Nature of Source
Introduction
Hearth tax records are an important source of information for family historians, as they list individuals who were liable to pay a tax on the number of hearths (fireplaces, stoves or chimneys) in a household. The tax, levied in England, Ireland and Scotland provides an insight into the location, wealth and status of individuals and families during this period. This guide will help you understand and use Hearth Tax records in your genealogical research.
What is the Hearth Tax?
The Hearth Tax was introduced in England in 1662 during the reign of King Charles II. The intention was to raise revenue for the Crown and provide income for the royal household and government. It was based on the number of hearths in a dwelling, with the assumption that wealthier households would have more hearths. The tax rate was set at two shillings per year per hearth, and was paid twice-yearly, at Lady Day (25th March) and Michaelmas (29th September). The tax was eventually abandoned after widespread popular dissent and replaced by the window tax which continued into the 19th century.
How Was the Tax Collected?
Tax assessments were organised by county, then by hundred (an administrative division) and parish. The collection of the hearth tax involved several steps. Property owners and landlords were required to submit a written return of the number of their hearths within six days of receiving the notice. The Parish Constable was granted the legal right to enter uninvited into every home to verify the accuracy of the returns.
Once the returns were collected, they were handed over to the Justices of the Peace and enrolled in the Quarter Sessions. This created two enrolled copies with one kept locally and the other sent to the Exchequer in London. The Parish Constable had the task of physically collecting the tax from those liable to pay and deliver the funds to the High Constable of the hundred together with a list of defaulters.
Interpreting Hearth Numbers
The number of hearths indicated the relative wealth of the householder and their social standing:
- 1 hearth: Small cottage or humble dwelling inhabited by cottagers, labourers, craftsmen, small tenant farmers (approximately 60% of households).
- 2-5 hearths: Moderate farmhouse or tradesman’s home inhabited by craftsmen, merchants, yeoman farmers.
- 6-10 hearths: Substantial house inhabited by gentry, wealthy merchants, gentleman farmers.
- 10+ hearths: Manor house or mansion inhabited by nobility and major landowners.
The Role of Farmers and Receivers
In 1664 changes were made to this system of collection. County officials, known as receivers, organised the process of collecting the tax. From 1674 onwards, the tax collecting function was put out to tender to private individuals (farmers) who paid a fixed sum for the right to collect the Hearth Tax as a source of income. Unfortunately, the returns collected by the farmers are largely lost or destroyed. Most surviving records are those sent to the Exchequer (now held at The National Archives) covering the years 1662 to 1666 and 1669 to 1674. The lists for the year 1664 are considered to provide the widest coverage.
Exemptions
From 1665 the records may include names of those exempt as the lists included those termed as ‘not chargeable’. The category included the poor and those with property with a yearly rentable value of less than 20 shillings and an income of less than ten pounds a year. These individuals would be listed separately as exempt from the tax.
The authorities were keen to ensure those claiming exemption from the tax were entitled to do so. Therefore, a parishioner claiming exemption had to obtain an exemption certificate signed by the local minister, churchwarden and two justices of the peace. These exemption certificates, which were in operation from 1670 to 1674, provide similar information to the hearth lists themselves and are found in series E 179 at The National Archives or at County Record Offices. Some business premises, hospitals and almshouses were also exempt from the tax. Those found guilty of evading the tax faced a fine or a prison sentence of up to a month. If a person does not appear in the returns, it could be worth searching the Quarter Session papers for these defaulters.
Research Tips
- These duplicate copies sent to the Exchequer are the most commonly consulted. However, it’s important to note that many errors occurred during the copying process, leading to many errors of name spellings.
- Widows were named if head of household.
- The lists do not include all residents but only those liable to pay. However the lists do provide sufficient data to carry out a surname distribution analysis or to compile other possible family members listed in the vicinity.
- The records only include individuals liable to pay the tax, meaning many residents such as children, servants and tenants are not recorded.
- Lodgers and subtenants are rarely listed.
