O TH MAS TWINING .

The "o er of the i i und Ho use of Tw n ng. [ 1675—1741]

After the or iginal picture by Hogarth . T H E I W I ‘NI NGS IN

T H R EE CENT U RI ES .

PM . h R T wmmc Co Ltd T ea ; , ( cn mo -H n t c f m i : mi y). an the m : m cdebm ic n d the bW ury of t he fim m

T H E T W I N I N GS I N

T H R EE CENT U R I ES .

’ ’ 6 5a Qtnnats

of a (g reat Eamon

z ea fi ouse

- 1710 1910 .

W i h P r its and I llustr ti ns t o tra a o .

P e b . W I N d T T I NG Co . Lt ea ublish d y R , . ( m en to M t n of His ajes y) , o the occasion the cel ebration of the bicentenary of the first estab lishment of their business by T homas T wining at of G L St e ye sign ye olden yon in ye rand .

' — N h C O PYR I G H T E T R ED AT S u n omzns H ALL . Tbe Twining ; in

Tkree Centurie:

"is in the eternal fitness of things tha t the bicentenary of the birth of the great lexicog ra her “ p who confessed himself a hardened, a sh meless tea drinker , whose kettle had ” scarcely time to cool , should be almost

immediately followed by the two - hundredth anniversary of Thomas Twining ’s trans ’ ” formation of “ Tom s Coffee House (the of Akenside trysting place Pope , and Birch) into an emporium for the sale and c on sumption of what was still timidly spoken “ of as the new China herb . Tha t “ excellent , and by all Physicians approved, China drink ’ ’ Chineans ‘ T scha ‘ called by the , by other nations Tay “ ’ s n - f alia Tee , had been sold at the Sulta e s Head Cof ee House near the Royal Exchange in the year succee ding the

n - Restoration ; Edmu d Waller, the courtier poet, had inter “ mingled his praises of Catherine of Braganza ( the best of “ queens ) with that of Tea ( the best of andSamuel Pepys had greatl y commended “ the China drink which he ” had never before tasted ; but at the beginning of Queen ’ s s Anne s reign , the dawn of what Lord Tennyson describe a The teacup times of hood and h0 0 p

And when the patch was worn , the coffee - houses and the tea - houses of the metropolis were still in the proportion of something like three thousand to three . The accession of a Queen who loved tea (she called it e tay just as ardently as her sister hat d it , and the setting ” up of the sign of the “ Golden Lyon by Thomas Twining 1 1 0 early in 7 , combined to bring about a sudden revolution DR I N"ER I N 1 7 A TEA 71 .

ro the Me ot t of J . Gree w H m i ood after N. F zz n n on e.

' ( ortra t of the Pa ter s D a t r A p i in ugh e . ) TE A N"IN P O DRI G AT THE ANTHE N ,

O ""O R D S TREET . [ 1792]

Me ot t H re after war s. the From zz in by umph y . Ed d f in public eeling . Pope , who made tea rhyme with obey, saluted Her Maj esty in the oft - quoted lines

N N " Here , thou , great A A Whom three realms obey, — ” Dost sometimes counsel take and sometimes tea,

1 1 while Nahum Tate , the Poet Laureate of 7 5, wrote Thus our tea conversations we employ

Where with delight, instruction we enjoy uaffin of or Q g , without the waste time wealth ,

The sovereign drink of pleasure and of health .

In 1 7 1 1 Queen Anne appointed Thomas Twining her “ of purveyor teas, and the distinction has been continued of by her successors ever since, the records the accounts of eight sovereigns forming an interesting department of “ the Golden Lyon archives . From the day Thomas Twining opened his doors the popularity of “ the grand elixir amongst all conditions of men and women increased of by leaps and bounds , and in the person Peter Motteux , “ the once despised China drink discovered a versifier wholly devoted to the laudation of what was now a

a . roy l beverage According to Motteux , a fierce contest took place amongst the gods as to the merits of the ” ” e d coction , which found an eloquent champion in modest Hebe ; Bacchus made a good fight for the j uice of the “ ’ forc d k n grape , but , dran sober tea at last while listeni g to his condemnation

’ a ‘ " Immort ls , hear , said jove, and cease to jar Tea must succeed to wine as peace to war

Nor by the grape let men be set at odds , ’ a . But sh re in tea, the nectar of the gods

