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General => The Common Room => Topic started by: truebritmega on Thursday 04 February 10 00:09 GMT (UK)
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Hi there, someone mentioned to me recently "hearth tax records"... can anyone tell me what they are, what info they hold, and where we can access them?
For me, im loking for them in regards to Staffordshire
Thanks in advance
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Hearth taxes was what is says on the box - a tax based on the number of hearths in the house. The tax was levied between 1662 and 1690 and collected every six months.
Surviving records are generally held at The National Archives in Kew - some local copies may are in record offices. There is a Gibson Guide to the various holdings. Many have been transcribed, so you might be able to buy a copy for the area of interest or see it at a library (perhaps via interlibrary loan).
The records I have seen (which do not include Staffordshire) list householders by county, hundred, village/hamlet. Housholders are named and the number of hearths shown alongside, poorer householders may be listed as exempt (too poor to pay). Survival of the records varies by year and place - the 1662 and 1666 seem to have survived the best.
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There are two sources of hearth tax records. The national archives and local county record offices. The former holds copies of the assessments and various other records concerning the actual payments, arrears etc.. A few county record offices have the original assessments.
The payment accounts for 1664 were the subject of printed lists and these do exist for Staffordshire in the National Archives. Unlike some of the other records these include actual names.
David
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Hi -
Could I also add here that this tax was very unpopular with widespread evasion and under reporting. I would assume that it is an incomplete list. It is useful as an indication of local surnames and will assist in showing the wealth and status of people within a community.
Cheers :)
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Thank you all for your answers... at least now i know what they are and what they can tell me:). i dont suppose theres any online search places for them?
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A quick Google suggests 36,400 sites. Why not give it a go? Your area might be amongst them.
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Try searching the National Archives Catalogue.
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/
David
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http://www.rootschat.com/links/080o/
This link tells you where the records for Staffs are held.
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Truebritmega. As they date from the same general period as the Hearth Tax, but are some 20-30 years earlier, it might be worth while to see if the Protestation Returns have survived for the district you are looking at.
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hmmm lol ty, protestation records? thats another one ive never heard of LOL (just on an offside, i discovered a while back too, there where window taxes in Wolverhampton! many were against the tax, so one building even still today , in victoria street, has some of its windows filled in upstairs where they did it to avoid paying the tax LOL)
Thank you very much... what are protestation records?
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In 1641every man over the age of 18 was asked to sign the protestation oath after it was read out in churches. It was a declaration "to live and die for the true protestant religion.....
Lists were formed of those who signed and didn't sign and most of these were in the House of Lords Record Office. Some are located with parish records and some have been published by county record societies.
David
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This declaration was at least as voluntary as some of the 104% turnouts in a variety of elections across the globe!
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phew, it slucky it was voluntary, most of my fam were roman catholic LOL
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But it was only voluntary if you wanted your arm broken for not signing!
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There is a fairly new website called Hearth Tax Online (http://www.hearthtax.org.uk) which has downloadable surname lists and transcripts for a number of counties.
There is also a Centre for Hearth Tax Research (http://www.roehampton.ac.uk/hearthtax), and its website has a lot of useful information about the context of the tax and where to locate further information.
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Thanks, those sites look as though they will be extremely useful to me.
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Oh well done finding those!! (its been so long back I forget what line I was tracing with them lol )