Kerr, Andrew Thomas (2009) The significance of the Wigtownshire Hearth Tax lists. MPhil(R) thesis. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/2786/ Copyright and moral rights for this thesis are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Glasgow Theses Service http://theses.gla.ac.uk/
[email protected] The significance of the Wigtownshire Hearth Tax lists Andrew Thomas Kerr Joint Honours MA (Arts) 2nd Upper Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the Degree of MPhil Department of Scottish History Faculty of Arts University of Glasgow October 2009 1 Abstract Presentation of the 1695 Wigtownshire Hearth Tax edition together with a thesis focussing on the historical value of the tax lists. The discussion provides a historical context for the tax lists and includes an analysis of the distribution of hearths, kilns, smiddies, saltpans and furnaces as indicators of wealth, social status and evidence of social, economic and agricultural development. Comparison is provided with other Hearth Tax lists and with contemporary records such as the poll tax returns, and also from later records such as early census information. The Hearth Tax is also compared with different Wigtownshire records from earlier and later periods (Wigtownshire Charters, parish records and the statistical accounts).