Hearth Tax Records

Hearth Tax Records

Hearth Tax Records from the latter half of the 17th century are invaluable they provide names, addresses, occupation and an indication of wealth based upon how many hearths a person had in their property.

The records taken twice a year also showed how families moved around and how their income changed as in some years they may have been recorded as being exempt from payment as they were classed as poor.

What is more relevant it is one of the earliest sets of records showing distribution of surnames and they can be tracked showing where the surnames originated which combined with the place they are recorded may also give an indication of how they came by their surname such as occupation etc.