The Hearth Tax in Ireland
The Hearth Tax was also implemented in Ireland, covering the years between 1663 and 1795 and recorded in the Hearth Money Rolls. These rolls list the name of the head of the household and the number of hearths in their dwelling. Most of the Irish Hearth Money Rolls were destroyed in the 1922 Four Courts fire, however some copies remain, mostly for Northern Ireland. In addition to the Hearth Money Rolls, also consult the Subsidy Rolls (which include records of payments made to the Crown by the nobility, clergy, and laity) and the Poll Tax Rolls (which list individuals subject to poll tax).
Where Found
- Series E 179, Exchequer: King’s Remembrancer: Particulars of Account and other records relating to Lay and Clerical Taxation. This series contains all the detailed records of taxation of lay people in England from about 1190 to 1690, in Wales from 1543 to about 1690, and of the taxation of clerics in England and Wales from 1269 to 1663, which survive among the public records.
County Record Offices
Local archives hold copies, transcripts or extracts of hearth tax returns for their areas. These are often found among Quarter Sessions records or in collections published by local history or record societies. Exemption Certificates are found in the Quarter Sessions records.
British Library
The Library holds published county-based transcriptions and of hearth tax records, often published by local record societies or the British Record Society. These printed volumes include lists of householders, numbers of hearths and sometimes indexes by name and place.
Public Record Office of Northern Ireland
PRONI holds surviving transcripts and copies of hearth tax-related records, notably for the Census of Protestant Householders in 1740, which was compiled by Hearth Tax collectors. Although the original returns were destroyed in 1922, transcripts made by Tenison Groves survive for counties Antrim, Armagh, Donegal, Down, Londonderry, and Tyrone.
National Archives of Ireland
The original Hearth Money Rolls were stored in the Public Record Office of Ireland at the Four Courts in Dublin. Most of these records were destroyed in 1922 during the Irish Civil War when the building was set on fire. Some digitised or transcribed Hearth Money Rolls are available through the Virtual Treasury project.
Period Covered
1662 – 1689
Genealogical Value
- Assessments and returns provide the names of heads of households liable to pay the tax and their addresses.
- Names of those exempt from payment (from 1670).
- Names of defaulters.
- Number of hearths per household and the total paid.
- Occasionally, occupations and titles.
Further References
- Arkell, Tom and Alcock. Nat. Warwickshire Hearth Tax Returns, Michaelmas 1670: With Coventry Lady Day 1666: The Dugdale Society, 2010
- Chapman, Colin. Pre-1841 Censuses & Population Listings in the British Isles: Lochin Publishing, 2002 (Preview available from Google Books)
- Gibson, Jeremy. The Hearth Tax, Other Later Stuart Tax Lists, and the Association Oath Rolls: FFHS, 1996
- Gurrin, Brian. The Hearth Tax Roll for Dublin City, 1663: Analecta Hibernica, 2004
- Leech, Roger and Barry, Jonathan and Brown, Alison and Ferguson, Catherine and Parkinson, Elizabeth. The Bristol Hearth Tax 1662-1673: Bristol Record Society, 2018 (Available to read or download at the Internet Archive)
- Meekings, C.A.F. Analysis of Hearth Tax Accounts, 1662-1666: List and Index Society, 1979
- Parkinson, Elizabeth. The Establishment of The Hearth Tax 1662-1666. List & Index Society, 2008
- Mumby, L.M & L.K Thompson, L.K. & Forster, G.C.F. Short Guides to Records: First Series-Guides 1-24: The Historical Association, 1994
- Oates, Jonathan. Tracing Your Ancestors from 1066 to 1837: Pen and Sword Books, 2012
- Schürer, Kevin & Arkell, Tom. Surveying the People: The Interpretation and Use of Document Sources for the Study of Population in the Later Seventeenth Century England: Local Population Studies, 1996
Websites
Hearth Tax Digital
Hearth Tax Digital is a collaborative project run by the Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities (University of Graz, Austria) and the Hearth Tax Research Project (University of Roehampton, UK). The aim of the project is to publish the best surviving hearth tax assessment for each English county that has not previously had an assessment published. Hearth Tax Digital provides free online access to personal names, place name and administrative data relating to England in the Restoration era (1660-1688). The digital project has developed alongside but is distinct from the British Record Society’s hearth tax publication series, which produces printed editions. The site offers a guide ‘Historical introduction to the tax’.
