England Taxation, Rates (National Institute)

Rates
Rates are taxes on the occupiers of land and buildings levied by local authorities to pay for their various services and utilities. The earliest extant records are those for maintenance of a local church, bridge, drainage system or fortification for a parish or for a ward of a corporate borough. Other early local rates administered by the vestry, churchwardens or overseers included those for highway surveyors, constables, scavenging (cleaning the roads),gaols, sewers and militia.

Highway and Surveyors’ Rates
Typically, rate lists give the occupiers, premises, valuation and amount due but some give the occupations by inference from designations of wheelwright’s shop, malthouse, brickyard and so forth as shown below and some give both owners and occupiers of land.

Chart: Extracts from Highway Rates in Mountfield, Sussex 1861 

Chart: Extracts from Highway Rates in Northowram, Yorkshire 1845-6

These examples of highway rates serve as a model for many other rate books. They all give similar information, but not all survive for each year, so it is important for the researcher to have access to a full complement of relevant years, with whatever rate books are available. In addition to the highway rates upon the inhabitants, the surveyors accounts of how the money was spent can also be found. An example for 1831 in Yorkshire is shown here.

Chart: Highway Surveyor’s Accounts 1831 Rotherham, Yorkshire

In the 18th and 19th century some estate developers and owners were permitted by paving boards to pave, clean and repair their own private roads and put bars across them to prevent public access. Records of these boards are often found amongst vestry minutes and local authorities’ records.

Constables Rates
The unpaid position of parish (or petty) constable, formerly taken in rotation in the village, was gradually replaced by a paid constable or policeman at different times in different places. From 1830 police forces were set up in London and from thence across the country. Records of constables rates to pay for their expenses, and later their salaries, can be found in parish and borough records.

Poor Rates 1601-1865
Various attempts had been made by parliament in the 16th century to provide for the poor and destitute, particularly after the dissolution of the monasteries in the 1530s. The first act was Act for the Relief of the Poor 1597. The major Elizabethan reform was the 1601 Poor Relief Act (the Old Poor Law) which made the parish the administrative unit for rating. New Overseers of the Poor, consisting of church wardens and other substantial householders, had the power to raise funds from parishioners and assist the local poor as they deemed fit. The previous church rate levied on all freehold and leasehold properties was combined with the poor rate in 1647.

Union Rates 1865-1925
The poor rate became the union rate in 1865 and the church rate became non-compulsory in 1868. The combined church and poor rates were known simply as the rates, and as local authorities provided new services additional rates were levied. In towns rates were levied from the late 18th century for the services of watchmen and street cleaners, and for improvements in lighting and paving. The 19th century saw parliamentary authorization of local police, water, library, cemeteries, gas and electricity rates. A rough earliest-date guide to these appears below, but provisions varied around the country.

Chart: Rough Timeline for the Rates

Town Rates
This term includes those rates applicable only in towns, for example for paving and cleaning of streets, installation of street lighting and operation by lamplighters, and piped water.

Lighting and Watch Rates
Local Acts of Parliament were made from 1750 in order that any place could levy a rate to pay for lighting and watching streets. The Lighting and Watching Act of 1833 permitted any town with a population of over 5,000 inhabitants to appoint watchmen.

Water Rates
The supply of water has been undertaken by both private companies and local authorities. Some cities had piped water very early on, for example Southampton in 1420, Hull in 1447, Bath in 1500, and Gloucester in 1542 but only at central points, not in every house. The early pipes were mostly wooden, but cast-iron pipes started to replace them in 1875. However, most towns were reliant upon wells and springs well into the 19th century. The records include mentions of water carriers from very early times, and payments to private companies and local authorities later on. Towns were able to supply piped water sooner as their rateable income was higher, and the Public Health Act of 1848 enabled any local authority to provide (and charge rates for) a water supply. It was not until 1886 that Whitwell, Isle of Wight decided to take the plunge! The first page of the Minute Book of the Whitwell Water Supply is transcribed here.

Chart: Whitwell, IOW Water Supply 1886 

Sewer Rates
Sewer rates were assessed separately in towns that had them, for example the Guildhall Library has a series of sewer rates for the City of London for 1771-1874, but also has consolidated rate books, presumably for other rates, from 1790-1908.

Cemetery Rates
After the Burial Acts of 1852 (for London) and 1853 (for the rest of the country) local authorities administered their own cemeteries with vestries electing burial boards to manage them. The rates included funds for cemeteries, and after the Local Government Act of 1894 district and parish authorities took over the management from the burial boards.

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Information in this Wiki page is excerpted from the online course English: Taxes, Lists, Business, Electoral and Insurance Records offered by The National Institute for Genealogical Studies. To learn more about this course or other courses available from the Institute, see our website. We can be contacted at [mailto:wiki@genealogicalstudies.com wiki@genealogicalstudies.com]

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