Legal Definitions - grainage

Grainage was a historical tax or duty specifically levied in London. It represented a charge imposed on foreign merchants who imported salt into the city. This duty amounted to one-twentieth (or 5%) of the total salt brought in by these non-English traders.

Here are some examples illustrating the concept of grainage:

• Imagine a 17th-century Dutch merchant, Jan van der Meer, sailing his ship laden with salt from the Netherlands into the Port of London. Upon arrival, because Jan was considered an "alien" (a non-English citizen), he would be required to surrender one-twentieth of his entire salt cargo to the London authorities as grainage. If he brought 200 barrels of salt, 10 barrels would be taken as this specific duty.

• Consider a French trader named Pierre in the late medieval period, who regularly transported salt across the English Channel to sell in London's markets. Each time Pierre's vessel docked in London with a shipment of salt, the city officials would assess his cargo. As a foreign importer, he would owe grainage, meaning 5% of the salt he imported would be collected as a tax, distinct from any other customs duties.

• During the Tudor era, a Spanish ship captain, Captain Rodriguez, might arrive in London with a significant quantity of salt, perhaps intended for preserving fish or for sale to English merchants. Since Captain Rodriguez and his crew were not English subjects, the salt they brought into London would be subject to grainage. This meant that for every 20 units of salt he imported, one unit would be claimed by the local authorities as this specific historical duty.