This is the sixth volume in the British Record Society Hearth Tax Series, produced in collaboration with the British Academy Hearth Tax Project. This volume publishes four documents: the hearth tax return for Michaelmas 1670 from The National Archives and three documents from the Cumbria Record Office at Kendal. These are the Manuscript R, a copy of the hearth tax survey 1674-5 made for Daniel Fleming J.P. of Rydal, and two documents from Kendal corporation manuscripts collection: the survey for Kendal and Kirkland 1674-5, and a list of exempt of 1674-5 relating to the borough of Kendal. These form a significant collection of documents. Westmorland was one of the few counties with lists surviving for the period of the tax farmers. There are over 12,000 names in total. The document texts have been analysed by Dr Colin Phillips of Manchester University and, in conjunction with his examination of probate inventories and a wide range of other primary source materials, provide a vital means of furthering our understanding of the history of the north-west in the later Stuart period, its society, economy and houses. Dr Elizabeth Parkinson explains, in an additional section, the administration of the hearth tax in Westmorland. The Westmorland Hearth Tax is produced by the British Record Society in conjunction with the C.W.A.A.S. It is available to Society members at the price of £25 (incl p&p). 

Non Members must order through the British Record Society.