1. Introduction
This guide to death duty records covers the period 1796 to 1903. It tells you:
- about the historical background to death duties
- where to look for the relevant records
- what information you can find in death duty records
- how to interpret death duty registers, including common abbreviations
You may wish to start your research by consulting our research signpost on death duties between 1796 and 1903.
2. Background
The term 'death duties' refers to the payment of three different taxes: legacy, succession and estate duty. These were payable from 1796 on many estates in England and Wales over a certain value. This value changed over time. The scope of estate duty was extended throughout the nineteenth century, so that more people were included.
Before 1805 the death duty registers cover about a quarter of all estates. By 1857, there should be an entry for all estates except those worth less than £20. However, unless the assets were valued at £1,500 or more, the taxes were often not collected, so the register entry was not filled in with all the details. Death duties were not required of people who died in the service of their country.
For the procedure involved in paying death duties, see Ham's Inland Revenue Yearbook. The National Archives' library has copies of this annual work (under slightly varying titles) from 1875 to 1930. For more background information, see the series descriptions for IR 26 and IR 27.
After 1903, individual files were kept for each case: however, most have not been preserved.
3. Information in the death duty registers
The death duty registers in IR 26, covering 1796 to 1903, may include information that cannot found elsewhere. They can show:
- what happened to someone's personal estate (not freehold) after death
- what the estate was actually worth, excluding debts and expenses
- the name of the deceased, with address and last occupation
- the date of the will, the place and date of probate, and the names, addresses and occupations of the executors
- details of estates, legacies, trustees, legatees, annuities and the duty paid
They can also give the date of death, and information about the people who received bequests (beneficiaries), or who were the next-of-kin, such as exact relationship to the deceased. Tax was not payable on bequests to people within a closely defined family circle, and as a result the family relationship was often noted in the registers. In 1796, tax was not payable on bequests to offspring, spouse, parents and grandparents. In 1805, the exemption was restricted to spouse and parents. From 1815, only bequests to the spouse were exempt from paying tax.
Because the registers could be annotated for many years after the first entry, they can include information such as dates of death of spouse; dates of death or marriage of beneficiaries; births of posthumous children and grandchildren; change of address; references to law suits, and cross references to other entries.
If any of the estate was left in trust before 1852, look at the reversionary registers as well. These were created to contain all the present and future claims extant for the period 1812 to 1852.
The tables in section 6 should help you to interpret the entries in the registers.
4. Finding the death duty indexes and registers
The table below tells you which part of the death duty indexes in IR 27 and the main series of registers in IR 26 you will need to look at to identify the index or register you need. It also tells you what format they are in (original documents, microfilm or online digitised images). Many of the registers for the 1890s were destroyed by fire.
Between 1796 and 1811, each church probate court was indexed separately. The courts other than the Prerogative Court of Canterbury are collectively known as the 'country courts'. Digitised copies of the death duty registers for the country courts, 1796-1811, are available at DocumentsOnline.
The dates given are date of probate or issue of the grant of administration, not of death. The abbreviations SP (of the same place), NE (no entry), & ors (and others), and & anor (and another) are sometimes used.
The index entry will give you a folio reference to the corresponding register: look at the IR 26 catalogue to convert it. On occasion, you may find an index entry with no folio reference: this means that no tax was payable. A reference like RR/41/J/12 is to the reversionary registers (see section 3): it gives year, initial of surname, and folio, and needs to be converted using the catalogue for IR 26/4856-4867.
