1. Introduction
Tax records have always provided a fruitful source of information for family, local and academic historians alike, and the records of the hearth tax are among the most widely-used examples of these types of document. For the detail and quality of their contents, the hearth tax records give an unparalleled insight into the composition and nature of seventeenth-century communities, and provide a useful supplement to other local records such as parish registers.
Most documents for the hearth tax survive among the records of the Exchequer in The National Archives, although some can also be found in other series and also in local county record offices, often among the quarter session records. The main means of reference to the records in TNA is the E 179 database (see 4 below), which has now superseded the old printed lists. In addition, information can also be found in J Gibson, The Hearth Tax and other later Stuart Tax Lists (FFHS, 1996), which gives county-by-county lists of document references held at TNA and elsewhere, and, like the database, includes details of printed editions (as well as of historical studies based on the records). Gibson also lists copies and transcripts held both locally and at the Society of Genealogists.
Many hearth tax records have been published, largely by local record societies, and copies of most of these are held in the Resource Centre and Library at TNA. For ease of reference, readers are advised to consult these in the first instance. For further lists of publications by local societies, see also E.L.C. Mullins, Texts and calendars: an analytical guide to serial publications (RHS, 1958; reprinted 1978), and Texts and calendars II: an analytical guide to serial publications, 1957-1982 (RHS, 1983), also updated since 1982 on-line.
2. What was the hearth tax?
The hearth tax was introduced in England and Wales by the government of Charles II in 1662 at a time of serious fiscal emergency. The original Act of Parliament was revised in 1663 and 1664, and collection continued until the tax was finally repealed by William and Mary in 1689. Under the terms of the grant, each liable householder was to pay one shilling for each hearth within their property for each collection of the tax. Payments were due twice annually, at Michaelmas (29 September) and Lady Day (25 March), starting at Michaelmas 1662. However, the administration of the tax was extremely complex, and assessment and collection methods changed radically over time. As a result, the majority of the surviving documents relate to the periods when the tax was administered directly by royal officials, who returned their records to the Exchequer, namely the periods 1662-1666 and 1669-1674. Outside these periods, the collection of the tax was 'farmed out' to private tax collectors, who paid a fixed sum to the government in return for the privilege of collecting the tax. These farmers were not required to send their assessments into the Exchequer, although a few returns from these periods do survive.
3. What information is given by hearth tax returns?
The administration of the hearth tax led to the production of a vast array of different types of document, relating to both the assessment and accounting processes. By far the most well-known and heavily-used of these are the assessments, giving details of taxpayers in various communities. However, as with all medieval and early-modern tax returns, these assessments only provide the information required by the officials at the time. Information supplied in each assessment could vary, but generally included the names of individual householders (sometimes with their status or title) and the number of hearths for which they were chargeable, often together with the amount payable and occasionally other comments. Due to varying assessment methods employed in different places at different times, some documents may contain information for an entire county, while others cover only one town or village. The tax was collected using the administrative divisions of the time - counties, hundreds, boroughs, parishes, etc. - and researchers should be aware that these have often changed over time. Basic details can be found in the E 179 database, and more specific information is available in reference works such as volumes of the Victoria County History and publications of the English Place-Name Society. Also, survival of documents is far from consistent across England and Wales, and while some counties possess a number of well-preserved assessment rolls, others may possess only one example. Many surviving rolls may also be damaged or incomplete.
4. How to find hearth tax records
The majority of the surviving hearth tax documents can be found amongst the records of medieval and early-modern taxation in series E 179 at The National Archives. The main means of access to these records is now the E 179 database. This database will eventually contain details of all documents in series E 179 relating to lay and clerical taxation in England and Wales between the thirteenth and seventeenth centuries, providing accurate and up-to-date information on their nature and contents, and indexes of all place-names contained within them. The database is searchable by place, date, tax and document type, or any combination of these. Readers should be aware that names of individual taxpayers are not included in this database, but that they may use the database to search for documents containing such names, prior to examining the original document or, where available, a printed transcript. The database is also linked to both the on-line Catalogue and, for readers at Kew, to the document ordering service.
In addition to assessment documents, a large quantity of material relating to the accounting procedures of the hearth tax also survives, both in series E 179 and elsewhere, including the account rolls in series E 360. For financial details and specific references, see the work of C.A.F. Meekings in Analysis of Hearth Tax Accounts 1662-1665, List & Index Society, vol. 153 (1979) and Analysis of Hearth Tax Accounts 1666-1669, List & Index Society, vol. 163 (1980).
5. Did everyone pay the hearth tax?
By the terms of the 1662 Act, the hearth tax was payable by people whose house was worth more than 20s a year, and who contributed to local church and poor rates. As a result, the hearth tax assessments cannot be considered to provide anything approaching a comprehensive census of the population. Large numbers of people were exempt from payment, such as people who paid neither church nor poor rate (paupers) and people inhabiting houses worth less than 20s a year who did not have any other property over that value, nor an income of over £100 a year. Also exempt were charitable institutions with an annual income of less than £100, and industrial hearths such as kilns and furnaces (but not smithies and bakeries). However, although these groups were not charged (and in some places at some times, the very poor were perhaps not assessed or listed at all), in most cases the tax officials were required to provide exemption certificates for those not eligible to pay, and these documents have also survived in large numbers. The rules for exemption have caused confusion both to contemporaries and to modern historians, and seem to have been applied differently according to the local officials concerned.
6. Exemption certificates
Most individuals who were not liable to pay the hearth tax for reasons of poverty were required to obtain a certificate of exemption from the parish clergyman, churchwardens and overseers of the poor, countersigned by two Justices of the Peace. After the revising Act of 1663, hearth tax officials were to include in their assessments lists of those chargeable and not chargeable (exempt). However, the methods of recording those not chargeable tended to vary, with some assessments containing the names of exempt individuals, and others simply a record of the total number. From 1670, printed exemption forms were introduced, replacing earlier manuscript certificates; these were filled in as necessary by the local officials to record the names and assessments of the exempt in a given area. This important source may be used to supplement those assessment rolls which only show numerical totals of individuals not chargeable.
Most of the surviving certificates of exemption may be found in series E 179, mainly in large collections arranged by county. However, since many are not yet listed in detail and may be fragile, readers should ensure that they preserve the current arrangement and take particular care when handling these documents.
7. More details on the hearth tax
For a general overview of medieval and early-modern taxation, together with details of the terms of individual taxes including the hearth tax, see M Jurkowski, C Smith and D Crook, Lay Taxes in England and Wales, 1188-1688 (PRO, 1998). This book has been produced as part of the large-scale project which led to the creation of the E 179 database, and details of individual taxes are also available in the database, which includes the most up-to-date information gathered during the course of the project.
The British Record Society and the University of Surrey, Roehampton are currently undertaking a project to provide printed editions of at least one hearth tax assessment for each county. Published editions are available in the Resource Centre and Library at TNA. As part of this project, many hearth tax documents have also been microfilmed and are now available in the Map and Large Document Reading Room at Kew. Readers should, however, be aware that many of these microfilmed documents are incomplete and further detached sections may be identified using the E 179 database.
