TAXATION RECORDS

Hearth tax

In 1662 there was a tax of two shillings for every fire, hearth or stove in households. It was payable in two instalments, at Michaelmas (29 September) and Lady Day (25 March). The tax was difficult to collect and was very unpopular; it was abolished after March 1689. There were exemptions:

• houses rented at less than £ 1 a year;
• houses containing less than £10 of goods;
• hospitals;
• almshouses;
• paupers (if they had a certificate of exemption signed by the parish priest and churchwarden).

The assessments for Michaelmas 1662 to Lady Day 1666 and for Michaelmas 1669 to Lady Day 1674 are in the National Archives, series El79. Other years are held in county record offices, either on microfilm or microfiche.

Between 1666 and 1669 the tax was collected by commissions (freelance collectors, known as ‘farmers’) and few lists of taxpayers survive for that era.

The other difficulty in using these records to trace the history of your house (for example, matching number of hearths to the records, or confirming details of a householder’s name) is that the number of hearths might be inaccurate and might change from one assessment to the next. Not every householder’s name is documented because of widespread evasion.

The records show:

• names of chargeable and non-chargeable households, arranged by county and then by parish;
• the number of hearths in the house;
• how much they had to pay.

Sometimes the returns (the actual amounts paid) were listed separately; in some lists the returns are marked on the assessments.

Some local history groups have published taxation records. Norfolk Genealogy volume XIV includes the hearth tax returns for Michaelmas 1664. The tax listing for Attleborough is described as being on membrane 34, face, column 2, under the heading of ‘Townes in Shropham hundred Attleburrough’. And there is indeed a listing for the mill: ‘Thos Syer at the Mill, iij’ – and this is immediately next door to ‘Mr Green at the cocke, vij’. Mill House is a two-minute walk away from the Cock pub, on the same street. The next nearest mill would have been the one on Rivett’s Lane, which didn’t exist until after 1797, and the one on Haverscroft, present-day Dodd’s Road, which I knew from the manorial records wasn’t built until 1789. Together with other documents in the manorial records dating from 1623, it suggests that a mill existed on the site of Attleburgh Great Mill in 1664. Thos Syer is also listed eight places before the listing at the Cock with an assessment of ‘ij’ – presumably for his private house. So I was able to add him to my list of occupiers/owners, along with a definite date (see Appendix 4).

Norfolk Genealogy volume XX contains the hearth tax assessments for Lady Day 1666. Unfortunately, the entry under Attleborough is very short and only refers to ‘a not of what monys I Reed’. For the whole of ‘Attelburgh’ there were 192 hearths and the collector took £9 and 12s. Unfortunately, as the amount is not split into individual receipts, it’s not possible to trace the mill any further.

Land tax

Land tax was levied each year between 1692 and 1949, though the tax itself wasn’t abolished until 1963. The Clerk of the Peace in each county kept the copies of the land tax assessments. The tax was based on 4 shillings in the £ and was levied on land with an annual value of more than £1 a year. Catholics had to pay double from 1692–1831.

From 1798 landowners could sign a contract with the Land Tax Commissioners to pay a lump sum or buy government stock in exchange for freeing them from liability.

The 1798 assessments are held in the National Archives, series IR23 and IR24. The remainder of the records are archived in county record offices in the records of the Clerk of the Peace, found in the Quarter Sessions; they may also be on microfiche. However, it’s worth nothing that the microfiche records are ‘negatives’ (i.e. white writing on a black background) and can be very difficult to read. The assessments may not have survived for every year. Also, not every householder’s name is documented after 1798 because some paid the lump sum to avoid future taxation.

Survival of records before 1780 tends to be very patchy.

The 1798 assessments show which landowner signed the contract to free them from liability and also list the contract number. Contracts made from 1905–1950 include plans of the property.

The tax assessment records records show:

• the name of the landowner;
• the name of the occupier;
• a very brief description of property (usually ‘house’ or ‘house and land’, but there may also be descriptions such as ‘shop’ or ‘mill’ – however, note that these descriptions may not exist there in lists before 1825);
• the amount of tax paid.

The records were handwritten, although printed forms were used from about 1800.

For Norfolk the tax returns are listed within the Hundred, and then by parish within the Hundred. For Shropham Hundred (which covers Attleborough) there are records for 1781–1832, with gaps.

