Tonnage and poundage Tonnage and poundage Tonnage and Poundage were certain duties and taxes first levied in Edward II's reign on every tun (cask) of imported wine, which came mostly from Spain and Portugal, and on every pound weight of merchandise exported or imported. Traditionally tonnage and poundage was granted by Parliament to the king for life until the reign of Charles I. Tonnage and poundage were swept away by the Customs Consolidation Act of 1787. Charles I's first Parliament, known as the Useless Parliament, broke with tradition and granted the king tonnage and poundage for a year rather than life out of
Deadweight tonnage tonnage is a measure of a vessel's weight carrying capacity, and does not include the weight of the ship itself. It should not be confused with displacement (weight of water displaced), which includes the ship's own weight, nor other volume or capacity measures such as gross tonnage or net tonnage (or their more archaic forms gross register tonnage or net register tonnage). Deadweight tonnage was historically expressed in long tons but is now usually given internationally in tonnes (metric tons). In modern international shipping conventions such as the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea and the International