Glass tax

The glass tax was introduced in Great Britain in 1746, during the reign of King George II.

In 1780, the government granted Ireland free trade in glass without taxation, resulting in the establishment of glassworks in Cork and Waterford.

The heavy decorative glass objects and large windows became the symbol of wealth in this time period.

[3] Gradually the industry declined, until the glass tax was abolished by Sir Robert Peel's government in 1845.

[4] A contemporary account in the medical journal The Lancet described the glass tax as an "absurd impost on light": In a hygienic point of view, the enormous tax on glass, amounting to more than three hundred per cent on its value, is one of the most cruel a Government could inflict on the nation ...