The National Archives does not hold the corresponding wills or administrations: for more information see the in-depth research guide Wills and probate records.
| Legacy duty | Testators | Indexes | Registers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1796-1811 | PCC testators | 1-16 | 1-178 | On microfilm at The National Archives |
| 1796-1811 | Country courts' testators | 67-93 | 287-437 | Searchable online at DocumentsOnline and on microfilm at The National Archives |
| 1812-1881 | Testators | 140-419 | 535-3292 | Microfilm to 1857; then original documents at The National Archives |
| Intestates | ||||
| 1796-1857 | PCC intestates | 17-66 | 179-286 | On microfilm at The National Archives |
| 1796-1857 | Country courts' intestates | 67-139 | 287-534 | Searchable online from 1796-1811 at DocumentsOnline and on microfilm from 1812-1858 at The National Archives |
| 1858-1863 | Intestates | 420-429 | 3293-3316 | Original documents at The National Archives |
| 1864-1881 | Intestates | no indexes | 3317-3433 | Original documents at The National Archives |
| Both | ||||
| 1882-1894 | All testators and intestates | 430-531 | 3434-4855 | Original documents at The National Archives |
| 1812-1852 | Reversionary registers | none | 4856-4867 | Original documents at The National Archives |
| Succession duty | ||||
| 1853-1894 | Testators and intestates | none | 4868-6262 | Original documents at The National Archives |
| 1853-1878 | (outstanding claims) | none | 6263-6282 | Original documents at The National Archives |
| Estate duty | ||||
| 1894-1903 | Testators and intestates | 532-605 | 6283-8743 | Original documents at The National Archives |
4.1 Using death duty indexes to find English and Welsh wills, 1796-1858
If you are looking for an English or Welsh will or administration between 1796 and 1858, when there were very many probate courts, try the death duty indexes in IR 27 as a 'short cut'. Before 1811 it won't be very short, as each court had its own index, available on DocumentsOnline (see above).
5. Other records associated with legacy duties
The following series also contain record relating to death duties:
| Type of record | Date | Record series |
|---|---|---|
| Specimen death duty accounts | 1796-1903 | IR 19 |
| Death duty accounts for famous people, including Dickens, Engels, Austen, Shelley, Disraeli, Gladstone and Nightingale | 1805-2003 | IR 59 |
| Correspondence on contentious cases | 1812-1836 | IR 6 |
| Correspondence on contentious cases for Scotland | 1839-1841 | IR 7 |
| Contentious cases reported to the Treasury by the Board of Stamps | 1800-1825 | IR 49 |
| 1825-1833 | IR 50 | |
| Legacy, succession and probate duty case books | 1853-1866 | IR 67 |
| Precedent files | 1869-1975 | IR 62 - to order pieces 1-1050 allow three working days for production. The more recent files are closed for 75 years (see below) |
| Death duties case volumes among the Board of Inland Revenue law officers' and counsels' opinions | 1853-1959 | IR 98/1-9, IR 98/30-31 |
| Solicitors' opinions and reports | 1855-1964 | IR 99, relating to death duties cases for IR 98/5-26, 236-244. These documents need three working days to produce. The more recent volumes for both IR 98 and IR 99 are closed for 75 years (see below) |
| Miscellaneous petitions relating to appeals against Inland Revenue assessments for estate or succession duty | 1864-1917 | E 188 |
Under the Freedom of Information Act 2001, a request can be made via email or in writing for a review of closed files. See our website for more on freedom of information.
Before 1812, the registers include very brief abstracts of wills. After 1812, copy wills were made, but these have largely been destroyed. Those from the major local probate courts in Cornwall, Devon and Somerset were sent to the respective local archives to fill some of the gaps caused by the loss of local probate records from those counties by enemy action in the Second World War. See the Somerset Heritage Centre website for more information about the wills they hold.
6. Interpreting the death duty registers
6.1 Before 1811
The registers before 1811 are reasonably simple. An entry for the estate of a particular person stretches over two facing pages, and is divided up into different columns. Each column contains a specific piece of information, defined by the column heading, and has its own abbreviations (see below).
6.2 After 1811
After 1811 the entry for the estate of a particular person stretches over two facing pages, and is divided up into different columns. Each column contains a specific piece of information, defined by the column heading, and has its own abbreviations. But each entry now has a double set of column headings.
The first set of headings is hand written at the top of the entry. They give the name of the deceased, the date and amount contained in the will, a description of the executors, and the place of probate. The information is then ruled off from the information given under the second set of headings. These headings are the printed ones, given at the top of the page. They cover the technical details of the will. The entry relating to one estate is separated from the next entry by a similarly ruled line.
