English law English law is the common law legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly criminal law and civil law, each branch having its own courts and procedures. Principal elements of English law Although the common law has, historically, be ...

, poundage was an ''ad valorem (in proportion to value)'' customs duty imposed on imports and exports at the rate of 1

shilling The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence o ...

for every pound (of weight) of goods imported or exported.Higgs, Henry. ''Palgrave's Dictionary of Political Economy'', Macmillan & Co. Ltd., London, 1926, p.548. Poundage was implemented in order to keep a strong naval force that would protect the Kingdom of England. The custom duty would allow the Monarch of the Kingdom to collect money that would then be spent to develop and maintain the naval force that protects the Kingdom. Poundage was closely associated with '' tonnage'', or ''tunnage'', which was a duty on every tun of wine imported.

Poundage in English History

The levy was introduced in 1347 under Edward III of England and was then granted by the Parliament in 1373. It continued for many years at the same rate until after the Restoration (in 1660, when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under King Charles II) from when the Parliament set the rates according to current needs. Moreover, the Parliament voted in 1414, under Henri V of England, the right for life for every successive monarch to benefit of a royal collection on the ton and pound on imports. King Charles I after original by van Dyck

King Charles I after original by van Dyck

Poundage under Charles I of England

Under the reign of Charles I of England (1600–1649), the House of Commons voted a limitation of the royal collection to a period of one year (while the period was for life for the previous monarchs). Charles continued to collect the customs duties, even if no Parliament act was established. In January 1629, Charles opened the second session of the English Parliament, which had been prorogued in June 1628, with a moderate speech on the tonnage and poundage issue. Members of the House of Commons began to voice opposition to Charles's policies in light of the case of John Rolle, a Member of Parliament whose goods had been confiscated for failing to pay tonnage and poundage. On March 2, 1629, Charles I ordered a parliamentary adjournment, but when the parliament's speaker,

Sir John Finch John Finch, 1st Baron Finch (17 September 1584 – 27 November 1660) was an English judge, and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1621 and 1629. He was Speaker of the House of Commons. Early life Finch was th ...

, was held by members of the Parliament in his chair in order to delay the end of the session, Charles decided to dissolve the Parliament.

as well as nine members of the Parliament were imprisoned.

The Tonnage and Poundage Act (1641)

In September 1640, following the

Bishops' Wars The 1639 and 1640 Bishops' Wars () were the first of the conflicts known collectively as the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms, which took place in Scotland, England and Ireland. Others include the Irish Confederate Wars, the First and ...

, King Charles I issued writs summoning the Parliament to convene on 3 November 1640. It was the creation of the Long Parliament, which lasted until it voted its own dissolution on the 16 March 1660. In 1641, the Tonnage and Poundage Act was voted by the Long Parliament, that would regulate all the taxes in force within the kingdom, concerning consequently the current poundage imposed on imports and exports. King Charles II by John Michael Wright or studio

King Charles II by John Michael Wright or studio

Poundage under Charles II of England

Under the reign of Charles II of England (1660–1685), the Convention Parliament (25 April 166029 December 1660) was founded and followed the Long Parliament that was dissolved on 16 March 1660. The Convention Parliament, which had only been in existence for eight months, re-established the right for life to collect the poundage to the monarch of England. From 1660, successive monarchs were able to collect poundage once again.

Abolition of poundage

The

Customs and Excise Act 1787 Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out of a country. Traditionally, customs ha ...

replaced all the customs duties, which included poundage, by a system where individual tariffs would be applied to importations. The act was divided into two parts. The first part included a statement related to the regulation of all the customs duties; the second part listed tables of duty and drawback amounts for all types of products. A list comprising all importations and tariffs related to each import was consequently put in place.

Poundage on postal orders

In Britain, and elsewhere, the term ''poundage'' is used for the charge imposed on the sale of a postal order.Annual Register 1914, p.262. A postal order is a financial instrument usually intended for sending money through the mail. It is purchased at a post office and is payable at another post office to the named recipient. The poundage represents the small fee for the service that is paid by the purchaser.

References

{{reflist History of taxation in the United Kingdom Numismatics Postal orders Economy of medieval England Protectionism Taxation in England Customs duties Trade in the United Kingdom 1347 establishments in England 1347