Death duties 1796-1903: further research

1. Why use this guide?

If you haven't already read the introductory guide to death duties between 1796 and 1903 you should do this first as information in that guide is not repeated here.

This guide to death duty records covers the period 1796 to 1903. It will provide information on:

• the historical background to death duties
• how to find relevant records
• what death duty records can tell you
• common abbreviations used in the records
• how to interpret death duty registers

The National Archives does not have the wills or administrations that the death duty records were created from. If you want to find a will read our research guide on wills and probate records.

2. Essential information

It will help you when searching for records if you know that:

• death duty registers were created by the court where the will was proved and probate was granted
• where the person who died was intestate - left no will - the court granted a letter of administration
• a grant of probate or administration gave the next of kin the authority to distribute the deceased person's estate
• death duty records are arranged according to the date probate was granted - not the date of death

Some records listed in our catalogue are closed to the public. Where this is the case the catalogue description will explain how to request access to the record under the Freedom of Information Act 2001.

Reasons why you might not find a death duty entry include:

• many of the registers for the 1890s were destroyed by fire
• from 1903 onwards only selected files survive -they are in record series IR 59 and all relate to well known people

• death duties were not paid on a person's estate if they died as a result of wounds or disease during active service in the armed forces
  

3. Background

The term 'death duties' covers three taxes:

• legacy duty
• succession duty
• estate duty

Death duty registers were created by the courts to record details of estates where these taxes were due.

Larger courts might have a number of registers for each year; smaller courts might have one register covering more than one year.

For information on the history and arrangement of death duty registers read the 'description' and 'arrangement' sections of the notes for record series IR 26 in our catalogue.

From 1796 bequests to children, spouse, parents and grandparents were not taxable. In 1805 this exemption was reduced to spouse and parents, and from 1815 only bequests to the spouse were exempt.
 

4. Information in the death duty registers

The death duty registers are in record series IR 26. They cover the period 1796 to 1903 and can show:

• what happened to someone's personal estate (not freehold) after death
• what the estate was worth, excluding debts and expenses
• the name of the deceased, with address and last occupation
• the date of the will
• the place and date of probate
• names, addresses and occupations of the executors
• details of estates, legacies, trustees, legatees, annuities
• the duty paid

They can also give the date of death, and information about the beneficiaries. Family relationships were often noted because close relations didn't have to pay duties on their inheritance.

Notes were sometimes made on the registers many years after the first entry. They recorded things like

• date of death of spouse
• date of death or marriage of beneficiaries
• births of posthumous children and grandchildren
• change of address
• references to law suits
• cross references to other entries

Before 1812, the registers include very brief abstracts of wills. After 1812, copy wills were made, but these have largely been destroyed.

From 1857 there are entries in death duty registers for all estates worth more than £20. Often though, those worth less than £1500 didn't have the taxes collected and not much was recorded about them.

Some common abbreviations in these records include:

• SP (of the same place)
• NE (no entry)
• & ors (and others)
• & anor (and another)

Reversionary registers were created to contain all the present and future claims for the period 1812 to 1852.

If you are researching an estate which had any part of it left in trust before 1852 it might be worth looking at these registers.

You can search them using the Advanced search option in our catalogue, use 'reversionary' as your keyword, and 'search within', the reference IR 26.

5. Finding country court death duty indexes and registers online 1796-1811

Between 1796 and 1811, each church probate court was indexed separately. The courts other than the Prerogative Court of Canterbury are collectively known as the 'country courts' and their registers are available online.

6. Finding death duty indexes and registers using our catalogue 1796-1903

The process involved in finding a death duty register can be complicated. You need to identify the right one according to

• the court that created it
• the year the will was proved or letter of administration was granted
• what letter the surname begins with

There are three steps to finding the right register.

Step 1: Search and view the indexes to the registers for the entry relating to your individual

Go to findmypast (£There may be a charge for accessing this information. Searching indexes may be free.) and search by surname and year - you are searching IR 27 which contains the indexes to the death duty registers in record series IR 26.

From your results, find the index entry which relates to your individual. You can distinguish between the results according to the courts that created the index, whether it covers wills or administrations and the year the grant of probate was issued.

Step 2: Find a folio or an entry number

This should be written against the entry for your individual in the IR 27 indexes on findmypast. From 1796 to 1811 there will be an 'entry number' and in later indexes a 'folio number'.

Note down this number as it will help you to identify which is the right death duty register in record series IR 26.

If you find an index entry with no folio reference this means that no tax was payable.

A reference like RR/41/J/12 is to the reversionary registers. It gives year, initial of surname, and folio, and needs to be converted using the catalogue for IR 26/4856-4867.

Step 3: Search our catalogue to find the relevant death duty register

The registers are organised in ranges of folio numbers - such as 251-500 - so searching for folio number 276 won't pick anything up.

Similarly, the registers are organised alphabetically by first letter of the surname, but they are in ranges - such as L to N - so searching for M won't get any results.

The best way to proceed is to use the Advanced search option in our catalogue and to put in information as follows:

• enter the keyword 'wills' or 'administrations' according to what you saw in the index
• under 'date range' enter the year the will was proved or the administration was granted
• under 'search within' enter the departmental reference IR 26

You will probably get a number of results. Identify the one with the right range of folio numbers and the right alphabetical range. This will be the right death duty register for your person.

Some registers are available online but most are on microfilm or are original documents so you will need to visit us at Kew or order copies.

7. Other records associated with legacy duties

The following record series also contain records relating to death duties:

• IR 19 specimen death duty accounts
• IR 59 death duty accounts for well known people
• IR 6 correspondence on contentious cases
• IR 7 correspondence on contentious cases for Scotland
• IR 49 and IR 50 contentious cases reported to the Treasury
• IR 67 legacy, succession and probate duty case books
• IR 62 precedent files. Files with piece numbers 1-1050 are not kept at Kew and will need to be ordered three days before you plan to visit
• IR 98/1-9, IR 98/30-31 death duties cases
• IR 99 solicitors' opinions and reports relating to death duties cases. Files with piece numbered 1-170 are not kept at Kew and will need to be ordered three days before you plan to visit
• E 188 miscellaneous petitions relating to appeals against Inland Revenue assessments for estate or succession duty
  

8. Records in other archives

Copy wills from the major local probate courts in Cornwall, Devon and Somerset were sent to the respective local archives. See the Somerset Heritage Centre website for more information about the wills they hold.

Search the Access to Archives (A2A) and National Register of Archives (NRA) databases to find records held in local archives.

9. Interpreting the registers

The registers changed over time. The table below takes a register from 1837 as an example, and indicates what each column means, and what you can expect to find in it.

10. Further reading

Use our library catalogue to find a recommended book list.

The books are all available in The National Archives' reference library. You may also be able to find them in a local library. You can buy from a wide range of history titles in our bookshop.