England, Cheshire, Land Tax Assessments - FamilySearch Historical Records

Collection Time Period
The land tax assessments that are available from Cheshire range from 1778 to 1832.

Record Description
Most of the physical documents were handwritten, but there were also printed forms where assessors could fill in the blanks.

Record Content
Key genealogical facts found in most Cheshire Land Tax Assessments are:


 * Name of the place
 * The year for the tax assessment
 * The year for the tax assessment
 * Name of proprietors or landowners
 * Names of the occupiers or tenants
 * Sums assessed are arranged in pounds, shillings, and pennies.
 * In some documents there is an additional column for sums redeemed in pounds, shillings, and pennies.
 * In some cases there are additional columns that keep track of additional taxes or sum redemptions in pounds, shillings, and pennies.
 * Includes the name or names of the assessors
 * Includes the name or names of the collectors
 * Includes the names of those who approved the taxes

How to Use the Records
Use these records to find male ancestors (and some female, where no male head of house existed). The records will reveal where they lived and how much they paid in land tax from year to year. If they rented the land, then the landowner is also identified.

Record History
Land tax assessments began in 1692 and ended in 1963. Most of the surviving collection of land tax assessments range from 1780 to 1832. The tax was administered through the Court of Quarter Sessions of the Peace. They were organized by county, hundred, and parish. From 1692 to 1831, Catholics were assessed a double portion. Coverage for this tax was aimed at the landowners and the tenants who rented from the landowners. That ranged from nobility to peasant.

Why This Record Was Created
The land tax assessments were used to keep track of who paid taxes from year to year. It also doubled as a voter registration from 1780 to 1832.

Record Reliability
If an ancestor is a landholder or a land renter, then he or she should be listed. The records are most reliable between 1780 and 1832 because they doubled as voting registration. Not all family members are listed, just the responsible person. After 1832, not all occupiers were listed.

Related Web Sites
United Kingdom - England: Societies and Resources

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Related Wiki Articles
England Land and Property

Known Issues With This Collection
Images for this collection are suspended at this time.

The index only collection may be searched for Land owners and Occupiers within each place entered in the original document. The source film number can be used to identify the original entry. You may find Photoduplication Services useful to identify the source entry.

The Land Tax assessment sheets vary in the number of individual entries for a given location in each year. Some large landholders may be found listed repeatedly within the index for the same place and year. The index was compiled by FamilySearch Indexing volunteers who were instructed not to record landowners such as "the Rectors of Malpas" in the index but some inconsistency within the index will result in errors.( For information about the historical land associsted with Malpas, Cheshire and its dual rectories refer to the parish page) There are several other landowners which will appear like navigation boards, Trustees, the Bishop of Chester, Executors and titled nobility and businesses.

In addition some images indexed contained several hundred names on each page/image and omission and duplication may result.

The index is limited in content; it does not record the names of the assessor and collector for each place. The full image view of each page therefore may disclose much more information than the index only.

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
When you copy information from a record, you should also list where you found the information. This will help you or others to find the record again. It is also good to keep track of records where you did not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records.

A suggested format for keeping track of records that you have searched is found in the Wiki Article: How to Cite FamilySearch Collections

Examples of Source Citations for a Record in This Collection:
"England, Cheshire Land Tax Assessments, 1778-1832." images,FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org): accessed March 9, 2011. entry for Thomas Mason, 1782; citing Tax Records, Macclesfield Hundred; Cheshire Record office, Chester England.

Sources of Information for This Collection:
“England, Cheshire, land tax assessments, 1778-1832,” images, FamilySearch; 2009, from Cheshire Record Office. "Land Tax Assessments." Cheshire Record Office, Chester (England). FHL microfilm, 113 reels. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.