A butlerage was a duty of two shillings on every ton of wine imported into England by foreign merchants.[1][2] It was so called because it was paid to the king's butler for the king. The tax was levied from 1302 to 1809.[1]
References
editFurther reading
edit- Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chambers, Ephraim, ed. (1728). "Butlerage". Cyclopædia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences (1st ed.). James and John Knapton, et al.