Shuttington Hearth Tax
This article was written by Alan Roberts of Adelaide, Australia as part of an academic study of this area.
This article was written by Alan Roberts of Adelaide, Australia as part of an academic study of this area.
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Shuttington villagers recorded in the 17th century Hearth Tax Returns
The Shuttington hearth tax returns from 1662 to 1674 provide a fairly reliable account of the inhabitants of the village in these years. It also allows us to estimate the size of the village in the latter half of the seventeenth century. Altogether, if we take the returns for 1666, the best recorded year, there were sixteen tenements liable for the hearth tax and ten exempt, adding up to 26 households, which suggests a total village population of between 100 and 120 people (adopting the usual conventions for estimating the total number of residents from these returns). This is partly confirmed by the parson’s returning 78 “communicants” in the Compton Census of 1676 (including 12 conconformists). Historians have noticed a connection between poverty and nonconformity. By 1674 Shuttington had at least eight poor tenants who paid less than 10s a year rent and some of these were probably nonconformists. Although in 1674 Henry Ensor the “third borough and overseer”, declared that the parish had no minister, that same year the Presbyterian incumbent, Edward Boucher, was granted a licence to preach in the house of Widow Allen.
Mr Walker’s invaluable published survey of the Hemlingford Hundred tax returns (W.C.R. I, 15-22) provides a very thorough list of Shuttington inhabitants occupying houses or tenements in the village over the period from 1662-1674. He points out that the villages of Seckington, Bramcote and Shuttington were grouped together and assessed by a single constable for the first three years, and that Shuttington was assessed separately thereafter. The combined list of liable and non-liable householders in Shuttington and Alvecote gives us a very comprehensive account or census of the resident population of the village - rich and poor - at the time of the Restoration.
The most prosperous landholder was Robert Ball, the lord of Loughborough, owner and occupant of Alvecote Hall, assessed at 6 hearths in 1662, an extensive holding described in an earlier 1650 Parliamentary survey. A hearth implies a taxable fireplace and so this represents a substantial house or mansion.
Next on the list was Mr Leving with 2 hearths, then Henry Ensor, the overseer mentioned in the 1650 survey, with 2 hearths. These would have been fairly prosperous villagers of the middling sort, possibly farmers or artisans rather than labourers. Francis Allen with 3 hearths, including an “oven or furnace” was apparently succeeded by his son Samuel in 1670. Frances Woodcock with a single hearth records another hearth “belonging to the king” in 1666, for which he denied payment. John Peace or Pearce also had 2 hearths, including an oven or furnace for which he claimed he was not liable. These furnaces may have had something to do with iron smelting.
Raphael Bayley, with 2 hearths was probably the son or grandson of the copyholder Michael Bayley recorded in the earlier 1650 parliamentary survey. He also had an oven or furnace for which he was presumably not liable.
William Symonds had 1 hearth and Richard Drayton also had 1 hearth. Richard was replaced by William Storer in 1673. His neighbour or kinsman, Robert Storer, was liable for 3 hearths including an oven, and succeeded by his two sons, Francis and Robert Storer, in 1674. Later the tenement was occupied in 1666 by Anne Storer described as a widow in 1666, and among those listed as exempt was Mary Storer, a “pauper” who was also probably related to her.
Simon Warwick had 2 hearths as did Henry Symonds. Margaret Milner (or Miller) is described as a widow with 1 hearth. William Seale and John Whitehead were each liable for 1 hearth. John Farmer, who was liable for 3 hearths and whose premises were divided in 1670, is probably the same copyholder of this name recorded in the 1650 survey.
William Maxfield, identified as a churchwarden in 1672, was liable for 1 hearth. The additional names of exempt householders include Elizabeth Bach, Jeffery Hunt, Philip Drake, Michael Drake, Dorothy Taylor, John Seale John Owen and John Nichols. These were poor widows or paupers, occasionally overlooked by the assessors. Names added to the list after 1670 include Thomas Ward, Richard Dowler and the widow Grene, with six other names put down in 1673 for those “that receive weekly collection [that] live in town howses and upon the common”.
Sources and Notes
The complete list of taxpayers is taken from Warwick County Records, Hearth Tax Returns, Vol. I, Hemlingford Hundred, ed. M. Walker (1957) pp. 15-22.
For estimates of the accuracy of hearth tax returns see T. Arkell, “Assessing the reliability of Warwickshire Hearth Tax returns of 1662-74”, Warwickshire History, Vol. vi, no.6, pp. 183-197. He suggests a multiplier of 4.25, to include women and children and the often overlooked paupers and widows.
