Land
Tax Assessment Records
The British government instituted another
innovative scheme to increase revenue in 1692 which came to be known as the
land tax. The laws changed several times over the years until the tax was finally
repealed in 1963. The tax was administered locally and original records will
usually be located at the County Record Office. From 1780 to 1832 a copy of the
Land Tax Assessment was placed in the quarter session records. The Clerks of
the Peace used the land Tax Assessments to determine a person's electoral
rights until 1832. To find Land Tax Records in the FHLC
Locality Section search under the heading
The Land Tax Assessments can be useful for
genealogists and family historians. It provides an annual list of proprietors, and in theory the names of the actual occupiers
in each parish. Persons with a long term lease or copyhold may be named as the
proprietor. The economic status of an ancestor in comparison with their
neighbors can be inferred from the tax list. Unfortunately not all the records
have survived.
There are a few drawbacks to using the Land Tax
Assessment records. Their survival rate is low for the first ninety years that
the tax was collected. From 1780 to 1832 the survival rate is much more
uniform. Post 1832 assessments contain incomplete lists of owners and
occupiers. Names in the tax lists are usually male household heads not
connected in any way with family members. This increases the risk of getting
the wrong person. If a widow remarried, her property might be listed in the
name of her new husband. The names of proprietors may have been out of date.
In 1798 the government began allowing the tax
to be exonerated with a lump sum payment equal to fifteen years of the annual
tax. A record was made for every parish in
See also the accompanying form -- Land Tax Assessment Research
Log. History 407R students please
print the assignment.
Return to summary.