The registers changed over time. The table below takes a register from 1837 as an example, and indicates what each column means, and what you can expect to find in it.
| First set of column headings | ||
|---|---|---|
| Column | ||
| 1-2 | Name and date | also address and date of death |
| 3 | Date of will | |
| 4 | Executors | |
| 5-6 | Residence | residence of executors |
| 7-8 | Description | occupation/rank of executors |
| 9-13 | Where and when proved | court and date at which the will was proved Sample abbreviations used ArchCt/Totnes/archd'on = Archdeaconry court of Totnes BishCt/Lichfield / = Bishop's (consistory) court of Lichfield ConCt/London = Consistory court of London ConstEpic/Wells = Episcopal Consistory Court of Bath & Wells Deans/Lichfield = Dean and Chapter of Lichfield Ecclesi/St Albans = Archdeaconry of St Albans ExCt/York = Exchequer court of the Archbishop of York PC/Cant.y = Prerogative court of Canterbury PecuC/Biggleswade = Peculiar court of Biggleswade RuralD/Chester = Rural Dean of Chester |
| 14 | Sum sworn under | approximate value of the total estate |
| Second set of column headings | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Legacies | description of size and types of items bequeathed in the will Abbreviations used annych'd on R and P Est = annuity charged on real and personal estate chgd = charged 3 P C Cons = 3% Consols 3 P C Red = 3% Reduced bank annuities |
| 2 | Observations | notes on the legacies or other information for the purposes of estimating duty payable |
| 3 | To whom in trust | to whom estate is entrusted, i.e. the executors the date of codicils to the will in which various legacies are bequeathed Abbreviations used exors = executors |
| 4 | For what purpose | what is to be done with the legacy; into how many portions it is to be divided, upon what conditions legatees are entitled to it, whether the legacies have to be converted into certain forms for payment, etc. |
| 5 | Legatee | to whom the legacies are due Abbreviations used Resy Legatee = residuary legatee (i.e. the legatee who receives the remainder of the estate once the claims of the other legatees have been satisfied) |
| 6 | Consanguinity | relationship of the legatee to the deceased for the purposes of calculating the rate of duty payable on the legacy Abbreviations used - see separate table, below |
| 7 | Upon what contingency or, if in succession, of equal rate | upon what conditions the legacies are bequeathed and procedures to be followed when the legatee dies - i.e. does the legacy pass to the legatee's heirs or to other defined persons? Abbreviations used - see separate table, below |
| 8 | What deemed | the form of the bequest; whether an absolute gift or an annuity and whether there are any contingency clauses to the bequest Abbreviations used abs = absolute legacy (i.e. no strings attached) abs & int = absolute and interest abswp = absolute legacy with a proviso (conditional grant) anny = annuity anny wp = annuity with a proviso (conditional annuity) dwp = ditto (usually absolute) with a proviso in deft of appt eqy amg them = in default of apportionment equally among them |
| Columns 9-14 | These columns sometimes contain no information, presumably because duty was never paid or because there were insufficient assets to pay for legacies. In place of such information is often a reference such as 'RA 767/46 1 LD' which refers to 'residuary accounts'. These have been destroyed, although a few still survive in IR 19 and IR 59. | |
| 9 | Age of annuitant | age of the annuitant; given in some cases only |
| 10 | Value of annuities and bequests | value of actual bequests received by legatees or total value of annuities as computed for paying duty |
| 11 | Rate of duty | percentage of bequest or annuity to be paid as duty according to degree of consanguinity |
| 12 | Date of payment | date when payments of duty took place |
| 13 | Annuity instalments | value of instalments of duty paid on annuities - there were usually four such payments |
| 14 | Total duty | total duty paid on legacy |