U p to the end of the first decade of the eighteenth ’ a ff T om century the riv l co ee houses , and the “ ” Grecian , drew crowds to Devereux Court, while close “ ’ was by George s (only a little less fashionable) , where Shenstone could read all the lesser pamphlets of the day

for . a shilling subscription Addison , Steele , Goldsmith and ” habitués . Newton were all of the Grecian The first of them , of at any rate , must have bestowed some his patronage ’ ” of on Twining, Tom s , under the new order of things , for “ ” in a number of The Freeholder in 1 7 1 5 he writes of “ of - a lady who had a design keeping an open tea table, where every man shall be welcome that is a friend to ” of King George . During the reign the first two Hano verian monarchs the bold venture of Thomas Twining ’ prospered exceedingly . Altho tea cost from twenty to

i . a thirty sh llings a pound , Mr Edw rd Walford writes , great ladies used to flock to Twining’s house in Devereux

Court (then , as now, the premises occupied by the premier

English tea - house cover the whole space lying between

old- the Strand and the shady world quadrangle , on the ‘ 1 6 6 walls of which the words This is Deveraux Courte , 7 can still be read) in order to sip the enlivening beverage in very small china cups, for which they paid their shillings , much as nowadays (Walford wrote in the eighteen seventies they sit in their carriages eating ices at the door ’ ” of Gunter s in Berkeley Square on hot days in June . A curious illustrated broadside of about 1 740 has come into the writer’s possession which depicts the scene at Twining ' s ’ Motteux s very happily . In the accompanying verses Peter “ ” nectar of the gods is first associated with feminine tittle - tattle

The Smell how fragrant and the Form how nice ’ ’ Tis good in ev ry Thing , but in the Price . U nnumbered Sums the wearied Merchants get, ’ And Husbands tremble at th approaching Fleet ; ’ I wist not what its name in H ea v n may be ' f To us below tis known by that o TEA . Ladies of all Degrees at this repast

For all Degrees of Mischief have a Taste .

The half century which followed the setting up of the sign of the Golden Lyon in the Strand was an epoch in which the tea - garden played almost as important a part as the

- f tea house . One o these popular places of amusement and

. of refreshment , Mr Boulton tells us , occupied the very site ’ the present underground railway station at King s Cross , while others flourished on the spot which is now a very wilderness of railway bridges and shunting grounds behind i on the great termini in the Euston Road . As t me went the tea - gardens spread over a tract of country which one on included Bayswater on hand and Stepney the other, out n stretched to Kilbur , Belsize , Hampstead , Hornsey and s i and Dalston , studded generou ly the whole distr ct so

8 1 IN 750. M. R J O "I RS DR . OHNS N TA NG TEA WITH TH ALE

- BOR U CI R . 1770 80 . IN THE O GH ,

10 included with those popular resorts, the names of whose or springs , proprietors attractions are yet preserved in the names of the streets which to - day cover the scenes of their ancient delights . The glories of Islington Spa or New Tunbridge Wells were only completely extinguished in the reign of Queen

Victoria, although Ned Ward had extolled its lime avenues ,

- its . tea house , its dancing saloon and its gaming tables In 1 733 the Princesses Caroline and Amelia were often to be seen at Islington Spa, and they occasionally graced with

- Ba ni e their presence the tea tables of g gg Wells , situate a of little to the north the Clerkenwell Police Court, and famous in the days of Thomas Twining for its early breakfasts , at which tea, bread and butter and cakes made on the premises were consumed in enormous quantities . 1 88 In February, 7 , Robert Sayer published a delightful B ni print of a scene at ag gg e Wells Gardens . Beneath it ran the lines All innocent within the shade you see

This little Party sip salubrious Tea, Soft Tittle - Tattle rises from the stream ’ S weeten d each word with Sugar and with Cream .

The joys of afternoon tea were seemingly already appreciated in the reign of George I I , for George Colman ’ ” Garrick s T on the elder, in his prologue to David Bon , wrote

’ ’ x Bon Ton s the space twi t Sunday and Monday , ’ - ai on Tis riding in a one horse ch r Sunday, ’ Tis drinking tea on summer afternoons ni At Bag gg e Wells with china and gilt spoons .

Mr n A little later a ybo e Gardens and Music became of the rage the town , but Tea still continued to hold its ’ own 1 , supplemented in 759 by Miss Trusler s almond

- cheese cakes , twelve penny tarts and rich plum cakes . This lady assured her patrons that at her Bread and Butter Manufactory nothing was used but the choicer sorts of “ “ the China H erb (such as was sold at the Golden

Lyon the best loaf sugar and the finest Epping butter . Tinney published an engraving of the groves and latticed ” of Mr a bone 1 arbours y in 755, and years later its simple

11 ’ beauty is said to have inspired G eorge Morland s lovely ” the painting the Tea Garden , engraved plate after which is now one of the prizes of the sale rooms . Near Penton ville stood Copenhagen House and White Conduit House , two of the great northern tea - gardens which vied alike with “ " B ni Mr ne on a e a bo g g g and y , and a little further the

