Customs administration established under Crown authority after the purchase of the Isle of Man in 1765.

Revestment transferred the customs revenues of Mann from the Lords of Man to the Crown. A new customs establishment was therefore required to collect duties, regulate imports and exports and enforce the restrictions imposed on Manx trade after the purchase.

The change was immediate and substantial. The Island could no longer operate as the low-duty entrepôt which had sustained the running trade. Crown officers were charged with controlling the ports, recording imports and exports, preventing prohibited goods entering the Island and enforcing the new limits placed on quantities intended for local consumption.

The post-Revestment customs system also became part of the British revenue bureaucracy. Reports from the Island were sent to the Treasury and customs authorities, while proposals for regulating Manx trade were framed in terms of British revenue protection.

William Lutwidge’s post-Revestment proposals provide a detailed view of the new regime. He reported on the quantities and types of foreign goods entering Mann and argued that illicit trade had been largely suppressed. He also proposed measures intended to balance the needs of Manx inhabitants with the protection of British and Irish customs revenue.

The Crown establishment therefore performed a different function from its predecessor. The pre-1765 customs system had raised revenue for the Lord of Man while allowing a comparatively open import trade. After Revestment, customs administration became an instrument for integrating Manx trade into the fiscal restrictions imposed by the British state.