Subsidy roll facts for kids

Subsidy rolls were special records kept in England a long time ago, between the 1100s and 1600s. They were lists of people who paid taxes to the government. These old lists are super helpful for historians today because they give us clues about how people lived and what society was like hundreds of years ago.

What Were Subsidy Rolls?

Imagine a time before computers and easy ways to track money! The government in England needed a system to know who owed taxes and how much. That's where subsidy rolls came in. They were like big lists or registers that recorded who paid taxes and how much money they had.

These rolls are very important for understanding history. They show us how people lived, what jobs they had, and how wealthy they were hundreds of years ago.

How Were These Records Kept?

The subsidy rolls were organized by different parts of England, usually by county. Within each county, the records often listed people by smaller areas called a hundred or a wapentake. These were old ways of dividing up land for administrative purposes.

Early Tax Lists: 1332 Subsidy

One of the first big tax lists that we still have many records for is from the year 1332. This tax mostly focused on people who were quite well-off or "prosperous" householders. It didn't include everyone, but it gives us a peek into the wealthier parts of society back then.

The Poll Tax: 1378–1380

Later, between 1378 and 1380, a different kind of tax called the poll tax was collected. This tax was meant to include almost all adult men, except for people who traveled a lot or those who were very poor. What makes these records special is that they often listed people's jobs and even showed how family members were related to each other in a household.

Later Tax Records: 1532–1535

Another important set of subsidy rolls comes from the years 1532 to 1535. Like the 1332 tax, these records mainly focused on householders who had a good amount of money or were of a higher social status. They help us understand the economic situation of many families during that time.

The Hearth Tax: 1662–1674

Perhaps the most famous of these old tax records are the hearth tax returns from 1662 to 1674. This tax was based on how many fireplaces (or "hearths") a house had. The more hearths, the more tax you paid! These records are great because they list the names of the people living in each house and how many hearths they were responsible for.

Many of these hearth tax records have been published in books by the British Record Society. This makes it easier for historians and people interested in their family history to look them up.