage. 
• Purpose: Originally, it was seen as a way to support the newlywed couple and their future family. In some cultures, it’s also associated with the social status of the families involved. 
• Current status: In some places, like India, dowry is illegal and punishable by law. 

Dower:

• Definition: A widow’s right to a portion of her deceased husband’s property, traditionally a life estate (meaning she could use it, but not sell it). 
• Purpose: To provide financial security for a widow after her husband’s death, as she traditionally had limited rights to property. 
• Current status: The concept of dower is largely outdated and replaced by modern inheritance laws and spousal rights. 

In common law, a widow who had been married for at least 2 years was entitled to one third of her husband’s property on his death. This was her dower.

That is not dowry. Dowry is what she brought to the marriage and dower was what she was supposed to receive when the husband died.

The dowry was usually invested in Bank Funds.  After the wedding, the  husband took proof of the marriage – a certificate from the clergyman who married them or a notarized copy of the parish register page, or a letter from the girl’s father or guardian – to the  bank that handled these funds and had the  money changed to  his name. If the man was not desperate for money, it remained in the bank, and he received the interest every quarter. Or he could take it all or what he needed.

If property was involved in a dowry, the owner of the property and the husband would have to get together to have a deed executed in the husband’s name. Quite often in these cases the marriage settlement  directed whether the dowry was to go ultimately to daughters [think Mrs. Bennet and her daughters from Austen’s Pride and Prejudice] or some such limitation. With an unexpected, hurried wedding, there probably was no protection for the wife in a  marriage settlement. In such cases, I do hope she was over 21 or had her father’s written permission.

No one handed over thousands of pounds in cash.

Sometimes in times of wars and plagues and epidemics, there could be several widows in a family. A man would be left with a very small piece of property if each was entitled to a third as a widow. Sometimes the woman took this to a second husband as her dowry though it was supposed to return to the first husband’s family on her death.The fear of a widow taking the property to a second husband and the way dower cut up  property made men look for alternatives. They decided on a jointure. This was an annuity based on the income  of a specific piece of property or a sum of money. This was paid to her in lieu of any other  inheritance. Quite often payment ceased on remarriage. Women were often cheated because she was deprived of her right of dower even if the sum of money left to her was less tan £100 a year. Also, if all the land was entailed or settled on another, she had trouble receiving her dower.

Lady Blessington’s husband first gave her a jointure of around 4 or 5000 £. He changed that later to 2000 while increasing the amount of money for the man he forced his daughter to marry. Lady Blessington’s  jointures was to be from the income of one of hisIrish estates. She received this money for several years until the potato famine hit. The income from that estate  shrank until there was none. As Lady Blessington wasn’t entitled  to any money from any other source, she felt the pinch. She had  to sell all her belongings  and go live abroad where she died shortly there after.