British Record Society
The Hearth Tax Series. The Hearth Tax Series is a collaborative project between the British Record Society and the University of Roehampton’s Centre for Hearth Tax Research. The aim of the project is to publish and analyse the hearth tax records from the 1660s and 1670s across England and Wales. County-by-county volumes focus on a specific county, publishing the full text of the selected hearth tax documents, along with scholarly introductions, maps, tables, and indexes. Also included are comprehensive indexes by name, place, and subject, with colour and black-and-white maps and plates.
List and Index Society
The Society is well known for publishing transcriptions and indexes of historical records The Society has published several volumes of hearth tax returns, often county by county, transcribed from original records at The National Archives (series E 179), the British Museum, National Records of Scotland or local archives.
For the Love of the Hearth Tax
The site is the official blog of the Hearth Tax Research Project. The blog shares recent developments in hearth tax research, including new publications, discoveries, and events.
The National Archives Research Guide
How to look for records of Taxation before 1689. This guide will help you to find records of medieval and early-modern taxation, 13th century to 1689.
Family Tree
How to use the hearth tax for family history research. David Annal explains how hearth tax records can help you trace your 17th-century ancestors.
Who Do You Think You Are?
Hearth Tax: What was it, and where can you find the records? Many of these 17th century tax records are now freely available online and are the closest we have to a census for this period.
Family Tree Resources
The Hearth Tax of England and Wales.
Country Life
Country house histories: The Hearth Tax, by Ellen Leslie. Ellen Leslie takes a look at one of the more obscure property taxes, The Hearth Tax, introduced in 1662.
John Grenham
Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century Irish Census Substitutes.
PRONI Information Leaflet
17th century Census Substitutes. The information leaflet gives an overview of 17th century census substitutes including the hearth tax.
Lurgan Ancestry
Lurgan (County Armagh, Northern Ireland) Hearth Tax Rolls, 1664. The site offers a history and guide to the tax.
Online Databases
England
Hearth Tax Digital
Hearth Tax Digital is a collaborative project run by the Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities (University of Graz, Austria) and the Hearth Tax Research Project (University of Roehampton, UK). The aim of the project is to publish the best surviving hearth tax assessment for each English county that has not previously had an assessment published. Hearth Tax Digital provides free online access to personal names, place name and administrative data relating to England in the Restoration era (1660-1688). The digital project has developed alongside but is distinct from the British Record Society’s hearth tax publication series, which produces printed editions. The site offers a guide ‘Historical introduction to the tax’.
The National Archives
E 179 database. Guide and catalogue descriptions of lay and clerical tax records in England and Wales held in series E 179 at The National Archives, searchable by place name, type of tax and year range. The database shows what tax lists have survived for each area with a reference for ordering the original document. Individual names are not recorded, although the existence of such names is highlighted. Each type of tax has explanatory notes. The database includes Lay Subsidy Rolls, the Hearth Tax and Poll Tax but does not include local assessments held in County Record Offices or those held in the British Library.
British History Online
The site provides free, searchable and downloadable access to transcribed Hearth Tax records for the City of London in 1662, the City of Westminster in 1664 and Middlesex in 1666. Records are searchable by name or place and list householders, the number of hearths in each property and sometimes additional notes about exemptions or special circumstances.
Ancestry
Findypast
- Northamptonshire Hearth Tax 1673-1674. This dataset includes all the legible details relating to over 22,500 individuals found in the original records for the whole of Northamptonshire.
- City of York Hearth & Window Tax 1665-1778. The dataset consists tax records covering the city and Ainsty of York.
- Suffolk Hearth Tax Lists, 1662-1675
- Suffolk – Hearth Tax Returns, 1674. Browsable images.
