The Finance (1909-1910)
Act
The Act required the
Board of Inland Revenue to determine the site value of all land
in the United Kingdom as on 30 April 1909. England and Wales were
divided up into a number of valuation districts (Scotland was dealt
with separately). These district offices completed the valuation
work and the remaining records can be a useful source of information
about your ancestors and where they lived.
The most useful of the valuation records created were:

Plans
based on Ordnance Survey
sheets in which each property was assigned a number. There were
two sets, the working plans that are usually held by local record
offices (but do not seem to have survived for Wolverhampton) and
the record set which are held at the
Public Record
Office. The plans act as an index to the Field Books

Books
Books known as the Domesday
Books (normally held at the local record office but unfortunately
do not seem to have survived for Wolverhampton) and the Field Books,
which are held by the
Public Record
Office. The Domesday Books were the first step in valuation
based on the Income Tax Schedule A Registers. The Field Books were
the final record compiled after the survey and usually contain the
names of owner and occupier, details of tenancy, the owner's interest
(freehold or copyhold etc.), and the area covered by the property.
There may be additional information recorded including date of erection,
number of rooms, condition of property and liability for rates and
insurance, dates of previous sales, and occasionally a sketch plan.

Forms
Forms including Form
37 that contains details extracted from the Field Books. Two copies
of this Form were made one for distribution to each owner and one
kept by the Valuation Offices, often deposited in local record offices.
The Forms 37 are the only set of records that are deposited in Wolverhampton
Archives & Local Studies, covering the present borough and parts
of Bentley, Coppenhall, Coseley, Darlaston, Halesowen, and
Sedgely. They give limited information including provisional
values, description of the property, and name of the occupier.
Further information about
these records can be found in the Public Record Office Valuation
Office information sheet.


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