Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Harris , J , fl 1764 , financial comptroller
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Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
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Description area
Dates of existence
History
Stamp duties were first introduced in England in 1694 by an Act of Parliament (5 & 6 William and Mary c.21). It was a form of taxation, originally levied on legal documents, which required them to use stamped paper. This was soon extended to other items, and became used as a method of social control, for example through the taxation of dice to prevent gambling. The creator is possibly James Harris (English philologist, 1709-1780). Trained as a lawyer. MP for the Borough of Christ Church from 1761-1780. Elected Lord of the Admiralty in 1762 and Lord of the Treasury in 1763 (to 1765). Made Secretary and Comptroller General to the Queen in 1774. Wrote Hermes, or a philosophical inquiry concerning universal grammar (1751).