Nature of Source
Records from various taxes including:
- Sheep Tax, 1549-1550
- Coaches and Carriages Tax, 1747-1782, tax levied on those owning a carriage.
- Silver Plate Tax, 1756-1777, tax levied on owners of silver usually by wealthy elite members of society.
- Male Servant Tax, 1777-1852, tax levied on households employing male servants with only the employer’ name listed.
- Inhabited House Duty or House Tax, 1778-1834
- Game Tax, 1784-1807, tax imposed on those intending to hunt and kill or sell game including gamekeepers.
- Horse Tax, 1784-1874, levied on those owning a horse including horses used for trade purposes. Those owning racehorses were also subject to a tax covering the same years.
- Female Servant Tax, 1785-1792, tax levied on households employing female servants with only the employer’ name listed.
- Shop Tax, 1785-1789, tax levied on those owning retail premises.
- Armorial Bearings/Coats of Arms, 1793-1882, tax levied on those entitled to bear arms.
- Hair Powder Tax, 1795-1869, duty imposed on those using hair powder, especially targeted at the popular fashion of wearing powdered wigs.
- Dog Tax, 1796-1882, tax imposed on dog owners.
- Income Tax, 1799, abolished in 1802 and reintroduced in 1803. Surviving records only include some lists of defaulters and those in arrears and are held at TNA in series E 182.
- Clock and Watch Tax, 1797-1798
- Uninhabited House Tax, 1851-1924.
For a comprehensive listing and covering dates see John Richardson’s The Local Historian’s Encyclopedia.
The survival rate of many of these tax records is very patchy. Most tax lists simply name the person in isolation but is at least evidence of the person’s existence at a particular time and place. Tax lists can be especially useful when they occasionally reveal a family relationship. An unbroken run of tax lists can provide evidence of a death or a move from the area when the name no longer appears or show a possible father son relationship. However, a son taking the same name as the father could create misleading research leads.
Ask at the County Record Office for any locally raised taxes such as the Sea Wall tax levied in coastal towns.
Also see
Hearth Tax (Scotland)
Hearth Tax
Land Tax Assessments & Returns
Lay Subsidy Rolls
Marriage Duty Act/Registration Tax
Poll Tax Including Scotland
Window Tax
Where Found
The National Archives (T 47, Yearly lists of persons paying carriage and plate duties, lists of defaulters etc, 1753 to 1776; lists of persons paying duty on male servants, 1780)
County Record Offices (Tax lists enrolled in at the Quarter Sessions. Find the details of a local UK archive from a searchable list of over 2,500 archives hosted by The National Archives)
Society of Genealogists (Manuscript index to those who paid the Male Servants Tax 1780)
Period Covered
1694 – Onwards
Genealogical Value
- Name, address, occupation of taxpayer.
- The street address is more likely to be given for London based tax lists but elsewhere only the town may be supplied.
Further References
- Chapman, Colin R. Pre 1841 Census and Population Listings in the British Isles: Lochin Publishing, 2002
- Gibson Guide: The Hearth Tax, Other Later Stuart Tax Lists and the Association Oath Rolls
- Oates, Jonathan. Tracing Your Ancestors from 1066 to 1837: Pen and Sword Books, 2012
- Richardson, John. The Local Historian’s Encyclopedia: Historical Publications 2003
Websites
www.witheridge-historical-archive.com/taxes.htm (Witheridge in Devon Historical Archive: Some Early Taxes. Guide to taxes such as Lay Subsidy Rolls; Ship Money; Hearth Tax; Land Tax; Window Tax and Marriage Registration Tax)
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/taxation (The National Archives Research Guide: How to look for records of Taxation. This is a brief guide to researching British government records on taxation. Tax records are wide-ranging and plentiful, though they can sometimes be complicated and not all survive)
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/taxation-before-1689 (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-1689)
www.e-careers.com/connected/a-history-of-taxation-in-the-uk (e-Careers: A history of taxation in the UK)
https://newforesttax.co.uk/tax-advice?id=167 (New Forest Tax Accountants: Top 10 Crazy British Taxes and how they were avoided)
https://tracingancestors-uk.com/resources/ancestor-history-taxes-in-the-uk (Ancestor history: Taxes in the UK)
www.scan.org.uk/researchrtools/tax.htm (Scottish Archive Network: 1777 Servant Tax)
www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/guides/taxation-records (National Records of Scotland Research Guide: Taxation Records)
https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20131002145556/https://www.hmrc.gov.uk/history/hmce.htm (UK Government Web Archive: A brief history of HM Customs and Excise)
https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130102230511/https://www.hmrc.gov.uk/education-zone/secondary-history.htm (UK Government Web Archive: A brief history of income tax)
www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/guides/taxation-records (National Records of Scotland Research Guide: Taxation Records. National Records of Scotland holds several series of records relating to taxation. Various early attempts at taxation can be found in taxation records in the Exchequer records)
Online Databases
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/e179 (TNA E 179 Database: Partial whereabouts of taxation records. The database contains detailed descriptions of every document in series E 179 relating to the taxation of the laity in England and Wales)
www.londonlives.org (London Lives: 4 Shillings in the Pound Tax, 1693-1694; Income Tax Payments 1799-1800)
www.scotlandsplaces.gov.uk (Farm Horse Tax 1797-1798; Clock and Watch Tax 1797-1798; Consolidated Schedules of Assessed Taxes, 1798-1799; Female Servant Tax 1785-1792; Male Servant Tax, 1777-1798; Hearth Tax, 1691-1695. The site has an interactive map and gazetteer displaying the administrative areas and units of Scotland with the administrative history of each county or place)
www.ancestry.co.uk (Warwickshire, England, Occupational and Quarter Session Records, 1662-1866. This database contains a collection of records from Warwickshire Quarter Sessions including Hair Powder certificates, 1795-1797: The practice of powdering hair began in England in the 17th century. At the end of the 18th century a duty of one pound one shilling a year was levied on everyone who continued to use hair powder)
www.findmypast.co.uk (Ireland Dog Licence Registers, 1866-1913. Records of licences purchased at the Petty Sessions courts)
CD Roms
www.westcountrybooks.com (Devon Taxes 1581 To 1660)
Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire Family History Society (Miscellaneous Cambridgeshire Documents from 1600 including Carriage Tax 1754-1766, Silver Plate Tax Defaulters 1767 & 1776, Silver Plate Tax Payers 1757 to 1766, Tax on Male Servants 1780)
East Surrey Family History Society (The Carriage Tax Index 1757 – 1766)
Internet Archive
The ship-money returns for the county of Suffolk, 1639-40. Published in 1904, the book contains transcriptions of a tax levied by King Charles I in the 1630s to fund naval ships without parliamentary approval.
