It is worth noting that Portuguese and Dutch traders brought tea into Europe before this date, and it is possible that some tea was sold in England before 1652. However, with the return of Charles II from the enforced exile of the Inter-Regnum (1649-60) after the English Civil War (1640-45), tea became more fashionable among the gentility. It was hardly surprising that the nobility were the only group in society who could afford tea, as a pound of tea cost half a year's wages for the average labourer (£6-10/lb when wages were £15 per year).
Thomas Garway is said to be the first person to trade tea in England. He offered it in dry and liquid form at his coffee house in Exchange Alley in the City of London, holding his first public sale in 1657. In 1660, Garway issued a broadsheet advertising tea for sale and citing it as "wholesome, preserving perfect health until extreme old age, good for clearing the sight", and claiming "that it could make the body active and lusty". |
