By David Annal
Afree new website aims to open up a remarkable 17th century resource to researchers all around the world. Hearth Tax Digital is the work of the Centre for Hearth Tax Research at the University of Roehampton, in close collaboration with staff from the University of Graz (Austria). The long-term objective of the project is to make all the surviving records of the Hearth Tax freely available online, both as digital images and as a fully searchable database. Other partners in the project include The British Academy, the British Record Society and the University of the Third Age (U3A).
The Hearth Tax was first levied in England and Wales by King Charles II shortly after the restoration of the monarchy in 1662 and continued to be collected in one form or another up until 1689. The surviving records list the names of those who were liable to pay the tax (charged at the rate of one shilling per hearth, twice yearly) and many also include the names of those who were exempt – people who didn’t pay the poor rate or who had limited personal assets were not required to pay the tax.