Wool Act 1698

Last updated

Wool Act 1698
Act of Parliament
Coat of Arms of England (1694-1702).svg
Parliament of England
Long title An Act to prevent the Exportation of Wool out of the Kingdoms of Ireland and England into Forreigne parts and for the Incouragement of the Woollen Manufactures in the Kingdom of England
Citation 10 Will. 3. c. 16
(Ruffhead: 10 & 11 Will. 3. c. 10)
Dates
Royal assent 4 May 1699
Commencement 24 June 1699
Repealed5 July 1825
Other legislation
Repealed by Customs Law Repeal Act 1825
Relates to
  • Exportation (No. 2) Act 1698
  • Taxation Act 1698
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted

The Wool Act 1698 (or the Woolens Act) was an Act of the Parliament of England (10 Will. 3. c. 16), long titled An Act to prevent the Exportation of Wool out of the Kingdoms of Ireland and England into Forreigne parts and for the Incouragement of the Woollen Manufactures in the Kingdom of England. [1] It was intended to increase England's woolen product manufacturing by preventing Irish wool production, manufactures, and export; it also forbade the export of wool and products from the American colonies. Competing woolens from these areas had recently become more available in foreign and domestic markets. The Act prohibited American colonists from exporting wool and wool products, [2] or export to markets outside the individual colony in which it was produced, or to be transported from one place to another in the same colony. The act did not forbid the making of woolen fabrics for private consumption, but simply forbade the making of woolens for the public market. At this time the woolens exported from England had to pay heavy export duties. The act, one of the Acts of Trade and Navigation, was mainly aimed at Irish woolens and established a policy to crush the Irish woolen industry. [3] [4] It had little effect on the American colonies; at most it only slowed the potential industry. [5] Shopkeepers had a very hard time during this period when the Wool Act was in force. Some colonists opposed this act by buying more flax and hemp.

Contents

Exportation (No. 2) Act 1698
Act of Parliament
Coat of Arms of England (1694-1702).svg
Parliament of England
Long title An Act for continueing severall Laws therein mentioned, and for explaining the Act intituled An Act to prevent the Exportation of Wooll out of the Kingdoms of Ireland and England into Forreigne Parts and for the Incouragement of the Woollen Manufactures in the Kingdom of England.
Citation
  • 11 Will. 3. c. 13
  • (Ruffhead: 11 & 12 Will. 3. c. 13)
Dates
Royal assent 11 April 1700
Repealed15 July 1867
Other legislation
AmendsWool Act 1699
Repealed by Statute Law Revision Act 1867
Status: Repealed
Taxation (No. 3) Act 1698
Act of Parliament
Coat of Arms of England (1694-1702).svg
Parliament of England
Long title An Act for takeing away the Duties upon the Woollen Manufactures, Corn Grain Bread Biscuit and Meal exported.
Citation
  • 11 Will. 3. c. 20
  • (Ruffhead: 11 & 12 Will. 3. c. 20)
Dates
Royal assent 11 April 1700
Repealed15 July 1867
Other legislation
AmendsWool Act 1699
Repealed by Statute Law Revision Act 1867
Status: Repealed

An exception to the act was passed the following year in the Exportation (No. 2) Act 1698 (11 Will. 3. c. 13 s. 9), which allowed these exports if they were for the use by the ship's crews and passengers. [6] Later in the year however, duties were abolished for English exportation of manufactured woolens and other products by the Taxation (No. 3) Act 1698 (11 Will. 3. c. 20). [7] [4] The act was repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1867.[ citation needed ]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wool</span> Textile fiber from the hair of sheep or other mammals

Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have some properties similar to animal wool.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Worsted</span> Fabrics manufactured from worsted yarns

Worsted is a high-quality type of wool yarn, the fabric made from this yarn, and a yarn weight category. The name derives from Worstead, a village in the English county of Norfolk. That village, together with North Walsham and Aylsham, formed a manufacturing centre for yarn and cloth in the 12th century, when pasture enclosure and liming rendered the East Anglian soil too rich for the older agrarian sheep breeds. In the same period, many weavers from the County of Flanders moved to Norfolk. "Worsted" yarns/fabrics are distinct from woollens : the former is considered stronger, finer, smoother, and harder than the latter.

The Navigation Acts, or more broadly the Acts of Trade and Navigation, were a long series of English laws that developed, promoted, and regulated English ships, shipping, trade, and commerce with other countries and with its own colonies. The laws also regulated England's fisheries and restricted foreign—including Scottish and Irish—participation in its colonial trade. While based on earlier precedents, they were first enacted in 1651 under the Commonwealth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flannel</span> Soft woven fabric with a lightly bills surface

Flannel is a soft woven fabric, of varying fineness. Flannel was originally made from carded wool or worsted yarn, but is now often made from either wool, cotton, or synthetic fiber. Flannel is commonly used to make tartan clothing, blankets, bed sheets, sleepwear, and several other uses.

