Hearth Tax The first Act imposing ‘Hearth Money’ came into force on
19 May, 1662, and the first collection was made at the following
Michaelmas. It was managed by county and county borough authorities,
and only taxable hearths were listed. The tax was levied upon all houses
‘which are not worth in yearly value below Twenty Shillings and are not
inhabited by Almsmen’, and was two shillings per annum for each hearth
or stove, collected in half-yearly instalments at Michaelmas and Lady
Day. Persons exempted were: those who paid neither Church nor Poor
Rate; those inhabiting a house worth less than £1 per year, if they did not
have any other property exceeding that value, nor an annual income of
more than £10; charitable insti-tutions, e.g. hospitals, almshouses and
free schools; and industrial hearths, except for bak-ers’ ovens and
smiths’ forges. The tax was pay-able by the occupier, not the landlord,
and was assessed on the occupier’s ability to pay. Attempted evasion of
payment was punished by a prison sentence of up to one month.
In 1663 The First Revising Act of July laid down that from Michaelmas
all hearths were to be included in the returns, including those that were
exempt from the tax.
In 1664 the Ladyday assessment contains more non-chargeable hearths
than those of other dates and years. By the Second Revising Act, of May
all who had more than two chimneys had to pay the tax. Landlords with
poor tenants had to pay their tax for them. If a stopped-up chimney was
discovered, it was charged double. From Michaelmas 1664 until
Michaelmas 1665 the col-lection was managed by Receivers appointed
by the Treasury.
In 1666 the collection of the Lady Day assess-ment was made by
sub-farmers acting as Receivers. From Michaelmas the tax was farmed
on contract.
1669 The Treasury Receivers took over again. Most Receivers managed
two or three counties.
1674-84 The collection was farmed out again.
1684-89 Collection was managed by a Com-mission appointed by the
Treasury.
1689 The tax was abolished by William III as ‘a great oppression to the
poorer sort’, and also because it allowed every man’s house to be entered
and searched by persons unknown. Also, the tax had never raised as
much revenue as had been estimated. The last collection was for Lady
Day of 1689.
The Hearth Tax Records consist of: the original Assessments, of which
very few survive; the Pay-ment Accounts from the collection areas; the
Exchequer Duplicates of the assessments, more complete and legible
than the originals and the most useful source; the Schedules of Arrears;
Exemption Certificates and Miscellaneous Others.
During the farmed periods of 1666-9 and 1674-4, and the Commission
of 1684-9, no lists of names were returned to the government, so Hearth
Tax lists in the PRO exist only for Michaelmas 1662 to Lady Day 1666
and Michaelmas 1669 to Lady Day 1674. Of these, the one for Lady Day
1664, is considered the fullest. The lists provide a useful location record
for the whereabouts of families within a county during the region of
Charles II.
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Richard James
CarmarthenshireFHS
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http://members.aol.com/cmnfhs1/
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