This was posted to another list. Thought be might be of interest. ---------------Original Message--------------- Taken from PRONI : Your Family Tree 23 Taxes have always been unpopular and arguably none more so than the tithe. The tithe was that part (the tenth) of the produce of the land given to the Church. Initially this tax had maintained the Church and its incumbent but, following the dissolution of the monasteries, tithes devolved to the Crown. The Crown, in turn, either sold or granted the rights to laymen (`impropriators`) or to Bishops. Lord Bangor, for example, enjoyed the tithes of Bangor Parish, while those for Comber were the property of Lord Donegal. Tithes became indentified with property rights and with the political idealogy of the ruling classes. They were a source of disaffection, being, according to the Rev. Dr Henry Montgomery, `productive of outrages and disturbances`. The Tithe Applotment Act of 1823 was a recognition of the unpopularity of payment in kind and of the practical difficulties faced by those attempting to secure such payments. The Act established a procedure for `commutating` payment in kind for payment in cash. The necessary valuation ws based on the productive capacity of the land, which was calculated by reference to the average price of corn over the seven years prior to 1 Nov 1821. Unfortunately, the seven years chosen were years of comparatively high prices and valuations were, consequently, high. An increase in the range of articles now subject to the tax was met with an increasing reluctance to pay. Depsite conciliatory concessions from Parliament, the tithes remained unpopular, and practically uncollectable. Eventually the government gave way to popular pressure and introduced the Tithe Rent Charge Act in 1838 which effectively absorbed tithe payments into the ordinary rents payable to landlords. The tithe rent charge was lost to the Church on disestablishment (1 Jan 1871) but continued to be paid by occupiers to a body called the Commissioners of Church Temporalities and, on the dissolution of that body in 1881, to the Irish Land Commision. After the creation of Northern Ireland receipts were made to the Ministry of Finance and the relevant tithe applotment books were transferred from Dublin. Using the Records Placing a value on practically every parish in Ireland was a task accomplished over 15 years, taking from 1823 - 1837. Each volume of the tithe applotment books deal with a different parish, sub-divided by townland, giving the names of the occupiers, the areas subject to tithe, the valuation of the property, and tithe due. PRONI holds an incomplete set of index cards which gives names of all those mentioned in the tithe applotment books. Although not a complete set, the index runs to approximately one million cards. For this reason, the set is held in the PRONI library room, soon to be opened to the Public. Alex Hughes >from Ayrshire, Scotland Searching for Duncan,Bruce,Kilpatrick,Campbell,Fairley,Milne,McKechan, Jamphray,Strathern,Kelso,Smith & Auld in Scotland Searching for Hughes, Graham, McCutcheon, Donaghy, Irvine, Dorian, Kelley & Black in Ireland ----------End of Original Message----------