Pay as You Go

Death Duty Tax
In England and Wales numerous duty taxes were enacted between 1796 and 1853. The tax was adjusted depending on the relationship of the beneficiary. Close relatives such as spouses, parents, grandparents or children did not have to pay the tax. More distant relatives and acquaintances had a percentage assessed. The Stamp Act of 1815 only exempted spouses. Small estates as well as those dying in the service of their country were exempt.
Will abstracts and administrations were made for the time period 1796-1857, which included names, relationships, locations and dates. During this period, many wills and administrations from Cornwall, Devon and Somerset have abstracts, which is very useful because of the destruction of the original records in 1942 by a German bombing raid on Exeter.
There are several registers, depending on the court or jurisdiction of the deceased’s property. The Estate Duty registers are in two parts, the PCC (Prerogative Court of Canterbury) and the Country Courts. The Country Courts include all of the remaining ecclesiastical courts in England including the PCY (Prerogative Court of York). The index to these registers is also divided into two year groupings 1796-1811 and 1812-1857.
The reference book for the indexes and originals, at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City is found in the middle reference section on B2. Ask the people at the desk.

Word of the Week:
Conjobble = Settle, as in conjobble down.