The number of names in these assessments varies enormously with the number of households in the parish. Greenwich parish assessments (available at Greenwich Local History Library) for 1662–4 include about 6,000 names, whereas those for Isleworth from 1664–74 number 960 and can be found at the Society of Genealogists’ Library.

Some hearth tax assessments have been transcribed and so are easily available; but only for a few parishes. If your ancestors lived in Surrey, these have been transcribed and published; likewise those for a number of Middlesex parishes, including Acton, Ealing, Harrow, Hanwell, Perivale, Staines and Northolt, as well as for a number of City parishes and the Kent parishes for 1662 have also been transcribed and indexed.

Information given is the name of the property owner and the number of hearths, which indicates the size of the house. If it was empty, the owner’s name is still given, and the fact that the house is empty is noted.

A useful list of what survives, and its whereabouts, can be found in J S Gibson, The Hearth Tax and Other Later Stuart Tax Lists.

Tithes

Since the Middle Ages, landowners and householders were obliged to pay tithes to the rector or vicar. These were goods; when the Revd Gold found himself in difficulties with his parishioners in Hayes in the early 1530s, it was over their presenting him with a tenth of the harvest crop. In 1836 the Tithe Commutation Act decreed that this payment should be in cash, and so each parish was assessed. Lists, known as apportionments, detailing landowners and tenants, with acreage, usage (arable, pasture, etc.) and value, were listed. What was even more valuable is that maps of each parish were made and so it is possible to locate where land was owned/rented. Three copies were made; one copy can be found at TNA (IR29 is the series for apportionments, IR30 for the maps), one at the LMA (in its role as diocesan record office) and one may be found at the local authority record office and sometimes parish churches retain them.

The Ship Tax

This was a form of taxation levied on several occasions during 1634–40 and is sometimes cited as a tax which was so unpopular that it led to the outbreak of hostilities between King and Parliament in 1642. It was raised to pay for naval defence. Records are held at TNA, SP16 and 17. Essex Record Office has a transcript for the 1637 return, which has been indexed and lists 15,000 names. However, few assessments survive (there are none for Middlesex) and those which do are organized by county.

The Free and Voluntary Present

This was not ‘what it says on the tin’, but actually a list of about 130,000 people, with occupations, who gave money to the restored King Charles II in 1661. It is to be found in TNA, E179.

Window Tax

This was assessed from 1696 to 1851 on properties with six or more windows, being charged at two shillings per window. Collectors’ assessment books exist for Finsbury and part of Clerkenwell for 1797–8 and 1807–8 at the LMA (TC). These list inhabitants and sums due. There are window tax assessments for Dagenham at Essex Record Office for 1785. Their existence is very partial indeed.

Game Duty

In 1784 and 1785, each person qualified to kill, hunt and sell game, such as gentlemen and gamekeepers, had to register with the clerk of the peace, who would issue a certificate in return for a fee. The clerk had then to transmit an annual account of certificates issued to the Commissioners of Stamp Duty. There are registers at the LMA for those in Middlesex for 1784–1808 and Westminster 1799–1803. There is an alphabetical list for 1784–1807. Essex Record Office has registers for 1784–1806.

The Land Tax

With the abolition of the hearth tax, the government, needing money to fight the war against France, imposed another tax. This commenced from 1692 and was maintained until 1963. As the name suggests, it was a tax on land and so, as with the rates, difficult to evade or avoid. It was levied at a certain number of shillings per £1 of the land’s value. In wartime, it could rise to four shillings, but in peacetime was usually one or two shillings (often for political reasons). Surviving assessment lists for Middlesex, covering 1767 and 1780–1832 and for Westminster for 1767, 1781, 1797–1832 are at the LMA. For the City of London, their survival is even better – there are 522 volumes covering 1692–4 and 1703–1949, also at the LMA. Essex Record Office has assessments from 1780–1832, and those for 1782 have been indexed (there are 20,000 names). They also have lists of land tax payers for the Havering Hundred in 1692. Kent lists survive at the county record office from the 1720s. Some, however, exist at local authority record offices, with assessments for Hackney existing for 1727–1824 (with gaps). There are also some for Edmonton (1750) at Enfield Archives and for St George in the East (1801) at Tower Hamlets Archives. The reason why some land tax records do not survive is because, until 1780, land tax records did not have to be returned to the clerk of the peace; afterwards they had to because they were needed for electoral purposes.

From 1798, landowners could pay a lump sum to indemnify themselves against later payments of this tax. The records can be found at TNA in the series IR23, which is arranged by county, then parish, then individual. It lists the landowners’ tenants and contract number. Using this number, series IR24 can then be checked, which will give the acreage and where the owners lived. Land tax records are organized by parish, then, for an urban district, by street (but no street number is given).

We should also remember the Land Tax Redemption Office’s Quotas and Assessments (TNA, IR23), which lists all property owners in England and Wales in 1798–9. Property owners are listed by parish.

Miscellaneous Taxes and Duties

There were a number of short-lived taxes. One was the marriage duty tax, imposed from 1695–1706 on bachelors aged over 25 and childless widowers. There are lists of City taxpayers for 1695 (only) at the LMA.

Carriage duty was a tax imposed from 1747–82, and lists of payers and defaulters can be found at TNA for 1753–66 at T47/2–4. Clearly those listed were those who were fairly wealthy, but if you believe your ancestor was among this happy number, it is worth taking a look at these sources. Likewise, lists of those paying servant tax in 1780 (the tax was introduced in 1777 and in force until 1852) can be found, arranged by county, then parish at TNA in class T47/8. Those not paying, or paying in arrears for 1777–1830, are listed in E182. There are also householders’ returns for this tax for Clerkenwell residents for 1798–9 located at the LMA. Another tax for the late eighteenth century which was aimed at the better off in society was on hair powder. Hairpowder duty registers for 1795–7 exist at Essex Record Office, giving names of payers of duty, arranged by parish, listing their occupations and status.