GEOFFREY CHAUCER

Wairarapa Times-Age, 9 January 1940, Page 6

GEOFFREY CHAUCER

FORMER CUSTOMS OFFICER. HIS WORK IN LONDON. Geoffrey Chaucer was born -in Thames Street. London, in 1340. says a ' writer in the "Port of London Monthly." As a young man he was appointed' Yeoman to Edward 111., and was in high favour with the King and his son, John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. In 1372-73 Chaucer was sent on a mission to Genoa for the purpose of arranging an English port at which the Genoese might set up a commercial establishment. On his return the King rewarded him by the grant of a pitcher of wine daily to be received in the Port of London from the King’s butler. Chaucer commuted this payment in kind for the annual sum of 20 marks (£l3 6s. 8d). On May 10. 1374. Chaucer was granted a life lease of the house “above the gate of Algate, with the rooms built over and a certain cellar beneath.” This lease is preserved in the Public Records Office in London. Chaucer's selection of a dwelling at Algate was doubtless in anticipation of his anpointment to the office of Comptroller of the Customs and Subsidy of Wool, Skins and Leather in the Port of London, which appointment he took up on June 8, 1374. By the terms of his appointment Chaucer was to write the rolls of his office 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 with a view to maintaining prices and to facilitate the collection of Customs. During Edward lll.’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. Coal from the North-east Coast was discharged at wharves on the banks of the Fleet River, now covered by New Bridge Street. Ip 1362 Chaucer was given the additional appointment of Comptroller of the Petty Customs of the Port of London. Three years later he received permission to appoint a deputy for his work as Comptroller at the Wool Quay and was then able to devote more time to his writing. In 1386 Chaucer fell from court favour owing to the fact that his patron, John of Gaunt, was abroad and the government of the country was in the hands of his brother, Gloucester, who was opposed to him. On December 4. 1386. Chaucer was deprived of his office of Comptroller of the Customs, and 10 days later lost his other offices. In March. 1390, he was, however, appointed to serve on a commission, with four others, to repair the banks of the Thames between Greenwich and Woolwich, but was superseded the following year. It is thought that at this time Chaucer resided in Greenwich. In 1393, John of Gaunt married Chaucer's sister-in-law, Lady Catherine Twynford, and Chaucer regained court favour, but although he was given various appointments, he did not return to the Customs service.

The only known reference to Chaucer's work as the Comptroller of Customs is the record that on July 12, 1376, the King granted him the sum of £7l 4s 6d, which had been paid as a fine by John Kent, of London, for shipping wool to Dordrecht without having paid the duty thereon. Chaucer began writing his "Canterbury Talcs" in 1373. He continued his literary work while Comptroller of Customs, and was engaged upon it at intervals for the rest of his life. The "Canterbury Tales," above all Chaucer's works, place him in the front rank of poets. His descriptions of those taking part in the Canterbury pilgrimages setting out from the Tabard Inn. Southwark, give a vivid and valuable picture of London life in medieval times.

Chaucer died at Westminster on October 25, 1400, and was buried in Poets' Corner of .the Abbey. His work as Comptroller of Customs is commemorated by a carved medallion in the board room of the Port of London Authority.