John Conrad KRAUSHAAR in the SPITALFIELDS area, E. London, 1773-1801

and his widow 1801-1802

The following are 1998 extracts from microfilms at the London Guildhall Library,

Manuscripts Department, giving LAND TAX ASSESSMENTS for the City of London.

At the end of this transcription are some explanatory notes.

TOWER DIVISION - LIBERTY OF OLD ARTILLERY GROUND - Manuscript 6005 -(microfilms)

GUNN STREET (later Gun Street) was selected for the initial search - being the address of JCK at the first baptism (1773), and of three later children of John Conrad Kraushaar and Catherine Elizabeth (née Ninau) baptised at St. George's German Lutheran Church, Alie St. London E.

Spot checks revealed no Kraushaars in Gun Street from 1743 to 1772. The G. E. Clist papers tell that JCK was married in 1772. His presence in the London area from 1763 is recorded elsewhere.

Spellings are given as found in the handwritten manuscripts. (Jn° becomes In° often in script for the abbreviation of "John"). Folio numbers transcribed are 17 to 24.

YEAR OCCUPIER

GUNN STREET 1773 John Conrad Kraushaar

1774 Jn° Conrad Kraushaar

1775 Jn° Conrad Kraushaar

1776 J. C. Kraushaar

1777 Jn° Krautsaar

1778 (omitted)

1779 Jn° Krautsaar - (end of reel, next has new heading)

LANDLORD

1780 Jn° Krautsaar Mills

1781 Jn° Krautsaar Mills

1782 Jn° Krautsaar Mills

1783/4 (damaged film)

1785/1792 (no Kraushaars or variants) Benjamin Mills

Johann Conrad Kraushaar died in 1801 (Records of Probate & burial in Bunhill Fields) in NORTON FOLGATE (sometimes "Falgate"). This Ward was then searched in Land Tax Assessment Records.

TOWER DIVISION - LIBERTY OF NORTON FOLGATE - Manuscript 5389 - (microfilms)

Folio numbers transcribed - 38 to 60

YEAR OCCUPIER PROPRIETORS

HIGH STREET 1782 (no Kraushaars or variants) Wm. Tillard Esq.

(Shoreditch) 1783 In° Kraushaar Wm. Tillard Esq.

1784/1785 John Kraushaar Wm. Tillard Esq.

SPITAL SQUARE 1786 John Kraushaer Wm. Tillard Esq.

1787 John Krawshare Wm. Tillard Esq.

1788 Jn° Krawshare Wm. Tillard Esq.

1789/90 John Krawshaw Wm. Tillard Esq.

1791 John Krawshaar Wm. Tillard Esq.

1792/1800 Jn° Kershaw Wm. Tillard Esq.

1801 Wid. Kraushaar Wm. Tillard Esq.

1802 Wid. Crawshare Wm. Tillard Esq.

1803 (no Kraushaars or variants) Wm. Tillard Esq.

NOTES

The foregoing locates the homes of Johann Conrad Kraushaar from 1773 to 1801 with his wife, who remained in Spitalfields for about year after his death. One has yet to find his domicile in England from 1763, probably in London, or earlier if he immigrated before he was 21. Where the marriage took place in 1772, when he was about 30, has not yet been identified. St. Mary, Spital Square (formerly Sir George Wheler's Chapel) has been suggested, but records have not survived for 1772.

So one concludes that the couple and some of the children spent 10 years in Gun street and moved in 1783 to nearby Spital Square, which was the Kraushaar home for about 19 years.

To quote the leaflet of the London Guildhall Library on the surviving records of LAND TAX ASSESSMENTS FOR THE CITY OF LONDON - "The main difficulties stem from the inconsistent way in which the assessments were compiled.........the content is highly idiosyncratic....the order of entries depended on the route taken by the assessor...."

Street numbers were introduced later, in the 19th century. However by noting the names of the occupiers either side of the Kraushaar or variant, it is apparent that where the combination of names occurred repetitively, one could check that :-

     a) The variant names were intended for "Kraushaar"

     b) The K property addresses did not change within the street/square;

     c) The property in "The High Street" was the same as that in "Spital Sq."

     d) The conclusion of where the K names started and finished was correct.

The Bishopsgate Institute confirms that in this context, "The High Street" would refer to properties in Spital Square, west side, bordering on a short stretch of Shoreditch High Street at its southern extremity. It ran northwards in a continuation of Bishopsgate Street Without, towards Shoreditch. Maps show this short part of the main street as Norton Folgate, the same as the Ward of that name.

It is just the other side of this main street, roughly opposite the south side of Spital Square, where one finds in Bishopsgate Ward Without, Primrose Street. Here at no. 26 was the business and home of the Kraushaar hat-makers in the early 1800s. (More details of this family and the early death of the two brothers both at the age of 28 are included in a separate file-note.)

THE ASSESSMENTS

As the Guildhall points out, there are many problems in the use of Land Tax Assessments (for genealogists). They can be a useful pointer to the period and location of ancestor heads of households, but there is little to be learned from the monetary figures in £.s.d - which are presented in a confusing and inconsistent way.

For the record, however, it was noted that the yearly assessment of land tax for the Kraushaar household in Gun street 1773-1782 ranged from £2. 5s. Od. to £3. 1s. 8d., and in Spital Square 1783 from £2. 6. 8d., falling to £2. 3. 9d. in 1786 and to £1.17s. 6d in 1800 as well as for the widow 1801/2.

It seems that the ownership of the land or properties throughout these Wards was in very few hands.

In Spital Square, Wm. Tillard Esq. is shown as the proprietor of almost the entire area as well as of nearby streets for many years.

PHK 5 Sept. 1998