Source 1

Pudding Lane Hearth Tax : August 1666 : (EXT 11/160)

This is a tax record for August 1666. These people lived in Pudding Lane in London. The numbers show the amount of hearths (fireplaces) in each person’s house.

People who owned a house had to pay a hearth tax to the king. They paid 1 shilling (5p) for each hearth.
This tax was collected twice a year. Some people might stop up their fireplaces for part of the year so they didn’t have to pay the tax twice.

Transcript

Mary Whittacre widow2
George Porter plasterer3
Widdow Gander1
Benjamin Burstow1
Thomas Knight Glasier [glass maker]4
Alice Spencer4
Empty3
John Bibie turner [person who works with a turning lathe, a tool for shaping and cutting wood, important in making barrels]3
Thomas Farrinor baker

1 oven
5

1
William Ludford plasterer

1 stop up
3

1
Jones2
Susanna Noest3
Empty3
Lanbe Yard
William Burgis hook & eye maker3
Joshua Sands plateworker2
Empty3
Nicolas Carter hook & eye maker5
Widdow Grimes1
John Wardley clothworker4
William Walter smyth [blacksmith who worked with metal and made horseshoes]3
John Wells porter2
John Hasleby porter2
Widdow Pawley2
William Greene turner2
68
« Return to Great Fire of London: how London changed

1. This source was written about two weeks before the fire. It lists some of the people who lived in Pudding Lane. This is where the fire began.

  • Can you find the name of the king’s baker?
  • How many fireplaces and ovens did he have?
  • How much tax did the baker have to pay? (Clue: number of hearths and ovens x 1 shilling)
  • How many different jobs can you find on the list? Name them.
  • How many men had houses on the list?
  • How many women had houses on the list?
  • How many houses were empty?