Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section

Guildhall Library holds land tax assessments for all the wards of the City of London for 1692-4 and from 1703 to 1930.

INFORMATION RECORDED IN THE ASSESSMENTS

The only information recorded consistently for each ward is:

• the name of the owner or occupier of each premises;
• the amount at which each person was assessed in respect of his/her property, personal and real.

In addition the following details may or may not be included:

• the name of the parish, street or precinct ( a subdivision of the ward ) in which the real property is located;
• street numbers;
• a description of the real property, eg. house, stable, warehouse;
• annual rental value of the real property;
• a breakdown of the assessment on real and personal property.

PROBLEMS IN THE USE OF ASSESSMENTS

The main difficulties stem from the inconsistent way in which the assessments were compiled.

• The assessment of a tax on personal income soon disappeared from the estimates. By the early 18th century most tax collected related to land, hence its popular title, the "Land Tax". However, where assessments are recorded as a single column of undifferentiated figures, it is worth remembering that an assessment of moveable property continued to be an element in the amount until 1833.
• Before the advent of printed returns in c.1815, the layout and content of assessments is highly idiosyncratic. Clerks occasionally failed to put a heading to, or reversed the usual order of, the columns of names and figures. It is not always clear whether landlord or tenant is named as the "inhabitant" and this information is sometimes out of date.
• For much of the period street and precinct names are not recorded in any systematic way.
• The order of entries depended on the route taken by the assessor which varied as he moved from main street to side street to alley and back to main street. This means that entries for a single street are often spread over 2 or 3 pages.
• Some numbers which look like street numbers are in fact assessment numbers.
• Few descriptions are included of the real property being assessed before the mid 19th century.
• Only heads of households, as either landlord or tenant, are listed in the assessments.
• There are no street or personal name indexes to assessments.
• In the assessments the boundaries of the precincts usually correspond to the portions of the different parishes in each ward. There are however numerous exceptions - for clarification, see John Smart's A short account of the several wards...1741, (available in the Printed Books Section of Guildhall Library).
• In most cases no revaluation of the property was made after 1698. Thereafter both rentals and assessments become increasingly inaccurate as guides to the actual value of the property.
• After 1798 it was possible to avoid further yearly instalments of Land Tax by paying a lump sum. From 1798 therefore the returns tend to become less reliable as registers of local inhabitants as the assessors lost interest in the owners of "redeemed" land.

HISTORIC BACKGROUND

The first assessments of 1692-3 were made under the terms of "An Act for granting to their Majesties an aid of four shillings in the pound for one year for carrying on a vigorous war against France" [4W. & M.c.1,1692/3]. The Act specified that real estate and personal property, that is buildings & moveable goods as well as land, were to be taxed. It nominated for each borough and county in England and Wales the local commissioners who were to supervise the assessments & local collection. The tax was voted annually, usually in the spring, until 1798 when it was transformed into a permanent tax but was redeemable on payment of a lump sum. It was levied on a number of different bases : as a pound rate between 1693 & 1696, as a 4 shillings assessment supplemented by a poll tax in 1697 and from 1698-1798 on the system whereby each county or borough was given a fixed sum to collect. In 1949 redemption became compulsory on property changing hands and in 1963 all unredeemed land tax was abolished.

HOW TO CONSULT THE ASSESSMENTS

The assessments have been bound alphabetically by ward, and for each ward they are grouped by parish, precinct or liberty. Within this grouping they are arranged chronologically. An index to streets and wards is available at the enquiry desk but Guildhall Library has no comprehensive map of ward precincts.

The catalogue description of the land tax assessments (Guildhall Library Ms 11316) is available at the enquiry desk and in the land tax folder in the microfilm area. It should be noted that between 1703 and 1838 each year's assessments occupy three volumes.

Ms 11316 volumes 1 to 398, covering 1692-1831, must be consulted on microfilm; volumes 399 to 522, covering 1832 to 1930, should be ordered in the original from the Manuscripts enquiry desk. N.B. Volumes 491-522, covering 1901 to 1930, are stored in a separate building and those wishing to consult them must give at least 24 hours notice.