England Taxation 1700s to 1900s - International Institute

Horse Tax 1784-1874
Pleasure horses, including racehorses, but not working horses were taxed for 90 years from 1784 to 1874, an example from the first year is shown below.

Charges varied for: Horses for riding (£1.8s.9d)


 * Horses exceeding 12 hands (height)
 * Horses not exceeding 13 hands
 * Rode by bailiffs
 * Rode by butchers
 * Let to hire
 * Race horses
 * Horses exempt


 * Other horses and mules
 * Horses 13 hands or more
 * Mules
 * Horses exempt

In 1785 an Act exempted those occupying a farm worth not more than £150 a year rent in which the horse was used only for riding to church or market. The yearly exemption rate was reduced to £20 in 1802 and thus many more owners were taxable.

Chart: Horse Tax, Great Bromley, Essex 1784  [Selected entries from Felgate, who shows original]

There was also a horse dealers’ duty for example in 1829, but it is unclear whether this was paid to get a licence.

Shop Tax 1785-c 1798
Levied on all tradesmen having premises and no doubt responsible for some going out of business. An example of shop tax (with servants, horses, carriages and wagons) for 1787-1798 for St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster, Middlesex can be found on.

Female Servants Tax 1785-1792
Households employing female servants were taxed one guinea on each one. This tax had nasty effects on the labour market and only lasted for seven years before it was repealed.

Armorial Bearings Tax 1793-1882
From 1793 to 1882 a tax was levied on those carrying armorial bearings, whether or not they were valid. The charge was two guineas for arms borne on carriages and one guinea if borne in any other way, as on a signet ring. One source suggests that it wasn’t abolished until 1945.

Hair Powder Tax (or Duty) 1795-1861
In the last years of the 18th century those who used hair powder, (to keep wigs white), had to pay a guinea to £1.3.6 for a licence to do so. The records are usually done by household with the head paying for his family and those servants required to wear wigs, an example is shown below. Exemptions included the royal family and their immediate servants, army officers, clergymen, dissenting ministers, and any person in holy orders not possessing an annual income of £100. Wigs quickly went out of fashion in the early 19th century, although the tax was not abolished until 1861.

Chart: List of Hair Powder Certificates Issued, Northumberland 1795

Dog Tax 1796-1882
A tax on the possession of dogs, used for hunting (and poaching) was levied from 1796 until 1882. It is not clear whether working dogs such as those used by shepherds and to draw carts were included. Many dogs were turned out on the street.

Charges varied according to the dogs’ purpose:


 * Greyhounds (£1).
 * Other dogs, or where two kept.
 * House dog, where one kept.
 * Packs of hounds.

Clocks And Watches Tax 1797-1798
Those in possession of clocks and watches were taxed on them in 1797 in order to raise revenue for the Napoleonic Wars. The effect on the horological business was so disastrous that it was repealed after nine months (De La Mare and Jessup).

Amalgamated Tax Collection from 1784
Printed books of forms for the amalgamated assessed taxes were used from 1784; a summary of one for Adlington, Cheshire appears in the following example.

Chart: 1790-1791 Tax Forms for Servants, Horses and Carriages Adlington, Cheshire

One for Malden, Surrey in 1829 has space for the name and occupation, then numerous columns for:


 * Window tax
 * House tax
 * Male servants tax
 * Carriage tax
 * Horse tax
 * Dog tax
 * Horse dealers tax
 * Hair powder duty
 * Armorial bearings duty tax
 * Then totals assessed and paid each half year.

Chart: Summary of Malden Taxes 1829

This tax collector did not fill in the occupations column.

An identical book used in Bristol in the early 1800s does have the profession/trade of the occupants filled in, see the next example.

Chart: Taxes on Occupants of Queen Square, Bristol Summary of taxes only noted here.

Gibson, Medlycott and Mills (Land and Window Tax Assessments, 1993) have listed all known extant records of the Georgian assessed taxes by county and hundred, and many of these are available on microfilm.

House Duty 1851-1924
The tax on inhabited houses replaced the window tax in 1851 and lasted until 1924 (Richardson). Herber (Ancestral Trails, 2003)disagrees with this, saying it was on uninhabited houses. I have not seen references to any records of use to family historians.

Gun Tax 1870-1882
A tax was levied from 1870 until 1882 on the possession of guns, but again, there is a lack of information on genealogically-significant records.

Purchase (Sales) Tax 1940
A general sales tax (purchase tax) commenced in 1940 and was replaced in 1973 by a multi-stage value added tax (VAT) imposed at each stage of the production process. These are unlikely to leave any usable nominal lists.

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