Tea became fashionable and then part of English life. The import of tea into England rose dramatically at the end of the 17th Century and beginning of the 18th Century, from 40,000lbs in 1699 to an annual average of 240,000lbs by 1708.

During the next 150 years, England expanded its Empire in Asia, North America and Africa mainly due to the 'trade wars' fought by the East India Company. Its most notable success being at the Battle of Plessey in India (1757), at which English hegemony was established over the subcontinent by the definitive defeat of the French.