Hearth Tax

Hearth Taxes were collected in from 1662 to 1689.

Each householder was required to pay two shillings per year in taxes for each hearth ( fireplace) in their property.

People whose income was less than £100 per year and whose property was worth less that 20 shillings a year and who were not required to pay church rates were exempt.

Like all taxation records administered by government careful records were made of the people liable for tax and the amount that they paid. Fortunately for historians they also made lists of people who were exempt from the charge.

The number of hearths for which tax was payable gives an indication of the wealth of the owner.

Hearth Tax records are held in the National Archives- Database E179.

Copies are often held in the County Records Offices.

Many records have been copies by Family History Societies and published in book or CD Rom form.