Revealing The Secrets Of Our Streets
Hard-working volunteers have used hearth tax records transcribed by the University of Roehampton to investigate the hidden histories of eight diverse City of London parishes in the 17th century
The hearth tax has a lot of potential for research linking local history with family history. In 2018 members of the University of the Third Age (U3A) used returns from the City of London, Greenwich and the West Midlands in conjunction with other documentary sources to uncover the stories of people, buildings and localities.
Andrew Wareham and Catherine Ferguson, from the Centre for Hearth Tax Research at the University of Roehampton, which transcribed the returns, worked with specialists from Birkbeck College and the Society of Genealogists to train U3A volunteers in palaeography, accessing archives and using 17th-century sources.
Peter Cox, one of the leaders of the London project, says that they focused on eight City parishes for which the 1666 returns include the occupation of each householder. This gives unrivalled opportunities to track individuals: “If there are many Nicholas Smiths about, then
it’s impossible to distinguish between them unless you know that yours was a salter.” The transcription work performed by the University of Roehampton didn’t include any further research, so the volunteers were encouraged to choose their topics in line with their areas of interest.
For instance, Lisa Vine studied a group of stationers and booksellers who settled in Little Britain, in the parish of St Botolph Aldersgate. This area was clustered along Aldersgate Street, with many households and a wide range of occupations. In contrast the parish of St Benet Sherehog had fewer than 100 households and was close to the Walbrook, an ancient culverted stream. The parallel Walbrook Street had an unusual number of skinners and druggists, investigated by Cheryl Bailey.
You can find out more about these projects from a blog produced by the Centre for Hearth Tax Research at hearthtax.wordpress.com.