Kirkcudbright Burgh Stent Rolls

In order to raise sufficient funds for all their expenditure, the town council set their annual rates, or stent, listing the burghers who were required to make payment.

These payments were based firstly on the rental value of the land and houses which they occupied, and secondly on their incomes. This ‘income’ tax was termed their ‘Personal Stent’, and only those able to pay were subject to this burden. Although therefore not all households in the burgh are listed, it is still of particular value to the genealogist as it gives the occupations of those listed.

I have chosen to extract three of these Personal Stent lists. Others are available for examination in the Ewart Library at Dumfries.

Additionally, I have reproduced the remaining part of the Stent Roll for 1779 – the property section – to illustrate the complete valuation of the Burgh for that year.

Stent 1779
Stent 1790
Stent 1806
Property Stent 1779