Financial abstracts relating to customs and excise duties

Manuscript volume of financial abstracts relating to Customs and Excise duties, Exchequer bills and the Post Office, as follows:
1.'A true copie of the table of proportion whereby the money received out of the country upon the account of excise is applyed to the severall duties of excise...Excise Office, London, 9 July 1703', from an original signed by Deane Mountague'.
2. 'A state of the Exchequer bills issued by vertue of three act of Parliament that passed on the 8th, 9th and 12th year of the reign of William III computed from 26th April 1697 to 27th August 1703'.
3. Account of the Salt Act bills of credit, 1696-98.
4. Account of principal and interest paid on the several registers following, between Michaelmas 1702 and Midsummer 1704.
5. Account of the revenue of the General Post Office, 1702-1703.
6. Penny Post Office account 23 Sep-23 Dec 1702.
7. 'List of the officers and messengers belonging to the Peny Post Office with their several salaries and wages'.
8. 'Gross and net produce of the whole excise from 24 June 1704 to 24 June 1705'.

The Exchequer was responsible for receiving and dispersing the public revenue. Excise are inland duties levied on articles at the time of their manufacture, notably, alcoholic drinks, but has also included salt, paper and glass. The term 'customs' applied to customary payments or dues of any kind, regal, episcopal or ecclesiastical until it became restricted to duties payable to the King upon export or import of certain articles of commerce. In 1635, King Charles I opened the Royal mail to the public, and in 1680, an enterprising businessman named William Dockwra set up an efficient and compressive local post within London. It was privately run at first, then taken over by the Post Office on the prompting of the Duke of York, later King James II.

Single item.

Access to this collection is unrestricted for the purpose of private study and personal research within the supervised environment and restrictions of the Library's Palaeography Room. Uncatalogued material may not be seen. Please contact the University Archivist for details.

Bought from Frank Hollings in 1964.

Collection level description.

7" x 4¼"

Compiled by Sarah Aitchison as part of the RSLP AIM25 Project.

Copies may be made, subject to the condition of the original. Copying must be undertaken by the Palaeography Room staff, who will need a minimum of 24 hours to process requests.

Inserted in the volume are two Cowper bookplates, one of the library at Brocket Hall, the other of Panshanger, both in Hertfordshire.