The Hearth Pax was collected in Scotland and the record compiled, between 1691
and 1695, those for Perthshire being recorded between 1 March 1691 and 1
November 1692. The collection was authorised by parliament to help reduce the
debt incurred by the Army's campaigns, including those against the Jacobites,
and was a one-off tax of 14 Scottish Shillings for each hearth. It was payable
on 2 February 1691 but it took time for the sub-collectors to go round the vast
and often mountainous areas of Perthshire. The Army received about £10,000
Sterling after expenses.
The List does not cover everyone in Perthshire. Only the owner or occupier of a
house or estate was named together with the number of hearths on which he or she
paid tax. The poor households were exempt but their names were usually listed,
as were those who defaulted, which gives us valuable information which would
otherwise have been lost. There were areas of Perthshire from which no records
were obtains. Lachlan McIntosh, the sub-collector for the Presbyteries of Perth
and Dunkeld, tells us that he was unable to collect from Glencoe (which was
still under Jacobite influence).
The Perthshire list documents the occupations of many people and we learn who
had, for instance, a kiln (kill) or miln (mill) of what their status was: Laird,
Doctor, Farmer, Tailor, Cottar, Poor or a Son. These have been indexed in the
'Index of Occupations, Ownership and Titles' as an aid to genealogists who have
only limited information on an ancestor but know the occupation and abode.
Contents:
Introduction
The Perthshire Heath Tax
- Volume 1
- Volume 2
- Volume 3
- Volume 4
Index of Places
Index of Occupations and Title
Index of People
