ˈhearth-tax
= hearth-money 2.
| 1689 Evelyn Diary 8 Mar., In the mean time to gratify the people, the Hearth Tax was remitted for ever. 1807–8 Syd. Smith Plymley's Lett. Wks. 1859 II. 140/2 Ireland does not contain at this moment less than five millions of people. There were returned in the year 1791 to the hearth tax 701,000 houses. 1846 M{supc}Culloch Acc. Brit. Empire (1854) II. 405 A hearth-tax, or duty proportioned to the number of fire-places in a house, was established in this country [England] at a very early period. |