HM Customs (His or Her Majesty's Customs) was the national Customs service of England (and then of Great Britain from 1707, the United Kingdom from 1801) until a merger with the Department of Excise in 1909. The phrase 'HM Customs', in use since the Middle Ages, referred both to the customs dues themselves and to the office of state established for their collection, assessment and administration.
The payment of customs duty (i.e. a levy on imported or exported goods) has been recorded in Britain for well over a thousand years. A centralised system for their collection has been in place since the 13th century, overseen since the 17th century by a Board of Commissioners (the Board of Customs). In 1909, HM Customs was merged with the Excise department (responsible for raising revenue from inland taxes) to create HM Customs and Excise (HMCE), responsible for all forms of indirect taxation. Just under a century later, HMCE was itself merged with the Inland Revenue (responsible for direct taxation) to create HM Revenue and Customs.
Operation
HM Customs officers operated almost exclusively in and from the coastal ports of England and Wales (and later Scotland and Ireland). By the start of the 19th century HM Customs had Custom Houses in 75 ports in England and Wales; each Custom House was staffed by a pair of Collectors, who received payments and supervised the other local officers, who focused mainly on the examination of cargo, its assessment for duty and the prevention of evasion (e.g. smuggling).
While revenue collection and protection was the Customs officers' principal task, several other responsibilities were accrued over centuries in relation to maritime law enforcement. As the principal government representatives in England's (later Britain's) ports, customs officers were involved in the regulation of salvage, quarantine, immigration, emigration, fisheries, trade and embargoes, as well as in the collecting of statistics and various other activities.
The Port of London was Britain's (for some time the world's) largest port and its Custom House in Lower Thames Street served as the headquarters of HM Customs. Alongside large numbers of local officers, the building accommodated officials and clerks responsible for national administration and oversight; the Board of Customs was based there from the time of its establishment in the 17th century.
The main public space in each Custom House, known as the Long Room, was where traders and others presented themselves to make the required payment of duties and fees on cargo destined for export or import. (The concept of a 'Long Room' dates from Sir Christopher Wren's rebuilding of London's Custom House in 1668-71). Prior to the establishment of shipping exchanges, the Long Room was, by default, the prime meeting place in each port where the owners and masters of ships could negotiate on trade and other matters with local merchants and others.
History
The levying of Customs duties in Britain (by officers appointed to the task) has been part of national life for many centuries. In 1215 Magna Carta asserted that merchants travelling to and from England should expect to pay the rectae et antiquae consuetudinae ('ancient and rightful customs').
Origins The first written reference to a Customs-type payment in England is found in a charter of King Aethelbald of Mercia issued in AD 743 to Worcester Abbey, granting them the dues of two ships collected at the Hythe of London. There is evidence from as early as AD 979 of import duties being collected at what was then the City of London's principal wharf at Billingsgate (close to what would later be the site of London's Custom House); variable rates of duty are listed, based on the size of vessel and its port of origin as well as on its cargo: at this time, duty appears to have been payable on imported wood, wine and fish, as well as on cloth, cheese, butter and eggs. Subsequently, there are references to various Customs-like duties, including lastage, scavage and cornage, the details of which are unclear. The tax on imported wine called Prise initially involved a proportion of the beverage itself being surrendered for use at the King's table; it subsequently developed into a financial payment.
Originally, the term customs meant any customary payments or dues of any kind (for example, to the king, or a bishop, or the church), but later became restricted to duties payable to the king on the import or export of goods. The beginnings of a centralised English customs system can be traced to the Winchester Assize of Customs of 1203, in the reign of King John, which established procedures by which customs duty (at the rate of one fifteenth on all goods imported or exported) would be collected and paid direct to the State Treasury (rather than to local sheriffs or feudal lords) and accounted for by the Exchequer. Between 1203 and 1205 this duty was collected at thirty-five English ports; however there is no evidence of its collection continuing after 1210.
