Many name-rich sources from the 17th century have been digitised, says Jonathan Scott
BEST WEBSITES
The further back you go in your research, the more difficult it becomes. That’s the genealogical rule, and it’s demonstrably true. However, there are still reasons to be cheerful if you’re trying to trace your family back to the 1600s.
By the start of the 17th century the established practice of keeping parish records had been bolstered by the requirement to send a second copy to the bishop – meaning genealogists have two places where a record might survive. There are also some nationwide surveys created for the means of gathering tax, and the Protestation Returns of 1642 when all adult men were asked to swear an oath of allegiance to the Protestant religion.
In addition, the Old Poor Law, introduced in 1601, sought to consolidate all previous Tudor legislation relating to the relief of the poor. This made it compulsory for parishes to levy a rate to fund those who could not work. These systems left behind increasingly formalised documents, although, as with much primary evidence of the period, they can often be hard to read.
HEARTH TAX DIGITAL
w gams.uni-graz.at/context:htx
The hearth tax, sometimes known as chimney money, was introduced in England and Wales in 1662, and was decided by the number of fireplaces in a property. An annual tax of 2s per hearth was paid in instalments at Lady Day (March) and Michaelmas (September). Lists were compiled on a county basis, certified at the quarter sessions, and a copy would be sent to the Exchequer. The coverage of this database isn’t nationwide, however; select the county dropdown from the ‘Advanced Search’ page to see what’s here. A search by ‘Scott’ in Kent leads to Sir Thomas Scott, who paid for the use of 36 hearths in Lushington, and references to the records at both the Kent History and Library Centre in Maidstone and The National Archives (see page 37).
CONNECTED HISTORIES
w connectedhistories.org
Here you can search a number of long-established name-rich sources, many dating back to the 17th century and before. For example the Clergy of the Church of England Database includes information about more than 130,000 individual clerics practising in England and Wales between 1540 and 1835, while London Lives provides access to 3.35 million name instances in 240,000 pages of