Adam and Eve at Tottenham Court . Here several generations of London citizens regaled themselves “ with " tea, hot loaves , and milk from cows which eat no grains . Throughout the greater part of the eighteenth century the

- of tea garden prospered equally on both sides the Tha mes . ’ ’ l Cu er s i Vauxha l , Finch s Grotto , p and Belv dere Gardens and Bermondsey Spa were all approached by water, nor must be forgot the little group of Chelsea tea - gardens known “ " “ ’ S trombolo . as House, and Jenny s Whim The fame of the Chelsea bun is the sole surviving memory of these

- of - river side Symposia . The love the tea house is common to both the age of joseph Addi son and Richard Steele and that of Samuel johnson and David Garrick .

” Twining ’s in the Strand was almost as close to Drury Lane as it was to johnson ’s haunts in Temple

Lane and Johnson and Bolt Courts . I t may safely be conjectured that a visit to Devereux Court must have : T ea inspired Colley Cibber when he wrote thou sober,

- n sage, and venerable liquid ; thou female tonge ru ning ,

- - n k - smile soothing , heart openi g , win tipping cordial , to whose glorious insipidity I owe the happiest moments of ’ i my life, let me fall prostrate . johnson s connect on with ’ f both Tea and Twining s will be spoken o later on . "or the moment it suffices to say that the colossus of Literature “ was at the same time the chosen champion of the crumpled leaf from China, in defence of which he broke more than one lance with Jonas Hanway and john Wesley . There was no half - heartedness either in the advocacy or the f predilections o the Sage of Fleet Street . He avowed himself to the world at large as a hardened and shameless

- for d tea drinker, who has twenty years dilute his meals with of i e t only the infusion this fascinat ng plant , whose k t le has scarcely time to cool ; who with tea amuses the evening , ol tea with tea s aces the midnight , and with welcomes the

1 2 ‘ A S CENE " R PI R EDU CTI O N O " TH E TE A TE TT S A TA". [1785]

1 3 . DR . O O " G MR . BO J HNS N TA IN TEA WITH S SWELL IN THE HIGHLANDS

14

I t may be interesting to note that yet another member of the family in Holy Orders was Richard ni of Twi ng , Monk Tewkesbury , who was ordained a r on 1 th Regular Priest in Worcester Cathed al December 9 , A on the 1 472 . s a monk he would have been present 1 1 famous day of the Battle of Tewkesbury in 47 , when u r the Lancastrian Army , under the D ke of Some set and

M w . Queen argaret, was completely defeated by Ed ard IV his the and brother Richard , and the troops took refuge in Y d abbey . The victorious orkists followed ; Edward arrive of out at the porch with the intention dragging the fugitives ,

of i l . or k l ing them The abbot , however, came from the n altar , where he had been celebrating Mass, and holdi g the consecrated wafer in his hands , forbade the king to u commit such sacrilege , and ref sed to let him pass till he had consented to spare the lives of the refugees . This al l i prayer was granted , and present j o ned in a solemn service of thanksgiving for victory and safety . At the of e dissolution the T wkesbury monastery , Frater Thomas u Twining was amongst the pensioners, and f lly a hundred a years l ter another John Twining, a sturdy Royalist, was accused of assisting in the defence of the garrison of s g ff Eve ham a ainst Cromwell , for which he su ered both r imprisonment and fo feiture . It seems that the Twinings were more numerous at Pershore and Painswick than even at Twyning itself. On a board in Painswick Parish Church it is recorded that in 1 72 4 one Thomas Twining gave 5 i towards the village schools then founded . In all probabil ty this refers to the Thomas Twining whose baptism took a 1 6 t pl ce in 75 , and whose migra ion to London was the — indirect cause not only of the past , present and , let us u — ’ hope , fut re prosperity of London s premier Tea House , but of the uncontrovertible fact that no fewer than eight l of his descendants , ma e and female , figure conspicuously ” in the Dictionary of National Biography . The founder of and the originator of the " ’ Giles s Golden Lyon , first resided in St . , Cripplegate, where ’ he e b came a Free man of the Weavers Company . The circumstances under which the transformation of Tom ’s ” Coffee House into “ Twining ' s Tea House took place in 1 1 0 a l 7 have lready been a luded to . They speak volumes

16 DANIEL TWINING .

The Seco nd Hea d of th e Ho use of

[1713 — 1762]

fter the r a ct r H A o igin l pi u e by udson .

17 O DIAL H U SE .

The wicke a m ome of th i i T nh H e Tw n ngs.

(After the orig i a w ater co o r y Ehz a beth Tw i i n l l u b n ng .