| Abbreviations used in column 6 of the 2nd headings: consanguinity | ||
|---|---|---|
| BF | brother of a father (uncle) | |
| BM | brother of a mother (uncle) | |
| Child or Ch | child of deceased | |
| DB | descendant of a brother (niece, nephew, etc.) | |
| DS | descendant of a sister (niece, nephew, etc.) | |
| DBF | descendant of a brother of a father (i.e. cousin) | |
| DBM | descendant of a brother of a mother (i.e. cousin) | |
| DSF | descendant of a sister of a father (i.e. cousin) | |
| DSM | descendant of a sister of a mother (i.e. cousin) | |
| DBGF | descendant of a brother of a grandfather | |
| DBGM | descendant of a brother of a grandmother | |
| DSGF | descendant of a sister of a grandfather | |
| DSGM | descendant of a sister of a grandmother | |
| G child | grandchild | |
| GG child | great-grandchild | |
| G daughter | grand-daughter | |
| G son | grand-son | |
| SF | sister of a father (i.e. aunt) | |
| SM | sister of a mother (i.e. aunt) | |
| Str or Stra or Strag | stranger in blood | |
| Stra BL | stranger, brother-in-law | |
| Stra DL | stranger, daughter-in-law | |
| Stra NC | stranger, natural child (i.e. illegitimate) | |
| Stra ND | stranger, natural daughter (i.e. illegitimate) | |
| Stra NS | stranger, natural son (i.e. illegitimate) | |
| Stra NC (of a daughter) | stranger, illegitimate child of a daughter | |
| Stra NC (of a son) | stranger, illegitimate child of a son | |
| Stra (sent) | stranger, servant of deceased | |
| Stra SL | stranger, sister-in-law or stranger, son-in-law | |
| Stra or 'son' | stranger, natural son (i.e. illegitimate) | |
| Stra or 'daughter' | stranger, natural daughter (i.e. illegitimate) | |
| Abbreviations used in column 7 of the 2nd headings: contingency | |
|---|---|
| amg | among |
| attn | attains |
| contingency | conditions of bequest |
| dividds | dividends |
| eqy | equally |
| est | estate |
| int | interest |
| int durg miny prinl when 21 | interest on bequest payable during minority of legatee and principal when legatee attains 21 years of age |
| pble | payable |
| p or princl | principal |
| reversion | bequest reverts to another legatee upon a certain condition, e.g. the death of the first beneficiary |
| ring etc. | mourning ring and other bequests |
| SER or suc of equal rate | succession of equal rate after death of legatee, i.e. equal division of the bequest amongst the heirs of the legatee |
| until she attns 21 or marr | legacy not operable until the beneficiary reaches the age of 21 or marries |
| when 21 with accumls | legatee to receive principal and accumulated interest on it when he reaches the age of 21 years |
| with bent of survp | with benefit of survivorship, i.e. if a bequest is distributed between a group of legatees and one dies, the rest are entitled to share out that legacy equally amongst themselves within six months = payment of legacy within this period |
| Abbreviations found in various columns of the death duty registers | |
|---|---|
| de bonis non /15th Oct 1851/ | date of later grant of administration |
| in resd | in residue |
| not liable | the bequests are to relatives too closely related to the deceased for duty to be payable |
| not subject to Duty | legacies are to be paid out of the profits of land charged on real estate sales and are therefore (pre-1805) not liable to duty |
| P E | personal estate |
| qy | query |
| R A /1448-1837/ | Residuary Account, Number /1448-1837/ - reference to accounts of money received as duty. Most of these accounts have now been destroyed, although a few remain in IR 19 and IR 59. |
| R E | real estate |
7. Further reading
The following publications are available in The National Archives' library. Those with a link can be bought from The National Archives' online bookshop:
Bevan, Amanda, Tracing your ancestors in the The National Archives, 7th edn (The National Archives, 2006)
Grannum, Karen and Taylor, Nigel, Wills and probate records (The National Archives, 2009)
Related guides
The Catalogue
Search descriptions of 11 million documents from the UK central government, law courts and other national bodies.
Download this guide as a PDF
