Malham Land Tax – 1798

Land Tax Assessment

Malham – 1798

Land Tax was introduced in 1692, in the reign of William III and Mary, as yet another means of raising revenue and wasn’t finally abolished until 1963. Administered at the local level, it was based on a tax quota for each parish, shared amongst the landowners.

The sums assessed are the actual amounts of tax charged, so by comparing the assessments you can get an idea of the size and value of the property. Between 1772 and 1909 the rate remained at 4s. in the £, but from 1798 properties valued at under 20s. per year were officially exempted from paying land tax.

Because the tax was levied locally, the surviving records are usually to be found in the local record office, normally in the Quarter Sessions records, but the survival rate of these tax lists varies greatly from year to year and place to place.

The annual Land Tax Assessments list the names of the Occupiers and the names of the Proprietors (owners of land) in each parish (or Township in the case of Malhamdale), many of the latter, for example Lord Ribblesdale, lived elsewhere. Occupiers may hold land in more than one parish or township, so did not always live where they are listed in the Land Tax Assessments. In Malhamdale farms often straddled several townships, as they do today.

After 1798 the tax could be redeemed or exonerated with a lump sum payment equivalent to 15 years’ annual tax. Exonerated properties and their owners were still listed because of the need to record voting rights (from 1780, payment of land tax on freehold property worth £2 or more a year qualified a man to vote). Duplicates of the land tax assessments were deposited annually with the clerk of the peace for electoral purposes. From 1832 onwards, Land Tax Assessments contain incomplete lists of owners and occupiers, as those redeeming the land tax with a lump sum no longer had to be included on the lists after the 1832 Reform Act changed the qualification for voting rights and seperate Electoral Registers of qualified electors were compiled.

The assessors and collectors were usually parish officers, such as the Overseers of the Poor, who would already be collecting the Poor Rates for the area.