18 both for the foresight and the enterprise of the young man a from P inswick , who long before he was thirty had left the picturesque little village on the banks of the Avon— which had in its day sent forth brave warriors to the Crusades , and , later still , had supplied men who risked their lives and “ possessions in the cause of king and country — for the purpose of seeking his fortune in the metropolis , and , as fate

of . subsequently willed it , within a few paces Temple Bar

1 1 0 - Between 7 and his death , just thirty one years later, Thomas Twining and his business flourished exceedingly ’ Twining s Teas became a household word , and in an of one incredibly short space time the head of the house , as ’ of London s most prosperous citizens, gave a sitting to the great Hogarth for the striking portrait now reproduced in i facs mile as a frontispiece to these pages . He lived for i some t me wholly in Devereux Court , but it was probably his boyish recollections of the Avon and the Severn which induced him , at an early period in his prosperous career , to build a country mansion at Twickenham , in close proximity

of . to the Thames , which received the name Dial House

Here , for the best part of two centuries , resided , as far as the exigencies of a constantly increasing business would of of allow , representatives successive generations the

Twinings . Twenty years ago , Richard Twining I I I , on behalf of the whole family, presented Dial House to the of V living Twickenham , to replace a icarage which had

n . become u inhabitable I t was almost entirely rebuilt , but the quaint features of the original structure have been

the - w carefully preserved, and weather worn dial by hich at least eight generations of Twinings regulated their c wat hes , before setting out for the scene of their successes in the Strand , still forms part of the facade . 1 1 On the death of Thomas Twining, in 74 , he was succeeded by his son Daniel , born at Devereux Court in 1 1 i of 7 3 , who had prev ously been a member the firm . U nder his energetic guidance the prosperity of the Golden ” of Lyon grew by leaps and bounds . The portrait Daniel a 1 Twining now given be rs the date 756 . He became — the father of three sons Thomas , Richard and John . The son x 1 second , Richard , was born at Devereu Court in 749,

was c . and sent , before rea hing his teens , to Eton At the age

19 f ’ o sixteen he entered his father s business , for which he

soon showed singular aptitude . Daniel Twining died in 1 62 7 , but before this date he had taken into partnership son r Nathaniel Carter, a nephew, of his sister Marga et, l who had married Philip Carter . An old bi lhead of the 1 “ d firm , of 757, engraved Twining Carter , is repro uced 1 82 in this book . Between that time and 7 the whole “ conduct of the affairs of the Golden Lyon remained in of w the capable hands Mary Twining , his idow, the Mstyle of the firm in 1 778 (or possibly a little earlier) being ary w 1 6 T ining Son , although in 7 3 she must have had sole ’ control , since Kent s London Directory of that date gives ”

a . Mary Twining , Tea Warehouse , Devere ux Court , Strand

She was succeeded by this son , Richard I , who was joined by 1 1 his brother John . In 79 the bills were headed Richard and John Twining , but possibly this superscription may be of d f still earlier date . It was a perio o acute crisis in

the tea trade , but his energy , acumen and special knowledge not only enabled Twining ’s to triumphantly weather the of storm , but contributed very largely to the solution the

fi 1 8 - 6 dif cult problem by the legislative enactments of 7 4 , 1 0 known as the Commutation Acts . In 77 the enormous duties on tea and the constant interference with the trade n of a by Parliament had destroyed ma y the we ker firms , while the absolute monopoly now enjoyed by the East India Company was only mitigated by the wholesale smuggling of J ava teas from Holland . Richard Twining from his youth upwards had carefully studied the political and fiscal ff questions a ecting the tea trade . 1 8 On forming his first Administration in 7 3 , William

Pitt, as Chancellor of the Exchequer , found himself ’ ai w at his wits end to r se revenue , o ing to the abuses

a . of the Customs l ws , especially with regard to tea In his trouble he wisely turned for assistance to the man who knew most about the subject , and who was , moreover , one of e the very few that could be trust d . Richard ’ Twining s advice was tha t tea should be admitted free of of duty , and that the merchants , in consideration this relief, should pay a lump sum to the Treasury to make up f r o . the loss of revenue four years Pitt accepted the plan , i which Twin ng helped him to put into proper shape , the Com

20 THE I NDENTU RE OF DANI EL TW I NI NG AS AN APPR ENTICE

O " R O G 1727 . T HIS ATHE , TH MAS TWININ ,

21 1 orm rwrmnc .

