Norfolk: Land & Property

Land Tax Records

This is a brief overview of the Government Land Tax which came into existance in the fourth regnal year (1692) of William and Mary and was finally abolished in 1963 although only records up to 1832 will be initially considered here. For more information see the reference section.

Background

Governments are always in need of money and particularly so in 1692 as this country was at war with France. This was another tax to raise the necessary finance. It replaced the old Commonwealth monthly assessments.

Assessment for payment

A County valuation was done in 1692 to assess who and what was taxable. Once this was done the task of gathering the tax fell to Commissioners who were appointed for each County and from these came divisional commissioners who appointed parish assessors and collectors. Quotas were allocated to Hundreds (in the case of Norfolk) and then to individual parishes.

• The amount paid was based on this valuation regardless of any rental increases which happened subsequently.
  • This can be illustrated by the land tax assessment for the parish of Alderford for 1801-02 where the total valuation is £158 but the rental valuation used for the Church Rate (for 1821) is £394 so that they differ by a factor of at least 2.5
  • Local adjustments were sometimes made although the quota allocated to the parish was not changed.
• Who paid the tax?
  • In general this was the owner although some occupiers (as part of their rental agreement) paid it and then consequently paid less rent.
• What was taxed?
  • Land, tithes, some buildings, some salaries, pensions and investments.
  • Land etc. valued at less than £1 was not taxed.
• What was the tax rate?
  • It varied annually from 1/- to 4/- shillings per £1 of valuation.
  • In 1700 it was 2/- (two shillings) but in 1744 it was 1/- (one shilling) and in 1767 the rate was 3/- (three shillings) [see example under Hargham]
  • In 1776 it became fixed at 4/- (four shillings) per Pound of "Valuation" or "Rental".
• 1780 changes
  • You had to be registered in the Land Tax assessment to vote.
  • Not everyone who was registered could vote.
• 1798 - New act passed
  • Tax rate set at 4/- per £1 of valuation (which equals 20%).
  • Printed forms appear (from 1799) - see example under Tuttington for 1801. They had the following headings:-

    • Column Iden -tity	Contracted Headings in Transcriptions	Original Headings in Tables
      A	Names of proprietors	Names of proprietors [written alphabetically]
      B	Names of Occupiers	Names of Occupiers
      C	Exon Value £ Rent	Sums assessed & exonerated Rental Valuation £
      D	Exon £.s.d	Sums assessed & exonerated Assessed amount £.s.d
      E	Not Exon Value £ Rent	Sums assessed & not exonerated Rental Valuation £
      F	Not Exon £.s.d	Sums assessed & not exonerated Assessed amount £.s.d
      G	Estate	Sums assessed of PERSONAL ESTATES STOCK
      H	OFF	Sums assessed of OFFICES ANNUAL AMOUNT
      J	YEAR PAY	TOTAL of YEARLY PAYMENTS"
      K	QTR PAY	QUARTERLY PAYMENTS"

       
      Note that in the transcriptions for most parishes and years the standard heading starting "An Assessment for one Year ..." (see example for Tuttington 1801 above) has been excluded. Where columns "G" and "H" were blank they have also been omitted.
  • Possible to redeem by paying 15 times the yearly amount (ie. 5 times the valuation) so that no more taxes were payable. Once this was done the land appeared under the exonerated heading.
  • If no record for a parish exists in the 1800's or later it may indicate that all the land was exonerated.
  • The land tax year started on 5th April.
• 1826 - Forms redesigned - see example under Alderford.
• 1949 - Changes to tax rates.