I knew from the 1830 trade directory that John Mann occupied the land in 1830. The tax records show that he owned the land from 1825–1832 (although there were various occupants during that time – see Appendix 4).

Tracing the owner and occupier before then was trickier. In 1824 Jno. (which should be noted is usually an abbreviation for John, not Jonathan) Cooper was listed, which ties in with the Enclosure records from 1815. However, Cooper isn’t listed in the tax returns of 1823 but Mann is. During 1819–1822 it’s impossible to tell who the landowner was as the records only list the names of the landowners, not their holdings. 1811–18 lists Jno. Cooper (with various occupants); and 1800–1808 may be Jno. Knights (listed in the 1793 Directory as a baker). However, we also know that Stephen Nobbs Stevens intended to auction the mill and land in 1804, so that rather muddies the water! In the four remaining sets of records – 1781, 1784, 1796 and 1797 – the handwriting is very difficult to read; there appears to be no record of Knights, even though newspaper cuttings from 1781 and 1783 confirmed that Knights occupied the windmill in that period, and the trade directory of 1793–8 also lists Knights as a baker.

Poll taxes

Poll taxes were collected in 1377, 1379 and 1381, then again after restoration of the monarchy in 1660, 1667, 1678, 1689, 1691, 1694, and 1697. The charge was based on people’s social rank, occupation or office. It varied between poll taxes.

• In 1377 it was 4d per person aged over 14.
• In 1379 it was 4d per person over 16.
• In 1381 it was a shilling per person over 15 (and this led to the Peasants’ Revolt).
• For the seventeenth-century taxes, people over the age of 16 paid a shilling (if they weren’t otherwise chargeable) and children under 16 paid 6d. Paupers were excluded.

The poll tax records show the names of people who paid the tax and how much they paid. Some may also list occupations and relationships between household members.

Poll tax lists for the fourteenth century plus those for 1660, 1667 and 1678 are held in the National Archives in series El79; later ones are in series El82. County record offices hold some poll tax lists.

Not everyone is documented, due to widespread evasion of the tax. It’s worth noting that the fourteenth-century lists are in Latin.

The poll tax records for Attleborough haven’t survived locally, so I was unable to trace the occupants of the mill.

Window tax

The window tax was collected from 1696 to 1851. There was a flat rate house tax for part of these years, plus an amount which varied with the rateable value of the house. There was also a tax on the number of windows, which again varied:

• 1696–1766, on houses with ten or more windows;
• 1766–1825, on houses with seven or more windows;
• 1825–1851, on houses with eight or more windows.

Windows of business premises were exempt in some years. The occupier rather than the owner had to pay the tax, but people who didn’t have to pay poor rates were usually exempt. Many people blocked up windows so they didn’t have to pay tax.

The records show:

• name and address of taxpayers;
• number of windows in the house;
• tax paid.

The returns are generally found in the county record offices. However, survival is patchy – it’s unusual to find a complete set of records – and details aren’t always accurate.

Unfortunately, the window tax records for Attleborough haven’t survived. The house had 12 windows, so it would have been included in the taxation lists from 1804 onwards.

RATE BOOKS

Before 1834 property holders had to pay a ‘poor rate’, i.e. money to the parish which would help keep the poor. The overseers of the poor in each parish kept accounts of the rate paid in special rate books. During the 1800s the rate was collected by the Boards of Guardians. Tn 1925 collection of the rates became the responsibility of the district councils.

Your local record office should have records of poor rate assessments; although they were produced yearly, the local record office might not have the assessments for all years for all areas. The earliest ones will date from around the mid 1600s and the later ones could be as late as the mid 1900s.

The occupier’s name and the sum assessed will be listed. There isn’t necessarily a full description of the property in the earlier records, but the later ones will be listed by address and give the occupier’s name, the owner’s name, a description of the property and the estimated size of the property, as well as a note of the amount paid.

If the name in the tithe apportionment matches the name in the rate book and land tax return, it will help you work backwards in the records because the rental value will probably tally with the amount shown in the tithe, and the position of the entry in the book is likely to reflect the tax collector’s route. If the rental value changes it may show that the property has been altered or extended.

The surviving poor rate for Attleborough dates from November/December 1814. The only mill mentioned with land belonged to Thomas Dodd. However, there is a reference to Joseph Cooper, who may have been related to the owner of the land for our mill, John Cooper.