[1760- 1827]

- Twmmc A ND Y I TTLE . TH I R D S O N or D AN11z 1. MAR L

r f r I . J . a s. M t . T r e a te H the e ot n From zz i by C u n . ll

22

B - A TWINING ILL HEAD OF 1 735 . t r mutation Act was passed , and wi hin the fou years the consumption of tea in the U nited Kingdom had risen from

. . M lbs to lbs eanwhile , the revenue f on had not suf ered at all , but , the contrary , had greatly e f gain d . The price o tea to the public had fallen by nearly

s. lb . n 3 per , but the mercha ts were more than compensated by the larger trade and the exemption from duties and l ff bonding charges . The on y people who su ered were those who made a dishonest living by smuggling u or n ad lterating fabricating tea. This was the crow ing ’ achievement of R ichard Twining s useful life . In Septem 1 8 f ber , 7 4 , as chairman o the Dealers in Tea, he made a most able appeal to the East India Company towards n loweri g the prices of the commodity . He was himself elected of 1 a director the East India Company in 793 , and most nobly prevailed on the Court to relinquish the pernicious system by which directors were enabled to make private fortunes at the expense of the shareholders . That was the ’ - t death blow to the Company s monopoly , hough it lingered on di 1 8 , with various mo fications , until 34» when it was a s fin lly abolished , to the infinite satisfaction of all hone t “ men . He may also be said to have been the Tract ” for writing Twining , he wrote several pamphlets on a n variety of subjects , attacki g different impositions and

abuses , such as the Window ” “ 1 8 Tax , 7 5 , An Answer to the Second Report of East India Directors respecting S ale ” 1 8 and Prices of Tea , 7 5 , “ Observations on the Ex pediency of Making a Bye Law to Prevent the Sale of the Commands of East India ” 1 6 . Ships, 79 , and others

As might be supposed , he e was attack d in return , for in the former year was issued “ Tim Twisting to Dick AN EARLY Twmm m c TEA J AR, Twining, or a Sea an to a

25 of Teaman , whilst Thomas Lowndes Hampstead Heath d 1 8 1 0 publishe , in , partly in prose and partly in verse,

A Letter to Mr. Richard Twining , Tea Dealer, and one of the candidates for the present vacancy in the ” East India Direction , criticising his ambition , in which he sayMs y gentle Twining, banish such envious thoughts ; Thou a Director "thou a King of India " The very stones would laugh and prate of it fl Twining , I charge thee , ing away ambition , By that sin fell the angels ; H ow tea then can a dealer in ,

Hyson , green and bohea, ’ ” Hope to win by t . n However, this lampoon notwithstandi g, Richard Twining again won his Directorship . It was not till the beginning of 1 8 1 7 that Richard Twining decided to finally relinquish that most coveted

i f . honour , a seat at the Counc l Board o the India House On of the receipt his letter announcing his determination to retire , the Chairman wrote to express the “ unanimous feeling of regret with which the Court had received his intimation , and the sense they entertained of the services which he had ” rendered to the Company . Richard Twining generally x devoted his annual holiday to some useful e cursion , and this in an age when travellers were few and locomotion ffi f di cult . As early as 1 772 (in the stormy days o the Tea crisis) he discovered the beauties of Penzance and realised the climatic advantages of Cornwall ; he was at Paris in 1 86 c 7 , when the events which presaged the great so ial and political upheaval of four years later were but as a small cloud on the horizon in 1 796 he revelled in the scenery of ”

. ournies one North Wales On his earlier home j , writes of his descendants , my grandfather was wont to travel on

- horseback , with a groom , saddle bags , etc . ; later on , when r accompanied by my grandmother o any of their children , o in a low phaeton , with a pair of p nies , among whom ‘ ’ ‘ ’ ’ Sl - as Poppet , Skip Jack , and y boots are mentioned l ’ ‘ ’ special favourites, while occasional y a lady s horse , Juliet

(another favourite) , was in attendance ; and so , in that n leisurely, enjoyable fashion , they traversed the cou try from

26 R C AR 1 I H D TWINING .

[1749 - 1824]

h r fter t e o a t r . . H A igin l pic u e by J J alls.

27 T V wmI N . A . H E RE . T M O G TH MAS ,

[1735 - 1804]

ELDEST S O N O " DANI E L TW I NI NG A ND A NN MARCH .

h . . s. ro t e Me ot t . T r er after J a I H F m zz in by C u n . ll ’ ' ’ John o Groat s House to the Land s End . It was at Dial House that this remarkable man spent the last decade of his life , driving up to the Strand , as often as his

e in - i health p rmitted , a pony carr age, which he used to put up in Little Ormond Yard . Richard Twining died in 1 82 e for 4, but his younger brother, John , who had be n a “ long time associated with him at the sign of the Golden "

l 1 82 . Lyon , lived ti l 7

of Thomas Twining , the elder brother Richard and John o 1 Twining, b rn at Devereux Court in 735 , took holy orders , and enjoyed for half a century a very high reputation as an erudite classical scholar, an acute critic , a brilliant letter writer , a musician of great ability , and an accomplished ’ " is linguist . His translation Of Aristotle s Poetics still spoken of with respect . At Colchester , where he held for a great number of years the historic benefice of

