Genealogy Chat

I have now reached a point with one side of the family and have come across the term 'Hearth'. Can someone explain to me what this is please or is it as simple as a tax on how many fires a household had. lol Thanks
Di

Copied from Wikipedia.

Hearth Tax
In England, a tax on hearths was introduced on 19 May 1662. Householders were required to pay a charge of two shillings per annum for each hearth, with half the payment due at Michaelmas and half at Lady Day. Exemptions to the tax were granted, to those in receipt of poor relief, those whose houses were worth less than 20 shillings a year and those who paid neither church nor poor rates. Also exempt were charitable institutions such as schools and almshouses, and industrial hearths with the exception of smiths' forges and bakers' ovens. The returns were lodged with the Clerk of the Peace between 1662 and 1688.

A revision of the Act in 1664 made the tax payable by all who had more than two chimneys

The tax was abolished by William III in 1689 and the last collection was for Lady Day of that year. It was abolished in Scotland in 1690.

Hearth tax records are important to local historians as they provide an indication of the size of each assessed house at the time. The numbers of hearths are generally proportional to the size of the house. The assessments can be used to indicate the numbers and local distribution of larger and smaller houses. Not every room had a hearth, and not all houses of the same size had exactly the same number of hearths, so they are not an exact measure of house size. Roehampton University has an ongoing project which places hearth tax data in a national framework by providing a series of standard bands of wealth applicable to each county and city. This approach will provide an outstanding resource for historians; for information about the project, see: [1].

Published lists are available of many returns and the original documents are in the Public Record Office. The most informative returns, many of which have been published, occur between 1662-1666 and 1669-1674

Keith
Thank you.
I thought it was something to do with fire hearths but didn't want to assume.
Di

Its a bit similar to the window tax (and why you see so many old places with bricked in windows!).

Ive seen Hearth tax records but they must have been a bit objective as surely all houses had a fire but not all residents are included on the hearth taxes. I guess there was some sensible logic to who was actually considered for this tax.

DOH, just read Keiths very informative extract which explains it.