or Licence, is a legal document granting permission to deal in certain specified articles of trade. A license is granted annually on application and on payment of the duty, except in cases where an abuse of privilege has been proven. Public-house licenses were granted in England as early as Edward VI. (1551); since which period this mode of imposing duty on excisable articles has been carried into several departments of trade. The annual revenue from licenses now exceeds £1,000,000.

The following (from The Business Man's Note-Book for 1857) is a list of the trades which cannot be carried on in Great Britain without a license, specifying also the rate of license per annum:

| Trade Description | Rate | |-------------------|------| | Auctioneers | L10 | | Brewers of table-beer only | L10 | | Not above 20 barrels | 0 10 6 | | 20 | 1 1 6 | | 100 | 1 1 6 | | Above 100 | 2 2 0 | | Brewers of strong beer | L10 | | Not above 20 barrels | 0 10 6 | | 20 | 1 1 6 | | 100 | 1 1 6 | | 2,000 | 3 3 0 | | 5,000 | 7 17 6 | | 7,500 | 11 16 3 | | 10,000 | 15 15 0 | | 20,000 | 31 10 0 | | 30,000 | 47 0 0 | | 40,000 | 63 0 0 | | Above 40,000 | 78 15 0 | | Brewers using sugar | L10 | | Brewers for sale by retail, not to be consumed on the premises | 5 10 3 | | Sellers of beer only, not being brewers | 3 6 12 | | Beer retailers (publicans) whose premises are rated under L10 per annum (England and Ireland only) | 1 2 0 5 | | At L10, or upwards | 3 6 12 | | Retailers of beer, cider, and perry, under 4th and 5th Will, IV., can only be drunk on the premises (England only) | 3 6 12 | | Not to be drunk on the premises | 1 2 0 3 | | Retailers of cider and perry only | 1 2 0 3 | | Retailers of beer, cider, or perry, whose premises are rated under L10 per annum (Scotland only) | 2 10 0 | | At L10 per annum, or upwards | 4 4 0 | | Dealers in coffee, tea, cocoa-nuts, chocolate, or pepper | 0 11 6 4 |

Malsters making not above 50 quarters | L10 7 10 4 | |-------------------------------------|------------| | 100 | 0 15 9 | | 150 | 1 3 7 1 | | 200 | 1 11 6 | | 250 | 1 19 4 3 | | 300 | 2 7 3 | | 350 | 2 15 1 3 | | 400 | 3 3 0 | | 450 | 3 10 10 4 | | 500 | 3 19 9 | | 550 | 4 6 7 7 | | Above 550 | 4 14 6 | | Beginners (and a surcharge) | L10 7 10 4 | | Not above 5 quarters | 0 2 7 3 | | Malt roasters | 20 0 0 | | Dealers in roasted malt | 10 0 0 | | Paper—every maker of paper or pasteboard | 4 4 0 | | Passage vessels on board which liquors or tobacco are sold | 1 1 0 | | Postmasters' (Great Britain) licenses to let horses for hire | | | Persons keeping 1 horse and 1 carriage | 7 10 0 | | 2 | 12 10 0 | | 4 | 20 0 0 | | 8 | 30 0 0 | | 12 | 40 0 0 | | 16 | 50 0 0 | | 20 | 60 0 0 | | Above 20 | 70 0 0 | | Above 20 horses, then for every additional 10 horses, or less than 10, over 20, or any other multiple of 10 horses, the additional duty of | 10 0 0 | | Postmasters (Ireland) | 2 2 0 | | To kill game (Ireland) | 3 3 0 | | Race-horse duty | 3 17 0 | | Soap, every maker | 4 4 0 | | Spirits, Distillers | 10 10 0 | | Rectifiers | 10 10 0 | | Dealers, not retailers | 10 10 0 | | Spirit-dealers for retailing foreign liqueurs | 2 2 0 | | Makers of methylated spirits | 10 10 0 | | Makers of stills (Scotland and Ireland) | 0 10 6 | | Chemists, distillers requiring the use of a still (England) | 0 10 0 | | (Scotland and Ireland) | 0 10 6 | | Retailers of spirits whose premises are rated under L10 per annum (England and Ireland) | 2 4 1 | | At L10, and under L20 | 4 8 21 | | 20 | 6 12 33 | | 25 | 7 14 4 | | 30 | 8 16 42 | | 40 | 9 18 5 1 | | 50 or upwards | 11 0 6 | | Retailers of spirits and beer whose premises are rated under L10 per annum (Scotland) | 4 4 0 | | At L10, and under L20 | 5 5 0 | | 25 | 9 9 0 | | 30 | 10 10 0 | | 40 | 11 11 0 | | 50 or upwards | 12 12 0 | | Retailers of spirits in Ireland, being duly licensed to sell coffee, tea, &c., whose premises are rated under L25 per annum | 9 18 5 1 | | At L25, and under L30 | 11 0 6 | | 30 | 12 2 6 2 | | 40 | 13 4 7 | | 50 or upwards | 14 6 7 2 | | Sweets, retailers (United Kingdom) | 1 2 0 1 | | Tobacco and snuff, and manufacturers of not above 20,000 lb. | 5 5 0 | | Above 20,000, not above 40,000 lb. | 10 10 0 | | 40,000 | 15 15 0 | | 60,000 | 21 0 0 | | 80,000 | 26 5 0 | | Above 100,000 | 31 10 0 | | Beginners (and a surcharge on the quantity made) | 5 5 0 | | Dealers in tobacco and snuff | 0 5 3 | | Vinegar makers | 5 5 0 | | Dealers in foreign wine, not having licenses for retailing spirits and beer | 10 10 0 | | Dealers having a license for retailing beer, but not spirits | 4 8 21 |