Motor vehicle taxation and registration records
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The following source list was originally available only on paper in one of the West Yorkshire Archive Service offices. It may have been compiled many years ago and could be out of date. It was designed to act as a signpost to records of interest on a particular historical subject, but may relate only to one West Yorkshire district, or be an incomplete list of sources available. Please feel free to add or update with any additional information. |
History
The motor vehicle and taxation records for the West Riding of Yorkshire (except Sheffield) are held at the West Yorkshire Archive Service: Wakefield office. The collection reference number is C192. However, there are also some early Halifax motor taxation records at West Yorkshire Archive Service: Calderdale office, collection reference number CMT1/4/9.
The earliest vehicle records in these collections date from 1903, the year in which the Motor Car Act made it compulsory for vehicles to be registered with county or county borough councils and to display registration marks. On 1st January 1904, when the Act came into effect, the area that is now West Yorkshire was served by 5 motor taxation authorities: the county boroughs of Bradford, Halifax, Huddersfield and Leeds; and the West Riding County Council for areas outside the county boroughs. In 1913 a sixth motor taxation authority was created when Dewsbury became a county borough, and in 1915 Wakefield became the seventh.
Most records in the collection date from 1921 onwards, when the Roads Act of 1920 came into effect. The newly-formed Ministry of Transport was made responsible for motor taxation, with county and county borough councils operating the system on behalf of central government. From 1st January 1921 therefore, motor taxation records had a different legal status (from being local authority records to public records) and a different format (from bound registers to individual vehicle files).
In 1969 the Vehicle and Driving Licenses Act transferred vehicle registration and taxation from local authorities to the Minister of Transport, with effect from 1st April 1971. The transfer of the function was delayed until 1st April 1978 by the centralisation of current vehicle records at Swansea. On that day, the 7 motor taxation offices in West Yorkshire were replaced by two local vehicle licensing offices, one in Huddersfield and another in Leeds.
Records
The records in the collections contain some administrative records for the Leeds and West Riding offices, which include some statistical and financial information on driving licences issued (C192/6/1/1 and C192/8/1/5-8). However, most of the collection relates to vehicles rather than drivers. There are four main types of records:
Registers of vehicles, 1903-1920
The registers record a description of each vehicle and its history until it was scrapped and its registration mark was cancelled or transferred. Few, if any, of these vehicles still exist, but some of their registration marks are still 'live', having been transferred to new vehicles by owners wishing to retain 'cherished marks'.
Vehicle files, from 1921
Bound registers of vehicles were superseded in 1921 by individual files for each vehicle. These normally record full details of vehicles, with changes of owners etc. Many early files are the re-registrations of vehicles that had previously been registered under the pre-1921 system. Files were normally destroyed after the vehicles in question were scrapped, and a great many more files were destroyed in the late 1970s as part of the centralisation of records on the Department of Transport's computer in Swansea. As part of the same exercise, files were transferred to the Department's central licence repository at Llandau. Those which were subsequently still found to be 'live' were transferred to the computer, the rest were destroyed.
When a vehicle was moved to a different local taxation area the file was sent from its originating office to the appropriate local taxation office, and the fact was noted on the index card for that vehicle.
Index cards, 1921-c.1977
The cards consist of forms VE16, RF16, VC2, etc. and they complement the vehicle files. Cards were made out for each vehicle registered, and they record the movement of vehicle files to other authorities or to Swansea or the central licence repository at Llandau. Some also record the destruction of files when vehicles were scrapped, the cancellation of registration marks, and the transfer of marks to other vehicles. The information on vehicles given by the cards is copious in some cases and negligible in others.
Registers of registration marks, 1904-1977
These records, usually called 'allocation registers' are not concerned with particular vehicles like the vehicle registers. They simply list registration marks, and the date when each mark (or block of marks) was allotted. In addition, most registers also say to whom each mark was allotted (usually a named firm of vehicle dealers), and when the allotted mark was registered (i.e. taken up by the dealer and applied to a specific vehicle). Registration was usually within a few days of the allocation date, but some marks were held for a considerable time before being used on a vehicle, especially in the case of 'cherished marks' and some allotted marks were never used. Some registers do also contain a limited amount of information on the vehicle.
The transfer of 'cherished marks' from one vehicle to another complicated the allocation system. The vehicle from which the 'cherished mark' was taken had to be given a new registration mark, and the licensing authorities reserved bocks of marks for this purpose. These blocks, usually called 'retentions', include many registration marks which were never issued.
Registration marks held at West Yorkshire Archive Service
Listed below are the registration letters that are covered by the West Yorkshire Archive Service. When looking at three-letter registration marks, it is the last two letters that denote the relevant authority.
| Registration marks | Authority |
|---|---|
| AK | Bradford |
| C | West Riding |
| CP | Halifax |
| CX | Huddersfield |
| HD | Dewsbury |
| HL | Wakefield |
| JX | Halifax |
| KU | Bradford |
| KW | Bradford |
| KY | Bradford |
| NW | Leeds |
| U | Leeds |
| UA | Leeds |
| UB | Leeds |
| UG | Leeds |
| UM | Leeds |
| VH | Huddersfield |
| WR | West Riding |
| WT | West Riding |
| WU | West Riding |
| WW | West Riding |
| WX | West Riding |
| WY | West Riding |
| YG | West Riding |