Lay subsidies

Subsidies were a common way to raise money for central government during the Middle Ages. Surviving subsidy rolls are held at the British Library and at the Public Record Office in Kew. The rolls contain many personal names.

Huntingdonshire


Subsidies for Huntingdonshire for 1290-1332 were published by J.A.Raftis and M.P.Morgan, Early Huntingdonshire Lay Subsidy Rolls (Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, Toronto, 1996). A copy of this book is available in the searchroom.


Cambridgeshire


Microfilm of Cambridgeshire subsidy rolls for 1374, 1522-4, 1545-6, 1567-8 and 1610-11 (not all complete) can be viewed at Cambridgeshire Archives.  There is a transcript of the 1327 subsidy with surname index by J.J. Muskett (ed. C.H. Evelyn White). Cambridgeshire Subsidy Rolls, 1250-1695 W.M. Palmer (Norwich 1912) includes a full transcript of the 1640-1 roll for the whole county. Both are available in the searchroom library.

Last updated: Thursday 02 February 2012, 09:25

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