At that time Customs were farmed, that is not directly collected by the Crown, but rather by franchisees, who bid for the right to do so, and it is stated in 1368 that goods ‘came ashore in the franchises of the Earl of Bedford and the Earl of Salisbury on the Isle of Wight’. This farming continued until about 1590, and also occurred between 1662 and 1671.The first reference to a Customs presence on the Isle of Wight is found in the reply to a Petition to the King in 1432 by merchants of Lymington and Newport complaining of difficulties of discharging goods as no Customer was present.