The History of Tea

2737 BC

A leaf from the Camellia sinensis tree fluttered down and dropped into a cup of hot water belonging to Emperor Shen Nong. It tasted good and revived his spirits. Thus the first cup of tea was sipped by a mythical deity seen as the father of Chinese agriculture and medicine. In short – tea, discovered by a god.

1610

The Dutch East India Company introduced tea to Europe.

1660-

The East India Company presented two pounds of tea to the newly restored monarch Charles II.

1707-

The year of the formation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain. Also the year when Fortnum & Mason was founded in Duke Street, Piccadilly, by William Fortnum, a footman at the Court of Queen Anne (herself a great tea lover), and his landlord, livery stables owner Hugh Mason. The business was built upon wax, specifically used candles from St James’s Palace. But it soon became famous for tea. The fact that William Fortnum’s cousin, John, worked for the East India Company may have helped.

1707-

The year of the formation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain. Also the year when Fortnum & Mason was founded in Duke Street, Piccadilly, by William Fortnum, a footman at the Court of Queen Anne (herself a great tea lover), and his landlord, livery stables owner Hugh Mason. The business was built upon wax, specifically used candles from St James’s Palace. But it soon became famous for tea. The fact that William Fortnum’s cousin, John, worked for the East India Company may have helped.

1817-

Fortnum & Mason first described themselves as ‘Grocers and Tea Dealers’. A significant step, acknowledging the importance of tea in the growth of the business.

1830

Charles Bruce, brother of Robert Bruce (and the man recognised as having discovered a new variant of tea) sent seeds, plants and processed leaves to the Botanical Gardens in Calcutta, where it was named officially Camellia sinensis var. assamica.

1833

At long last, the East India Company lost its monopoly on the tea trade, thus opening up the business in Britain to competition for the first time since Charles II was on the throne.

1839

The Assam Tea Company was established. Britain would no longer be dependent on China for what was fast becoming the national drink.

1840-

Afternoon tea was created by Anna, Duchess of Bedford, a lifelong friend of Queen Victoria, and Lady of the Bedchamber at the time. She experienced ‘a sinking feeling’ around four each afternoon, and asked her servants to serve her tea with bread and butter, and a little cake, in her rooms. She started to invite friends over, and a British institution was born.

1840-

Afternoon tea was created by Anna, Duchess of Bedford, a lifelong friend of Queen Victoria, and Lady of the Bedchamber at the time. She experienced ‘a sinking feeling’ around four each afternoon, and asked her servants to serve her tea with bread and butter, and a little cake, in her rooms. She started to invite friends over, and a British institution was born.

1856

Queen Victoria ordered Fortnum & Mason to send a vast consignment of concentrated beef tea ‘without delay’ to Miss Nightingale, who was tending wounded British troops at Scutari.

1859

British shipbuilders started to build ‘extreme clippers’ – graceful sailing ships, built for speed, specifically for the tea routes from China.

1876

The art critic and social reformer John Ruskin was part of a conglomerate that promoted the provision of pure, unadulterated tea to the British working classes at affordable prices. Tea was one of the easiest commodities to adulterate, and Medical Officers of Health had long argued that much of the tea drunk by the poorest in the land was impure and dangerous.