The tax was levied between 1662 and 1689 at the rate of two shillings per annum, on each hearth in a building.
It was payable twice yearly, at Michaelmas (September 29th) and Lady day (March 25th).
The Hearth Tax was introduced to raise money for the annual £1,200,000 settled by parliament for the king on the restoration of the Monarchy in 1660.
The tax proved to be very unpopular because the tax commissioners had the
right to enter the home to count the hearths - the first time tax inspectors could
thus inspect a property. Also, attempts to avoid paying the hearth tax by blocking up a
chimney rendered the culprit to pay double the tax if discovered.
Throughout the life of the tax, provisions were made for the exemption from
liability for those occupiers of hearths not paying church or poor rates due to poverty or
for those paying a minimum rental (those occupying a house worth less than
20 shillings), with few possessions.
Private ovens, furnaces, kilns, blowing houses and hearths within hospitals or almshouses
were exempt from hearth tax provided their revenue did not exceed £100 a year.
There was no exemption for forges, locksmiths or bakers� ovens.
In 1633 the Act was ammended making everyone possessing two or more hearths liable to the tax, even if the house was divided into separate dwellings.
The tax was abolished in England in 1689 and in Scotland the following year.
The Window Tax introduced in 1695 was far less unpopular because the windows could be counted without the need for the tax inspectors to enter the property.
Most of the surviving records relating to the hearth tax in the Public Record Office cover the 1662-6 and 1669-74 when the lists had to be returned to the Exchequer.
Only the assessments for 1662-1666 and 1669-1674 were delivered into the Exchequer. Outside these periods, the collection of the tax was 'farmed out' to private tax collectors who paid a fixed sum to the government in return for the privilege of collecting the tax and were not required to send their assessments into the Exchequer.
The lists are organised by county, parish and township, and they include the names of the householders and the number of their hearths (sometimes with further details) and sometimes the names of those possessing hearths but exempted from the tax are included in the lists.
Unlike most listings of population which pre-date the national census, hearth tax lists have survived in varying numbers for every county in England and Wales providing information on a national scale on identity, number of householders and an indication of their wealth.
| 1662.May.19 | | Introduction of the Hearth Tax, first payable the following Michealmas | | | | 1664 | | Revision of the Hearth Tax
Became payable by those with 2+ chimneys, double on dscovery of blocked-up chimney, labdlords made to pay for poor tennants | | | | 1689 | | Abolition of the Hearth Tax by William III | | BAAAGBTY |
The Hearth Tax and other later Stuart Tax Lists
by J Gibson, publisher FFHS, 1996
Lay Taxes in England and Wales, 1188-1688
by M Jurkowski, C Smith and D Crook, publisher PRO, 1998
Recommend a Book for this Page
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