Assessments Records

1. For the Hundred divisions :-

• 1693-1766
  • Those that exist are generally to be found among estate and other papers. See Norfolk Record Office catalogue.
  • For some transcripts see the Publications section.
• 1767-1832
  • These are part of the Norfolk Quarter Sessions at the Norfolk Record Office with the reference C/Scd 2
  • Parishes are grouped into divisions or hundreds and in yearly bundles. They are available on fiche (some of which are barely legible). The Norfolk Record Office and the Norfolk Heritage Centre in the Forum in Norwich both hold copies of these.
  • Note that not all of the early years contain assessments for all parishes.
  • The following table lists each Hundred and the assessment start date:-

    Hundred	Date	Hundred	Date
    Blofield	1781	Clackclose	1767
    Clavering	1797	Depwade	1797
    Diss	1800	Earsham	1797
    North Erpingham	1780	South Erpingham	1767
    Eynsford	1801	East Flegg	1781
    West Flegg	1782	Forehoe	1767
    Freebridge Lynn	1767	Freebridge Marshland	1782
    Gallow	1786	North Greenhoe	1782
    South Greenhoe	1778	Grimshoe	1782
    Guiltcross	1767	Happing	1781
    Henstead	1782	Holt	1767
    Humbleyard	1801	Launditch	1767
    Loddon	1794	Mitford	1783
    Shropham	1767	Smithdon Brothercross	1777
    Taverham	1786	Tunstead	1781
    Walsham	1789	Wayland	1779

  • See the Hundred's page for a list of parishes in each.
  • The 1798 and 1799 assessments are also available at the National Archives in the Inland Revenue Series (Class IR23).
  • 1798
    • Includes some contract dates showing when land leased from.
    • A typescript copy for 1798 for most Norfolk Hundreds is available at the Norfolk Family History Society Library. These include a name index to the Hundreds which have been transcribed.

2. For the Boroughs of Great Yarmouth, King's Lynn and Norwich there are many records some of which start in the early 1690s. For a list see Norfolk Record Office catalogue.

Publications

Gibson Jeremy, Medlycott Mervyn and Mills Dennis

Land & Window Tax Assessments, 1690-1950
[ISBN: 1860060544, FFHS, 2nd edn. 1998]

Her Majesty's Stationery Office

England and Wales
Return of Owners of Land - Norfolk in 1873
In 2 Volumes (Norfolk in Vol.1)
(Lists owners with 1 acre or more)
[London, HMSO: George Edward Eyre and William Spottiswoode, 1875]
[M.M. Publications (Suffolk), Microfiche?]
[ISBN: 1845945954, Cinderford: archivecdbooks, 2000: CD-ROM]

Hunt H. G.

Short Guides to Records
First Series - Guides 1-24
No 16 - Land Tax Assessments
Edited by Lionel M. Munby
[ISBN: 0852783477, The Historical Association, 1972]

Palgrave-Moore Patrick

Norfolk Rural Extant Land Tax Assessments 1700-1702
(with combined Land Tax and Poll Tax for 1702)
Tunstead Hundred - Norfolk
[Wroxham, Elvery Dowers Publications, 2000]

Palgrave-Moore Patrick

Land Tax Assessments 1700-1703
Tunstead & Happing Hundreds - Norfolk
[Wroxham, Elvery Dowers Publications, 2000]

Palgrave-Moore Patrick

Kings Lynn Land Tax 1692/3
[Wroxham, Elvery Dowers Publications, 2000]

Turner Michael and Mills Dennis Richard

Land and Property
(The English Land Tax 1692-1832)
(includes a West Norfolk section)
[ISBN: 0862992230/0862992231, Sutton Publishing Limited, 1986]

Notes

• If any people paid tax at twice the normal rate then they may well have been Catholics.
• Occupiers names should appear from 1772 onwards but they have sometimes been left blank.
• Proprietors names have sometimes been left out or replaced with occupiers names.

References

For further information about this tax and the records available see:-

• 1. Norfolk Record Office catalogue (NORCAT) and issue a search for "land", "tax" and "format" with option "And".
• 2. For Land Tax assessments (for parts of Outwell and Upwell which are in Cambridgeshire) go to Cambridgeshire Record Office Catalogue and issue a search for "land tax".

See also Norfolk Land and Property

These pages are for personal use only. They may not be copied, and the links within them may not be harvested for use on your own web pages. Please see the Copyright Notice.

Copyright © Mike Bristow.
February 2016