- Warwickshire, England, Occupational and Quarter Session Records, 1662-1866. This database contains a collection of records from Warwickshire Quarter Sessions including Hearth Tax Returns, 1662-1673.
Locating London’s Past
The London and Middlesex Hearth Taxes. These datasets were created by the former Centre for Metropolitan History based at the University of London’s Institute of Historical Research, and now subsumed within the Centre for the History of People, Place and Community. The project digitised the hearth tax returns for metropolitan London for Lady Day 1666, which include records of householders in every parish.
Cornwall OPC Database
Search Hearth Tax Transcripts by name or parish.
Oxford History
Hearth Tax of 1665 in Oxford. Lists of payers of 1665 tax. Taken from H. E. Salter, Surveys and Tokens, Oxford Historical Society, 1903.
Whipple One-Name Study
The 1662 Hearth Tax Returns for Ploughley Hundred area in Oxfordshire.
Wirksworth
Search transcribed data covering 40 square miles around Wirksworth and Matlock, Derbyshire. Data sets include Parish Records 1600-1900, Derbyshire Wills 1525-1928, census returns, Petty sessions, Memorial Inscriptions, Board of Guardians, Hearth Tax and others.
Brett Payne
Transcripts of Census & Hearth Tax Assessments for Repton & Gresley Hundred, South Derbyshire
Woolhope Club
1665 Herefordshire Hearth Tax. The site offers a personal name index with images.
Montgomeryshire Genealogical Society
The 1664-5 Hearth Tax in Montgomeryshire. Search a transcript and index of the 1664-5 tax.
Hungerford Virtual Museum
The Hearth Tax for Hungerford, 1663 and 1664
Rutland Local History & Record Society
The Rutland Hearth Tax 1665. The site offers a personal name index with images.
Ireland
Irish Family History Foundation
RootsIreland. The site offers a unique database of more than 23 million Irish records from 32 county genealogy centres on the island of Ireland. The main sources on the site are Irish Catholic and other church records of baptisms, marriages and deaths. The site also features Census Records, Gravestone Inscriptions, Griffith’s Valuation for Ireland, Irish Ship Passenger Lists and Census Substitutes for Ireland including Hearth Money Rolls 1663.
Ulster Ancestry
Links to sites offering hearth tax transcriptions including Donegal Hearth Money Rolls, 1663; Hearth Money Roll For The Parish Of Leck, 1665; Fermanagh Poll Tax and Subsidy Roll, 1660 and 1667
Fáilte Romhat
Search Hearth Money Rolls covering Armagh,1665, Louth,1664, Sligo,1665 & Monaghan, 1663-1665.
Lurgan Ancestry
Lurgan (County Armagh, Northern Ireland) Hearth Tax Rolls, 1664: Tithes Search Index
Search for the names in our Tithes, Hearth Tax and other lists database.
Irish Genealogical Research Society
Index of Townlands, 1901. Searchable database of over 64,000 townlands in Ireland which are ancient land divisions measuring from just a few acres to several hundred and still in use today. The database provides a comprehensive alphabetical listing of townlands, towns, parishes, and baronies as they appeared in the 1901 census. Also shown are administrative divisions such as counties, baronies, civil parishes, and electoral divisions, which are essential for locating records and understanding historical boundaries.
CD Roms
- Suffolk in 1674-Hearth Tax Returns.
- Somerset Hearth Tax Returns, 1664-5.
- Pembrokeshire Records, 1066-1934.
- Silkstone Parish – Hearth Tax Return – 1672
- Dwelly’s Somerset Hearth Tax
- Dwelly’s Somerset Hearth Tax
- Suffolk in 1674 – Hearth Tax Returns
- The Glamorgan Hearth Tax
- Montgomeryshire Hearth Tax Transcript
- Cornwall Hearth and Poll Taxes 1660 – 1664 by T. L. Stoate
- Hearth Tax Returns for South Yorkshire 1672
Internet Archive
Suffolk in 1674: The Hearth Tax. Published in 1905, the book contains transcriptions of the hearth tax returns for Suffolk, England, in the year 1674 available for free online viewing and download.
