Legal Definitions - sufferance wharves

Sufferance Wharves

In historical English law, "sufferance wharves" referred to specific docks or piers that were officially designated by customs authorities. These particular wharves allowed imported goods to be unloaded and temporarily stored *before* the required customs duties or taxes had to be paid. This arrangement provided merchants with a grace period, giving them time to process their shipments, find buyers, or arrange the necessary funds for the duties, rather than demanding immediate payment upon the goods' arrival.

• Example 1: Importing Luxury Goods

  Imagine an 18th-century London merchant specializing in exotic spices and silks from the East. When a ship carrying a valuable cargo of these goods arrived in port, it would often dock at a designated sufferance wharf. This allowed the merchant to unload the precious silks and spices and store them securely at the wharf. The key benefit was that the merchant did not have to pay the substantial import duties immediately upon the ship's arrival, giving them crucial time to inspect the goods, secure buyers, or arrange the significant funds needed for the customs payments before the items were moved inland for sale.

• Example 2: Large-Scale Raw Material Shipments

  Consider a large textile manufacturer in historical England who relied on massive shipments of raw cotton from overseas colonies. When a vessel laden with hundreds of bales of cotton arrived, it would be directed to a sufferance wharf. This enabled the manufacturer to offload and store the entire bulk of cotton without being immediately liable for duties on the whole shipment. Instead, they could pay duties in stages, as they withdrew smaller portions of the cotton from the wharf for their spinning and weaving operations, thereby managing their cash flow more efficiently and avoiding a single, large upfront tax payment.