Hi All (and especially Stan) I have a stamp duty record for an ancestor who died in 1808. There seems to be 2 rates payable. Siblings certainly paid 2 and a half percent. One apparently unrelated lady paid 8 percent on her cash legacy and the value of furniture and bedding that she received. A trust set up for the illegitimate child of the testator's father had to pay tax at 8% even though this child would have been a half sibling of the testator. There are two other legatees who only paid the lower rate. Both are women and no relationship is mentioned. Does anyone know the criteria for stamp duty rate paid on legacies in 1808? Thanks and regards, Irene Marlborough FreeCEN Coordinator for Manchester 1861 http://www.freecen.org.uk