Richard How (1727-1801), of Aspley Guise, left various writings, in minute script with frequent abbreviations. In one of them he discusses the working of the land tax in Aspley in his day. In others he writes on the poor rate ; and these and other papers enable us to trace a village feud of the time. From all these papers we get a vivid picture of some features of life in a Bedfordshire village in the eighteenth century soon after its enclosure : of the effect of enclosure on assessments for poor rate and land tax ; of the workings of local government (” Though the vestry was appointed at 3 o’Clock they thought proper to make the parishioners wait till near 5 … and whereas it is usual only to drink Beer, Moore of his own Authority order’d punch “); of the local personalities, How, “ qualified for Society “ and “ Possessor of superior Talents,” according to one account, “ of a restless and litigious Disposition,” according to another; and of Moore, “ a hot-headed Youth, whose natural Impetuousity [was] increas’d by the blameable Indulgence of those who ought to have check’d it.” This study of Aspley Guise seen through the medium of Richard How's writings and papers, and of the land tax in the light of his comments, forms the first part of the book.

The second covers a slightly later period (1750-1832) : on the basis of the land tax assessments it discusses the transfer of land in South Bedfordshire.

It may be useful first to describe briefly the land tax, a common factor in both sections of this volume. This tax developed from the so-called Monthly Assessments in which Parliament specified for each county the total sum required. It was introduced in 1692, though Parliament itself did not apportion the assessment between the several counties until 1698. There was then no sign of income tax as we understand it to-day. It was land which was the yardstick of a man's material possessions. To be more exact, it was the income derived from the land which formed the basis of assessment, but the land tax embraced more than this.