Hearth less than 20 shillings a year and those who paid neither church nor poor rates. Also exempt were charitable institutions such as schools and almshouses, and industrial hearths with the exception of smiths' forges and bakers' ovens. The returns were lodged with the Clerk of the Peace between 1662 and 1688. A revision of the Act in 1664 made the tax payable by all who had more than two chimneys. The tax was abolished by William III in 1689 and the last collection was for Lady Day of that year. It was abolished in Scotland in 1690. Hearth tax records
Pronunciation of English ⟨a⟩ the more conservative in the 17th century, and was "generally accepted by careful speakers by about 1670". This vowel (that of "trap", "cat", "man", "bad", etc.) is now normally denoted as . In present-day RP, however, it has lowered to a fully front . Such a quality is also found in the accents of northern England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and the Caribbean. In North America, however, there is a trend towards tensing (raising) of this vowel. Raised pronunciations are also found in Southern Hemisphere English, and are also associated with Cockney. For the possibility of phonemic length differentiation, see "bad–lad"