GEOFFREY CHAUCER
COMPTROLLER OF CUSTOMS. Details of London trade in the fourteenth century, when Geoffrey Chaucer was Comptroller of Customs, are given in an article in “The P.L.A. Monthly” for June. “Geoffrey Chaucer was - born in Thames Street in 1340, and when he was 34 he was given the office of Comptroller of -the Customs and Subsidy of Wool, Skins and Leather in the Port of London. By the terms of his appointment Chaucer was to write the rolls of his offices with his own hand and ‘keep the other part of the seal called the coket.’ The ‘coket’ or ‘cocket’ is a term still used by H.M. Customs to describe the seal placed by them on goods in bond. “At this time wool was an important export regulated by a staple vzith a view to maintaining prices and to facilitate the collection of customs. During Edward Ill’s reign the tax on exported wool varied between 6s 8d a bale and 50s a bale. London’s other exports in Chaucer’s time included fish, lead, copper and tin. Goods imported into London included various foodstuffs, wine, silk and woollen cloths, timber and, in time of scarcity, corn.”
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Wairarapa Times-Age, 5 August 1939, Page 8
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195GEOFFREY CHAUCER Wairarapa Times-Age, 5 August 1939, Page 8
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