Taxing questions

Published on Saturday 19 August 2006 00:53

• I HAVE got back to the late 17th century with some of my ancestors, but I have now got stuck. Would taxation records help me?

H Black (by e-mail)

• Various types of taxes were levied for varying periods in Scotland. The lists of people liable for each tax, or of payments made by them, may be worth examining. At least you may find that a person of a certain name was resident in a certain parish. Taxation records are mainly found in the Exchequer records held at the National Archives of Scotland (NAS). The two main types of taxation records you should look for in this period are the records of the Hearth Tax (NAS ref: E69) and the Poll Tax (NAS ref: 70).

In 1690 Parliament granted a tax on every hearth in the kingdom. Both landowners and tenants were liable and therefore may be named in the records. The tax was for one year, however delays in collection mean the records date from 1691 to 1695. The money was levied to go towards paying the arrears of the army. It was payable by the inhabitants of all houses having a hearth, with the exception of hospitals and poor people living on the charity of their parish. Not all of the records of the collection of the Hearth Tax have survived, but the official records in the Exchequer series are supplemented by some of the private estate collections also held by NAS (ref: GD). A full list of these can be found in the NAS's online catalogue under the reference E69. The records of the Hearth Tax which do survive are arranged by county. The most useful to look for are Lists of Hearths, or, not quite so useful, Accounts of Hearth Money Collected (these may omit personal names). Within the county the records are arranged by parish. Sometimes just the name of the hearth-owner is given, but you may also find a fuller description of him.

Poll taxes were imposed on Scotland between 1693 and 1699 on all adults except those dependent on charity. It was first imposed in 1693, again for paying off the debts and arrears of the army. A second poll tax was granted in 1695 for providing ships of war and maintaining seamen. Two further poll taxes were granted in 1698 for clearing arrears due to land and sea officers and seamen. Unfortunately, the records are not complete, but can be supplemented by other records held by the NAS. The surviving poll tax records are also arranged by county. There are assorted lists and accounts of pollable persons and the information was again collected within parishes. These records can be very useful for the family historian, naming spouses, children and servants - however you should not expect to find this amount of information for every entry.

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