© Alan Roberts, September, 2013
The Shuttington hearth tax returns from 1662 to 1674 provide a fairly reliable account of the inhabitants of the village in these years. It also allows us to estimate the size of the village in the latter half of the seventeenth century. Altogether, if we take the returns for 1666, the best recorded year, there were sixteen tenements liable for the hearth tax and ten exempt, adding up to 26 households, which suggests a total village population of between 100 and 120 people (adopting the usual conventions for estimating the total number of residents from these returns). This is partly confirmed by the parson’s returning 78 “communicants” in the Compton Census of 1676 (including 12 conconformists). Historians have noticed a connection between poverty and nonconformity. By 1674 Shuttington had at least eight poor tenants who paid less than 10s a year rent and some of these were probably nonconformists. Although in 1674 Henry Ensor the “third borough and overseer”, declared that the parish had no minister, that same year the Presbyterian incumbent, Edward Boucher, was granted a licence to preach in the house of Widow Allen.
Mr Walker’s invaluable published survey of the Hemlingford Hundred tax returns (W.C.R. I, 15-22) provides a very thorough list of Shuttington inhabitants occupying houses or tenements in the village over the period from 1662-1674. He points out that the villages of Seckington, Bramcote and Shuttington were grouped together and assessed by a single constable for the first three years, and that Shuttington was assessed separately thereafter. The combined list of liable and non-liable householders in Shuttington and Alvecote gives us a very comprehensive account or census of the resident population of the village - rich and poor - at the time of the Restoration.
The most prosperous landholder was Robert Ball, the lord of Loughborough, owner and occupant of Alvecote Hall, assessed at 6 hearths in 1662, an extensive holding described in an earlier 1650 Parliamentary survey. A hearth implies a taxable fireplace and so this represents a substantial house or mansion.
Next on the list was Mr Leving with 2 hearths, then Henry Ensor, the overseer mentioned in the 1650 survey, with 2 hearths. These would have been fairly prosperous villagers of the middling sort, possibly farmers or artisans rather than labourers. Francis Allen with 3 hearths, including an “oven or furnace” was apparently succeeded by his son Samuel in 1670. Frances Woodcock with a single hearth records another hearth “belonging to the king” in 1666, for which he denied payment. John Peace or Pearce also had 2 hearths, including an oven or furnace for which he claimed he was not liable. These furnaces may have had something to do with iron smelting.
Raphael Bayley, with 2 hearths was probably the son or grandson of the copyholder Michael Bayley recorded in the earlier 1650 parliamentary survey. He also had an oven or furnace for which he was presumably not liable.
William Symonds had 1 hearth and Richard Drayton also had 1 hearth. Richard was replaced by William Storer in 1673. His neighbour or kinsman, Robert Storer, was liable for 3 hearths including an oven, and succeeded by his two sons, Francis and Robert Storer, in 1674. Later the tenement was occupied in 1666 by Anne Storer described as a widow in 1666, and among those listed as exempt was Mary Storer, a “pauper” who was also probably related to her.
Simon Warwick had 2 hearths as did Henry Symonds. Margaret Milner (or Miller) is described as a widow with 1 hearth. William Seale and John Whitehead were each liable for 1 hearth. John Farmer, who was liable for 3 hearths and whose premises were divided in 1670, is probably the same copyholder of this name recorded in the 1650 survey.
William Maxfield, identified as a churchwarden in 1672, was liable for 1 hearth. The additional names of exempt householders include Elizabeth Bach, Jeffery Hunt, Philip Drake, Michael Drake, Dorothy Taylor, John Seale John Owen and John Nichols. These were poor widows or paupers, occasionally overlooked by the assessors. Names added to the list after 1670 include Thomas Ward, Richard Dowler and the widow Grene, with six other names put down in 1673 for those “that receive weekly collection [that] live in town howses and upon the common”.
Sources and Notes
The complete list of taxpayers is taken from Warwick County Records, Hearth Tax Returns, Vol. I, Hemlingford Hundred, ed. M. Walker (1957) pp. 15-22.
For estimates of the accuracy of hearth tax returns see T. Arkell, “Assessing the reliability of Warwickshire Hearth Tax returns of 1662-74”, Warwickshire History, Vol. vi, no.6, pp. 183-197. He suggests a multiplier of 4.25, to include women and children and the often overlooked paupers and widows.
© Alan Roberts, September, 2013