Dorset Hearth Tax Assessments
The Hearth Tax was levied in England and Wales from 1662-1689 and was designed to consist of a tax of 2 shillings each year on each fireplace, hearth or stove. The tax was payable in two instalments: 1 shilling on Lady Day (25th March) and 1 shilling on Michaelmas (29th September).
The assessments and returns were prepared by parish constables. It was an unpopular tax and widespread evasion led to many names being omitted from the records.
The names below were taken from ‘Dorset Hearth Tax Assessments 1662-1664: Rawlinson MSS B 292-296, Bodleian Library’, Edited by C Meekings Esq and published in Dorchester in 1951; a copy is available at the Dorset History Centre.
Shaston Division, Hundred of Sixpenny Handley, West Orchard Tithing
| OCCUPIER | NO. OF HEARTHS |
| Mr Potter | 1 |
| Widd Collens | 1 |
| Richard RIddett | 1 |
| William Dussett | 1 |
| William Monck | 2 |
| Richard Fookes | 2 |
| Mr Nicholls | 10 |
| Widd Hartwell | 1 |
| Mrs Henbury | 2 |
| Henry Coombs | 1 |
| Robert Burgesse | 1 |
| Edward Burges | 1 |
| Thomas Lambers | 5 |
| Robert Debyn | 1 |
| Thomas Burge | 1 |
| Edward Speed | 1 |
| Richard Debbyn | 1 |