England, Kent, Land Tax Assessments, 1689-1832

What is in This Collection?

This collection consists of land tax assessments from Kent for the years 1689 to 1832.

The Land Tax was first regularly imposed in in 1697, based on a 1692 assessment. The first records from 1698 were defective attempts at compiling records; anomalies arose, leaving rural areas too heavily taxed compared with the new industrial districts. In 1772, the returns were altered to incorporate a list of all occupiers of land in each parish. In 1782, a further column was added to show the proprietor of each building. These deposited records continue until 1832. In 1826, a further column was added to describe the property on which the tax was levied. The tax was abolished in 1832.

Documents consist of Assessments and Returns; the former show assessed value of the land, the latter the amounts actually collected.

In 1798, landowners were allowed to buy themselves out of liability by a lump sum of 15 years purchase, but until 1832 "exonerated" owners appear in the lists; "Exonerated holdings" from 1798 until about 1815 are usually found at the end of the parish return.

The records from 1780 were stored in the county record office, usually in annual volumes or 'bundles' with parishes grouped in the Hundreds of Kent.

Kent also has a number of boroughs which are part of the Ancient Hundreds. A reliable contemporary account to assist in identifying these boroughs which may overlap Ancient and Ecclesiastical Parishes is Edward Hasted's History and Topographical Survey of Kent, which can be viewed on the FamilySearch Catalog. The FamilySearch image collection may present more than one series of images for a parish if the hamlet or borough sub-divisions overlap parishes.

It is worth also considering The National Archive collection under reference IR23 which contains a copy of the Land Tax Assessments for the whole country for 1798 and may be useful as a locator for Proprietors, occupiers and Sums assessed only but can help locate the whereabouts at the turn of the century of people. A further search in the county, hundred and parish and sub-division for boroughs and hamlets may then enable the person to be traced over several years.

Additional records and/or images may be added to this collection in the future.

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What Can These Records Tell Me?

These records may contain the following information: