A lighting rate book records local taxation or rates levied on residents within a parish for the purpose of funding public street lighting. These books are part of parish records and provide insights into how communities managed public utilities. Lighting rate books are most commonly found in urban areas where street lighting was introduced earlier, starting in the late 18th century and expanding in the 19th century. The funds collected from lighting rates were used to install, maintain, and operate street lighting, which was often gas lighting in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
These books typically include:
- Names of property owners or occupiers.
- Addresses or descriptions of properties.
- Amount of rate assessed for each property.
Lighting books can be found in local archives. They reveal the economic and social composition of a parish, as property rates often reflected wealth and status. For genealogists, lighting rate books are valuable resources for tracing property ownership.
