Facts in Sense and Sensibility

As several Austen scholars have pointed out, the amount of inheritance detailed in the first part of Sense and Sensibility seems to signal a preoccupation of Austen's with money matters.

In other words, Henry Dashwood has left his neice and her daughters largely out of his will in favor of his grandson, a common practice at this time that favored male descendants.  He has, however, given each of them a token inheritance of 1,000 pounds.  In dollars, 1,000 pounds sterling was worth about $5,000.  

The greatest part of a family's wealth went to the oldest son, with smaller amounts to younger sons and even smaller amounts to daughters.

The "former marriage" most likely ended in the death of Dashwood's first wife.  Divorce was very rare and required a governmental decree.

Sussex is a county in the southeastern part of England, with its southern most part on the English Channel.