In my last post I talked about the listings of early British Census and why they were collected, as outlined by Dr. Colin R Chapman in a talk I attended at our local Family History Society. He also talked about where the lists were compiled. This included:
-Country, principality, Province
-Counties
-Ridings, Sokes (called Baronies in Ireland)
-Hundreds, Rapes, Wapentakes
-Boroughs, Parishes, Townships.
For the Church there were provinces (examples: York, Canterbury)
-Archdioceses
-Diosceses, Sees
-Archdeconries
-Rural deconries
-Parishes; civil parishes
For the Manorial Lords – the lists were compiled by Honours and Manors.
EXAMPLES of Listings:
BDF Domesday 1086 – Phillimore Publishers (indexed work)
Saladin Tithe (1181); lay Subsidy Rolls (village taxpayer roles) – which weren’t annual
Poll Taxes – 1377, 1379, 1381. Most comprehensive was the first one in 1377. After that people got wise and tried to avoid being on the Poll tax list!
Easter Tax – 15th to 19th Century – vicker allowed to keep the collection at Easter. Kept lists of who actually contributed.
Military Lists – 1285 Statue of Winchester; 1522 Muster Rolls
First Real Census – 1523; also 1524-1525
1570 Sandwich Strangers. Strangers = “Immigrants”.
1570 Pool – includes ships in Harbour
1592 – 1691 Recusants Rolls. These were non-conformists – people not going to church; not necessarily all Catholic
School Records are great sources of information.
From c. 1600 manorial surveys more numerous
1603 – Communicants lists – people taking Communion (“Liber Cleri AD 1603” one example we were shown
Protests – lists that showed loyality, what side they were on. Nation wide; not all available.
1665 – London Mortality Bill. Over 68,000 people died from the plague.
1668 London Survey
1660-1700 Poll Tax
1662-1788 Hearth Tax (number of fireplaces in a residence)
1676 – Compton (Sheldon) Census
From 1677 – Directories – trade, street, occupation; example Pigot’s Directory
1694 Aspley Guise; War Tax
1694 Marriage Duty Tax
From 1676 Poll Books (vote records) – even showed how they voted. Apparently the secret ballot is a new invention.
1699 King’s Certainity Roll – yet another tax
1705 Papists Return – found in House of Lords
1723 CHS Oath of Allegiance
1696-1851 Tax on Windowed Rooms. Exempt were dairies and cheese rooms. That caused people to block up windows or add more dairy and cheese rooms!
1692-1831 Land Tax
1551 Provision and Relief of Poor
1753 Population Bill (lots of objections by the people on this one thus an Anti Population Bill appeared.)
From 1770 – many local census
1692-1831 Land tax
1780 and 1798 – very comprehensive Land Tax records. Good source.
These are all resources containing names where you might find your ancestors. My apologies if I typo’d a name or date.
Dr. Chapman said to start with the County Archives. He also has written several books about British genealogy which can be found here: http://www.lochinpublishing.org.uk/books.htm
If you ever get a chance to hear Dr. Chapman speak I’d certainly recommend it. His genealogy knowledge of the British Isles is extensive and he is a humorous and articulate speaker.
-Joan Miller