The Middle Ages
Legislation establishing a more permanent system of customs can be traced to an Act of Parliament of King Edward I known as the nova custuma or 'new customs' of 1275 (more formally: the Grant of Custom on exported Wool, Woolfells and Hides). Under the Act, in any port so designated by the King, two Collectors of Customs were to be appointed by Royal patent, along with a Controller to maintain a counter-roll (to exercise financial control). Their authority was signified by the cocket: a two-part seal which certified payment of duty, one half of which was held by the Collectors, the other by the Controller. For any sizeable port, the grant of a cocket to its appointed Customs officers was important as it signified that it was a legitimate place for the landing and loading of goods for international trade. Merchants were required to present themselves at a designated office (known as a Custom House) to make the required payments; at each Custom House a large set of scales (known as the 'King's Beam') was installed for weighing wool in order to calculate the duty owed (in the 13th-14th century some 98% of customs revenue came from the export duty on wool).
In 1297 'Customers' (custodes custumae) were appointed in certain ports (viz. Boston, Bristol, Hull, Ipswich, London, Newcastle, Southampton and Yarmouth); they had overall responsibility for receiving and safeguarding money from the Collectors, ensuring its safe transfer from the ports to the City of London and making payments locally where instructed to do so by the Exchequer. Two years later, officers called Searchers were appointed in each port to arrest anyone dealing in counterfeit money, to examine all goods for import or export and to ascertain that the correct duty had been paid. In 1303 the first 'Surveyor' was appointed, having oversight of several ports; the Surveyors supervised the work of the Searchers, to ensure parity of practice across different locations. In each port, the Collectors, Controller and Searchers were required to render individual accounts to the Exchequer. Thus, by the end of the 13th century, a principle was established which has remained in force (with some modifications) to the present day: that of separation between the assessment of goods, the collection of revenue and the checking of accounts.
During this period (through until the mid-17th century) customs dues were farmed (i.e. leased to speculators in return for an annual rent). The 'farmers' usually appointed the Collectors (often from among the local merchants in each port) whereas the Controller was the King's officer (and had usually served as a minor official in the King's court). One of the local landed gentry would often serve as Customer, as they possessed the staff and vehicles required to ensure the safe transport of money received; however, with these appointments being made by Letters Patent, often for life (and sometimes with rights of inheritance), the patentee was able to employ a deputy to do the work while still collecting the (often substantial) fees associated with the post. In this way, the office of Customer soon developed into something of a sinecure; it was eventually abolished (along with various other 'patent' posts) in 1798.
Alongside the nova custuma, levied on exported wool and leather, there were two notable forms of duty on imported goods: 'tonnage', dating from 1347 (a fixed rate payable on each cask or 'tun' of imported wine) and 'poundage', dating from 1302 (an ad valorem tax of one shilling in the pound (i.e. 5%) levied on other imported or exported goods). These were initially raised as a temporary measure (for defence of the realm) by agreement with the merchants, but in 1373 legislation was passed making them permanent; from 1414 the associated revenue was granted directly to the Crown. Tonnage and poundage was the largest source of Customs revenue until its abolition in 1787.
Early Modern period
In the early 16th century an official Book of Rates was published: an early form of standardized tariff assigning official valuations to various imported goods. (Prior to this, Collectors had had to rely on a sworn statement from the importer as to the likely market value of their goods).
The Pool of London was the main centre of international trade in the country; the majority of revenue was received there and its administrative systems were well established. Elsewhere in the country, though, Customs procedures were much more variable both in their details and their effectiveness. In the second half of the century William Paulet as Lord High Treasurer instituted a number of reforms in an attempt to standardize procedures. The Customs Act 1558 instituted shipping controls that formed the basis of procedures that have been followed ever since: it regulated the hours during which cargoes could be loaded and unloaded and restricted this activity to named Legal Quays; it required the Master of any vessel arriving from a foreign port to give an account of their cargo at the Custom House before unloading and required all cargoes destined for foreign ports to be reported (along with their intended destinations) before loading. Coastwise traffic between English ports was also regulated by the Act.
During the 17th century a more centralised system of customs administration was developed, culminating in the end of 'farming' and the establishment of a permanent Board of Customs in 1671. This led to new appointments being made at a national level to oversee operations: a Receiver General was appointed to receive all monies from the Collectors, a Comptroller General was appointed to check and tally all the various accounts and three Surveyors General were appointed to ensure uniformity of practice across the country.
Excise duty began to be levied in England in 1643 and a permanent Board of Excise was established forty years later. The Board of Customs and the Board of Excise remained separate and independent bodies for the next two-and-a-quarter centuries, but their purposes and activities frequently overlapped and their respective officers often worked in close co-operation (or, at times, in close rivalry).