West Riding of Yorkshire – Township of Malham

An Assessment made in Pursuance of an Act of Parliament passed

in the 38th Year of His Majesty’s Reign, for granting an Aid to His Majesty

by a Land Tax to be raised in Great Britain, for the Service of the Year 1798

Land Tax Assessment 1798

Names of Proprietors Names of Occupiers Sums Assesed Date of Contract
Malham East £ s d
1 Lord Ribblesdale William Read 1 3 1 ¾ 4 Jun 1799
2 Mr. Alcock Anthony Taylor 1 9 2 6 Jul 1799
3 William Rookes Leeds Serjeantson Esquire William Preston 16 ¼
4 Thomas Hutchinson Esquire John Heaton 1 4 3 ¼
5 John Tennant Matthew Greenwood 4 5
6 Richard Brayshaw William Anderson 1 11 7 Feb 1800
7 Mr. Tindall Eme. Tomlinson 1 2 7 ¼ 4 Jun 1799
8 Lord Ribblesdale John Armistead 3 4 ¾ ditto
9 Mr. William Clapham George Hargraves 2 18 6 ½ 16 May 1799
10 Thomas Procter Sarah Procter 9
11 George Mount himself 9 20 Dec 1799
12 Duke Knowles John Brotherton 10 10 ½ 18 May 1799
13 Thomas Hurtley himself 2
14 Mr. William Clapham George Hargraves & John Procter 1 0 11 ½ 15 May 1799
15 John Heaton himself 1 11 7
16 Christopher Smith Robert Sedgwick 6 2 ½
17 Thomas Hammerton John Brayshaw 4
18 John Hind himself 1 9 18 Mar 1799
19 John Heaton himself 1 3 ½
20 John Shackleton Samuel Bates 1 0 11
21 Lord Ribblesdale William Brayshaw 4 3 4 Jun 1799
22 John Brown himself 1 9 4 Jun 1799
23 Christopher Bateson himself 2 11 ¾ 20 Dec 1799
24 Anthony Brayshaw William Preston 11 10 ½ 20 Dec 1799
25 Sir Nelson Rycroft Thomas Silverwood 10 11 ½ 23 Mar 1799
26 John Procter himself 1 9 16 May 1799
27 Mr. John Atkinson himself 4 4 ½ 23 Mar 1799
28 Mr. James King Mr. Wilkinson 5 8 23 Mar 1799
29 Richard Brayshaw Bernard Chester 2 5 ½ 7 Feb 1800
30 Mr. John Lund himself 11 10 18 Mar 1799
31 Bernard Preston himself 1 9
32 Reverend William Roundell Mathew Procter 1 10
ditto Christopher Mount 1 10 23 Mar 1799
33 Francis Lister for Mr Chamberlain Thomas Parkinson 1 3 1 23 Mar 1799
34 William Atkinson himself 4 3 23 Mar 1799
35 Mr Pullan himself 1 3 20 Dec 1799
36 Richard Brayshaw & Robert Hartley Thomas Cockshot, Richard Sutcliffe 10 3 ½
38 W R L Serjeantson Esquire Samuel Preston 6 8 ½
Roger Preston 6 8 ½ 22 Jun 1799
John Stott 2 7 ¾
John Taylor 2 6 ¾
John Hind 4 0 22 Jun 1799
39 John Hind himself 9 18 Mar 1799
40 Mr. Wilkinson, Reverend Mr King now owner himself 1 9 23 Mar 1799
41 John Procter Lawrence Preston 5 2 ¾
42 Richard Hall Thomas Atkinson 1 1 ¾ 18 May 1799
43 Mr. Morris George Hargraves 4 0
44 William Atkinson Robert Peacock 2 6 4 Jun 1799
45 Stephen Tennant Thomas Parkinson 1 3 ¼ 18 May 1799
46 Mrs. Watkinson Widow Rawsthorn 1 9
47 Robert Hargraves himself 1 2
48 Mr. Henry Lund himself 1 9 18 Mar 1799
49 Lord Ribblesdale himself 5 2 ½ 4 Jun 1799
Malham West
50 Lord Ribblesdale Bernard Preston 1 7 5 4 Jun 1799
51 W R L Serjeantson Esquire John Hind 10 4 ½ 22 Jun 1799
52 Mr. Henry Lund himself 1 17 10 18 Mar 1799
53 Lord Ribblesdale William Brayshaw 3 4 ½ 4 Jun 1799
54 Richard Brayshaw Edmund Cockshott, Thomas Benson, William, Anderson Joshua Metcalfe, Mrs Lund 1 4 8 ¾ 7 Feb 1800
55 John Atkinson himself 2 12 5 ½ 23 Mar 1799
56 Robert Shackleton John Brayshaw 6 10
57 Mr. James King Abraham Eastwood 6 11 23 Mar 1799
58 William Atkinson Robert Peacock 2 11 3 ¾ 4 Jun 1799
59 Christopher Smith Robert Sedgwick 12 0
60 Mr. T Paley himself 3 2 16 May 1799
61 William Brayshaw himself & James Thompson 1 10 ½
62 Richard Hall Thomas Atkinson 9 1 ½ 18 May 1799
63 The Parish 2 11 ¾
64 Mr. John Parkinson himself 1 8 ¾ 4 Jun 1799
65 Mrs. Sedgwick Robert Sedgwick 6 11 ¾
66 Richard Petty Stephen Clark 5
67 Reverend William Roundell Christopher Mount 4 3
Matthew Procter 2 1 23 Mar 1799
68 Thomas Hammerton John Brayshaw 1 3
69 John Shackleton himself 12 11
70 John Lawson himself 1 1 9
71 Mr. Tindall Eme. Tomlinson 1 10 4 Jun 1799
72 Mr. Morris William Wigglesworth 2 9
73 Miss Ellen Thompson William Hargraves 1 8 18 Mar 1799
74 Mr. Josias Rimmington himself 9 11 ½ 23 Mar 1799
75 Mr. Hall himself 8
76 William Atkinson himself 8 6 ¾ 23 Mar 1799
77 William Wetherall himself 6 10 ¼ 23 Mar 1799
78 Francis Lister for Mr Chamberlaing Thomas Parkinson 9 23 Mar 1799
79 John Settle himself 1 8 20 Dec 1799
80 John Hind himself 8 18 Mar 1799
81 Richard Brayshaw& Robert Hartley Thomas Cockshott, Richard Sutcliffe 10 5 ¼
83 Widow Shackleton John Shackleton 1 ½
84 John Brayshaw himself 6 11 20 Dec 1799
85 Kirkby School 1 0
86 John Heaton himself 1 10 ¾
87 Mr. John Lund John Brayshaw 10 5 ¼ 18 Mar 1799
88 Malham School 4 9 ¾
Total £43 4s 9d

Transcribed by Diana Mallinson

Finding Further Land Tax Assessments for Malhamdale 1781 – 1832

Assessments for Malham Moor; Malham (East & West); Kirkby Malham(dale); Hanlith; Scosthrop; and Airton , all situated in the Wapentake of Staincliffe West and Ewcross and are listed under class QE13/13 and the following years are available:

Malham Moor QE13/13/34 1781, 1783-1786, 1788-1815, 1817-1832
Malham (East & West) QE13/13/32 1781-1786, 1788-1815, 1817-1832
Kirkby Malham(dale) QE13/13/27 1781-1786, 1788-1815, 1817-1832
Hanlith QE13/13/20 1781-1786, 1788-1815, 1817-1832
Scosthrop QE13/13/47 1781-1786, 1788-1815, 1817-1832
Airton QE13/13/1 1781-1786, 1788-1800, 1802-1812, 1814-1815, 1817-1832
Otterburn QE13/13/42 1781-1786, 1788-1812, 1814-1815, 1817-1832


Assessments for the townships of Bordley; Calton; Eshton; Flasby with Winterburn; and Coniston Cold listed in the Wapentake of Staincliffe, East under class QE13/12 . Returns for the period 1760, 1781- 1832 are available, with the exception of the years 1787, 1807, 1816 which have not survived for the east division of Staincliffe.