- - - . ar at al St M y the W ls , he is respectfully remembered as a g reat pomologist and the original raiser of the still “ ’ ” w . of famous T ining s Pippin He was a friend Johnson , ’ of Garrick , Burke and Burney ; formed part Mrs . Thrale s “ ” * charmed circle at Streatham , and , on his death in 1 80 4, was made the subject of an eloquent epitaph by the great Samuel Parr . Exactly twenty years before that ,

on rd 1 8 . viz . , May 3 , 7 4, the Rev Thomas Twining writes thus to his brother at the Golden Lyon

’ “ n Joh son s mind is fettered with prejudices civil , poetical , political , religious, and even superstitious . As a h i f reasoner he is nothing . He as not the lea st t ncture o the il es rit h oso hi ue . p p p q upon any subject H e is not a poet, nor has any taste for what is properly called poetry ; for — I imagination , enthusiasm , etc . His poetry mean what he — estee ms such is only good sense put into good metre . He ’ e sees no promise of Milton s genius in his juvenil poems . ’

s . ou He feels no beauties in Mr . Gray odes Did y ever see 7’ a more school boyish criticism than his upon Gray . In general I find my pala te I n matters of poetry continually ’ ’

. don at variance with Dr . Johnson s I t mean this alone as e of any proof that he is wrong . But the g neral taste the

“ and Mrs. o so The S treatha m Coterie is ful ly described in Dr. J hn n

ra e b Mr e o a e o o and New York 1 0 . l A . . B oa l h L L , Th , y d y ; J n n , nd n 9 9

29 of . most poetical people , the best poets , are against him I l who Akenside will not al ow that a man slights , abuses versifiers Gray, and mentions with complacence such as

Yalden . s Pomfret , , Watts , etc , in the list of poet , can have f . o an any true poetical taste He is a man sense , and has

all i . ear ; that is . With all th s , Dr Johnson is

ai ri e Or . always entert ning , never t t dull H is style is just : what you say sometimes admirable , sometimes laughable,

but he never lets you gape . Without being philosophical

or . deep , like Hume, etc , he has his originalities of thought i m own of n . and his way seei g th ngs , and aking you see them ” This is great excellence . There is in him no echo . The ’ rm estimate of Johnson s character fo ed by the Rev . Thomas ’ Twining in the year Of Johnson s death has quite rece ntly received the highest praise at the hands of no less an

authority than Mr . Thomas Seccombe . The extraordinary insight which it shows into the character of the most

ill ustrious of tea - dri nkers must have been acquired by

constant intercourse . It is more than probable that “ ” Johnson favoured the Golden Lyon with his presence “ of as well as the Mitre . A quarter a century ago Richard Twining I I I paid a graceful tribute to the memory of his ancestral kinsman in his Recreations and Studies " of r of 1 8th u a Count y Clergyman the Cent ry, published

by John Murray.

The successful rule of Richa rd Twining I “ at the sign l of Of the Golden Lyon was fol owed by that his sons, 11 i l Richard Twining , George Tw ning and John A dred i i in Twining . Richard Tw n ng I I was born Devereux th 1 2 Court on May 5 , 77 , educated at Norwich under the e 1 8 famous Dr . Samuel Parr , and liv d till October, 5 7, when

a l . in he died at Bedford Pl ce , Russe l Square He inherited a very marked degree both the business capacity and f literary tastes o his father .

’ Parr s favourite pupil held for a time the impo rtant post of Chairman of the Committee of Bye - laws at the

East India House . He was also a Fellow of the Royal t Socie y and a membe r of the Society of Arts . While devoting his energies to the superintendence of the ever in increasing business the Strand , to which a successful

30

’ TWINING S TEA - HOU SE BAN"

fter the or a water c o o r Hos er e er . A igin l l u by T . m Sh ph d

32 Bank (amalgamated with Lloyds in the days when trade and banking ceased to go hand in hand) was now attached , Richard Twining I I found time to promote the best of c and his interests both harity and science , to follow in ’ father s footsteps in the matter of travel . Many interesting particulars concerning these expeditions are given in Some ” Facts in the History of the Twining Family , published in 1 8 6 9 , by his daughter, Miss Louisa Twining , who is still living , while many of his letters are to be found in the ” of Papers the Twining Family, edited by Richard

Twining I I I , and given to the world by John Murray in ’ 1 887. Napoleon s threatened descent on the shores of

