Now! Then! 2024! - Yorkshire On This Day

Excerpt

I spoke thrice in this debate, first in answer to the gentleman that said this was laying a tax for a public use upon one piece of a county and upon private persons, to which I replied that this one county drained all England of its people, especially the north, our tenants all coming hither, finding by experience that they could live here better in a cellar or a garret than they could live in the country on a farm of £30 rent; that hereby this little piece of England had laid a tax in a manner upon all the rest of England, and was a nuisance to all the rest; and therefore it was not so improper that it should be taxed separately, and the rather because it was never taxed before, or but once very little.

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To facilitate reading, the spelling and punctuation of elderly excerpts have generally been modernised, and distracting excision scars concealed. My selections, translations, and editions are copyright.

Abbreviations:

• ER: East Riding
• GM: Greater Manchester
• NR: North Riding
• NY: North Yorkshire
• SY: South Yorkshire
• WR: West Riding
• WY: West Yorkshire

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Original

An additional supply was voted to the King towards the defraying of the war against the Duke of Monmouth and the rebels; and the House [of Commons] resolved into a committee of the whole to consider of the manner, and there it was voted, 1st, that it should be laid upon such new foundations as had been built upon within the compass of the bills of mortality since the year 1660, excepting the late general fires in the City of London and the borough of Southwark; 2ndly, that it be laid only upon the rents of such houses for one year; 3rdly, upon such foundations as are now laid; 4thly, that a clause be brought in to prohibit any more buildings within the said limits; 5thly, that the House be moved to order that a bill be brought in to the said intent. In all which the House was with the committee.

I spoke thrice in this debate, first in answer to the gentleman that said this was laying a tax for a public use upon one piece of a county and upon private persons, to which I replied that this one county drained all England of its people, especially the North, our tenants all coming hither, finding by experience that they could live here better in a cellar or a garret than they could live in the country on a farm of £30 rent; that hereby this little piece of England had laid a tax in a manner upon all the rest of England, and was a nuisance to all the rest; and therefore it was not so improper that it should be taxed separately, and the rather because it was never taxed before, or but once very little. Some moved that it should be laid for one year and a half; but that I opposed, for I said there were some few foundations taxed in Oliver’s time, and that tax was laid but for one year in the worst of times, and therefore we ought not now to lay it for a longer period in good times. It was moved that more money might be laid upon brandies towards this supply to the King; but this I spoke against, saying it was fit this should be computed how much it would arise to, before another fund was encumbered or more money voted to be raised.

400 words.

Tags

Tags are assigned inclusively on the basis of an entry’s original text and any comment. You may find this confusing if you only read an entry excerpt.

• Brandy (5) ·
• City of London (9) ·
• Cromwell, Oliver (1599-1658) (6), Huntingdon-born general and head of state ·
• Fiscal federalism (1) ·
• Great Fire of London (3) ·
• House of Commons of England (5) ·
• Human capital flight (2) ·
• James II (20) ·
• London (74) ·
• Monmouth Rebellion (1) ·
• Reresby, John (1634-89) (23), Thrybergh-born, politician and diarist, governor of York 1682-88, 2nd baronet ·
• Southwark (1) ·
• Spirit (2) ·
• Unreformed House of Commons (7), name given to the House of Commons before the Reform Acts of 1832 ·

All tags.

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