Alnage, or aulnage was the official supervision of the shape and quality of manufactured woolen cloth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Baker Holroyd, 1st Earl of Sheffield</span> English politician (1735–1821)

John Baker Holroyd, 1st Earl of Sheffield, was an Anglo-Irish politician and soldier. He was a leading authority on agriculture and commerce and appointed President of the Board of Agriculture in 1803. He is also remembered as the close friend and patron of eminent historian Edward Gibbon, to whom he acted as literary executor and editor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hat Act 1731</span> 1732 British legislation

The Hat Act 1731 is a former Act of the Parliament of Great Britain enacted in 1732 to prevent and control hat production by the colonists in British America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frieze (textile)</span> Coarse Medieval woollen, plain weave cloth with a nap on one side

In the history of textiles, frieze is a Middle English term for a coarse woollen, plain weave cloth with a nap on one side. The nap was raised by scrubbing it to raise curls of fibre, and was not shorn after being raised, leaving an uneven surface.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calico Acts</span> English legislation

The Calico Acts banned the import of most cotton textiles into England, followed by the restriction of sale of most cotton textiles. It was a form of economic protectionism, largely in response to India, which dominated world cotton textile markets at the time. The acts were a precursor to the Industrial Revolution, when Britain eventually surpassed India as the world's leading textile manufacturer in the 19th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Economy of Scotland in the early modern period</span>

The economy of Scotland in the early modern era encompasses all economic activity in Scotland between the early sixteenth century and the mid-eighteenth. The period roughly corresponds to the early modern era in Europe, beginning with the Renaissance and Reformation and ending with the last Jacobite risings and the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scottish trade in the early modern era</span>

Scottish trade in the early modern era includes all forms of economic exchange within Scotland and between the country and locations outwith its boundaries, between the early sixteenth century and the mid-eighteenth. The period roughly corresponds to the early modern era, beginning with the Renaissance and Reformation and ending with the last Jacobite risings and the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Medieval English wool trade</span>

The medieval English wool trade was one of the most important factors in the medieval English economy. The medievalist John Munro notes that "[n]o form of manufacturing had a greater impact upon the economy and society of medieval Britain than did those industries producing cloths from various kinds of wool." The trade's liveliest period, 1250–1350, was 'an era when trade in wool had been the backbone and driving force in the English medieval economy'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woollen industry in Wales</span> Overview of the woollen industry in Wales

The woollen industry in Wales was at times the country's most important industry, though it often struggled to compete with the better-funded woollen mills in the north of England, and almost disappeared during the 20th century. There is continued demand for quality Welsh woollen products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shrewsbury Drapers Company</span> British trade organisation

The Shrewsbury Drapers Company was a trade organisation founded in 1462 in the town of Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The members were wholesale dealers in wool and later woollen cloth. The Company dominated the trade in Welsh cloth and in 1566 was given a regional monopoly in the Welsh Wool trade. In the seventeenth century the trade had difficulties particularly during the English Civil war and then further declined in the eighteenth century with the industrialisation of cloth production and the improvement of transport infrastructure. This made it practical for merchants from Liverpool and elsewhere to travel into Wales and purchase cloth directly from the producers. The Reform Acts of the early nineteenth century took away the power of the trade guilds and the trade ceased. Since that time the Shrewsbury Drapers Company has survived and continues as a charity that runs almshouses in Shrewsbury.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trade with Africa Act 1697</span> 1697 English Act of Parliament

The Trade with Africa Act 1697, also known as An Act to settle the Trade to Africa was a law passed by the Parliament of England to officially revoke the monopoly enjoyed by the Royal African Company (RAC) on English trade with Africa, with included the Atlantic slave trade. Instead the act introduced taxation on those involved in the "triangular trade" whereby merchants would be liable to pay ten per cent tax for the maintenance of the forts and castles between Cape Mount and the Cape of Good Hope which belonged to the RAC. The new regulations came into effect on 24 June 1698.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Narrow cloth</span> A fabric type, woven on narrow width loom

"Narrow cloth" is cloth of a comparatively narrow width, generally less than a human armspan; precise definitions vary.

References

  1. ↑ Statutes of the Realm: volume 7: 1695-1701 (1820), pp. 524-28. Date accessed: 5 August 2018.
  2. ↑ "Wool, woollfells, shortlings, mortlings, woollstocks, worsted, bay, woollen yarn, cloth, serge, bays, kerseys, says, frizes, druggets, cloth-serges, shalloons, drapery stuff, or any woolen manufacture."
  3. ↑ Corrigan, Vawn (2020). Irish Tweed: History, Tradition, Fashion. O'Brien Press. ISBN   9781788490214.
  4. 1 2 George Louis Beer, The commercial policy of England toward the American colonies p.77 (1893)
  5. ↑ John A. Garraty; Mark C. Carnes (2000). "Chapter Three: America in the British Empire". A Short History of the American Nation (8th ed.). Longman. ISBN   0-321-07098-4.
  6. ↑ long titled "An Act for continuing severall Laws therein mentioned, and for explaining the Act intituled An Act to prevent the Exportation of Wooll out of the Kingdoms of Ireland and England into Forreigne Parts and for the Incouragement of the Woollen Manufactures in the Kingdom of England" Statutes of the Realm: volume 7: 1695-1701 (1820), pp. 600-02. URL: https://www.british-history.ac.uk/statutes-realm/vol7/pp600-602. Date accessed: 16 February 2007.
  7. ↑ An Act for takeing away the Duties upon the Woollen Manufactures, Corn Grain Bread Biscuit and Meal exported.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.