England (1 798 - 1 80 5) found Richard Twining I I in the prime of his vigorous manhood . He threw the same energy into the national defence movement of 1 80 4 5 which loyal John Twining had displayed at the siege of Evesham during * VVar "or the Civil . some years he held the important

t - pos of Lieut . Colonel Of the troop of Royal Westminster

Volunteers , and proved himself to be as good a soldier as he was a capable man of business . Born in the Strand Banking House two years after al of Traf gar , Richard Twining I I I , the eldest son Richard l I I , became associated with the business while sti l in his

. of teens He lived well into the reign King Edward VI I , r 1 0 6 i dying in Ma ch , 9 , at the patr archal age of 99 . For thirty years Rich a rd Twining I I I found time to discharge the duties Of Honorary Treasurer to the Public

Dispensary in Carey Street , an institution in the welfare of which he took the greatest interest . He held at the ’ same time the position of Honorary Treasurer to King s

College Hospital , an institution which enjoyed from the

first the support of the Twining family , where the name “ is perpetuated by the Twining Ward and in Twining ”

t e . of S re t , Close by Many the good works in which he of participated received the active support his sister, Miss Elizabeth Twining (1 80 5 the last of the winin s of T g Of Dial House, who devoted the labours a lifetime to furthering the causes of education and

M f the O ld o o a y i teresti g artic lars of th ese times a nd o L d n n n p u n n" V o teer Cor s W i be fo i Na o eo and the I vas o of la lun p ll und n p l n n i n Eng nd . b a e 1 . . B. W ee er and M. Broa e o o o 0 . y H F h l A. dl y ; L nd n , J hn L n , 9 7

33 o philanthropy . As an accomplished b tanist and an is authority on other matters, Elizabeth Twining placed amongst ' the eight Twinings whose careers are chronicled in the great Dictionary of National ” Biography . During her residence at Dial House she restored the Twickenham parish almshouses and founded ’

. "or hi St . John s Hospital some time before s death Richard Twining I I I was familiarly known as the “ i ” “ ” Patr arch , not only at the sign of the Golden Lyon , but by his colleagues on the Board of the Equitable

Insurance Company , of which he was President and in the Board Room of which hangs the fine portrait by

A . S . Cope , now reproduced . He was also made

P . a J . . for Westminster I t was during the prosperous reign of Richard Twining I I I “ at the sign of the Golden ” Lyon , that the business assumed its present proportions .

U . nwilling to enter political life himself, Mr Twining

Mr . . of a S introduced the l te . W H mith to the electors

Westminster . With Richard Twining I I I was associated Samuel H arvey

. of Twining The latter was the son John Aldred Twining , already mentioned as associated with Richard Twining I I c arrying on the great business founded by their great 1 1 grandfather in 7 0 . Samuel Harvey Twin 2 th ing , born March 7 , 1 82 0 i , married the st ll v n sur ivi g Rosa Herring, a lineal descendant of

Dr . Thomas Herring , who became Arch bishop of Canterbury in and lived until 1 0 0 9 , taking till the last the keenest interest in the great business now approaching the bicen tenary of its establish

ment , but which has always consistently “ marched with the CHI NESE I N ENSE BU RNER SEN " C T times , HO ME TO TH E TWI NINGS . 34 RICHAR D TWINING m.

[1807 - 1906]

. CO e A . R . A After the original picture by A . S p .

35 THE DELIGHTS O " THE TEA

From 0 p u 5 picture

36 The poets and wits of the nineteenth century appear ’ to on have bestowed Tea in general , and on Twining s l Tea in particu ar , the same kindly attention as their famous ’ predecessors . As a pendant to Hayley s verses While his sweet daughter with attentive grace e fl Befor him ies , his ready cup to place ; For TEA and politics alternate share ’ I n friendly rivalship his morning s care .

Quick to his hand behold her now present The Indian liquor of celestial scent ; ’ Not with more grace the nec tar d cup is given ’ ”

- By rose lip d Hebe to the lord of Heaven .

One may appropriately quote from the Autoc rat of the Breakfast Table ” the melodious lines As fresh as a pink On the other side

i - Of the board ng house table she sits , And her Tea she sips While I envy the cup

That kisses her rosy lips .

of 1 8 2 During the Reform Bill excitement 3 , Thomas

ode . . . on Hood , in an addressed to Mr J S Buckingham the of Report the Committee on Drunkenness , wrote m Would any gentle an , unless inclining

To tipsy , take a board upon his shoulder

Near Temple Bar , thus warning the beholder Beware of Twining " Are Tea Dealers indeed so deep designing As one of your select would set us thinking That to each tea - chest we should say Tu doces (or doses) ” Thou teachest drinking . More familiar to the great majority of readers is ’ Theodore Hook s oft- quoted epigram : It seems in some cases kind Nature hath planned h That names wit their callings agree ,

"or Twining the Teaman that l ives in the Strand , ’ s Would b e Wining deprived Of hi T .

37 It is very interesting to compare the prices of Tea when Twinings first commenced business with those at present of in force . From some the early ledgers of the firm we t 1 1 al h find hat in 7 4 the cheapest qu ity was Bohea , w ich

2 lb . ranged from 9/ to 5/ per , other sorts enumerated were Congou at 2 4/ Pekoe 2 4/ Imperial 2 4/ Congou Bohea 2 o/ whilst Green could be purchased from 1 6/ to 2 0 / and Bloom Green at 1 8/ Thrifty housewives could 1 0 obtain Tea Dust at / and a better kind , Bohea Dust , for another 2 / Coffee ranged from to 6/ Chocolate and and All Nut (that is with no sugar) at

In 1 72 2 prices were somewhat lower . Bohea was reduced to other qualities being 9/ and 1 0 / Congou 1 0 1 2 Pekoe sold from / to / and a new sort, Bloom

I mperial , at the same price . Green Tea figured at from 6/ to 1 0 / 1 8 n e In 74 the price of this latter ki d had increas d , for,

old - as will be Observed from the bill head reproduced , ordinary Green was 1 6/ and Best Hyson 2 0 / Other growths sold about this time were Wire Leaf Hyson at 1 7/ and Superfine Singlo at 1 1 / I n 1 757 the Finest Souchong was obtainable at 1 2 / and the Finest Hyson at 6/ more . Chocolate was 4/ In 1 776 Congou was 6/ whilst common Boh ea was the same price , an inferior sort being 4/ Bloom from 5/ to 1 1 1 2 1 2 1 1 / Souchong , 7/ to / Green , 7/ to / Hyson , / 2 0 8 to / and Bloom Dust, 7/ and /

1 8 6d. r In 7 3 we find Bohea as low as Fine at pe lb . more, Congou from 5/ to Green Tea from to 1 Hyson from 9/ to 4/ Gunpowder the same price, and the very best Cowslip at 1 2 /

1 1 on 1 . of In 79 , December 7th , Mrs White, wife the of 1 celebrated Gilbert White , Selborne, purchased lb . of Fine Hyson at 1 0 / and a like quantity of Chocolate at 4/ too m Space will not allow of any references , but a hasty glance shows that in 1 82 5 Bohea could be obtained at 6 Congou , from to / Souchong , to Pekoe , 9/ 1 2 to / Green , and Hyson from to Previous to this date there had been a very high Excise Duty , which

g gave great encoura ement to tea smugglers , and the news papers of this period teem with accounts of their frequent

38

- P R Y 1820. AN ENGLISH TEA A T CI R .

THE DU "E OF WELLINGTON TA"ING TEA PAR IS " R A TE WATER LOO .

40 . 1 80 6 0 capture In the duty was 9 per cent . on the sale 1 8 1 a prices , and in 9 it had risen to lmost a hundred .

1 8 8 In 4 Congou sold from to Souchong, 5/ 6 Hyson , 4/ to 5/ and Gunpowder, / At this time there was a duty of In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the trade of the Teaman was largely represented in the Strand by a ” ” of multitude Golden Canisters , Sugar Loaves , China ”

- . T o da men , and so forth y they have vanished utterly of from the face the earth . Twinings alone remains in all ’ the great highway between Charing Cross and St . Paul s , 1 1 0 1 1 as famous in 9 as in 7 0 . Assuredly it is one more illustration of the immutable doctrine of the survival of the

fittest .

We live in an age of vanishing and vanished landmarks . Few of us remember Temple Bar ; the Stran d of 1 9 1 0 e aff t of 1 0 0 b ars little ini y to the Strand 9 , scarcely any to 1 8 0 all f 1 o 1 0 . the Strand of 5 , and none at to the Strand 7

We look in vain for the quaint trade - signs of other days “ ” “ the Grasshopper and Sugar Loaves , the Jar and Orange “ ’ ” “ Tree , the Blackamoor s Head , the Olive Tree and ” ‘ ” “ - Sun , the China man and Tea Tub , and the Green ”

- Canister . These were all famous tea houses in their day, e but th y have disappeared from the map of London , and are as clean forgotten as the ornate trade - cards proclaiming the saving virtues of their wares , which great artists like

Hogarth , Cipriani and Bartolozzi condescended to engrave . If it is a case of survival of the fittest the bicentenary of ” the Golden Lyon , who has outlived his neighbours , the “ ” ” White Hart , the Green Dragon , and the Blue Boar , “ to say nothing of a number of other lions distinguished by various colours , may almost be said to mark an epoch in

- r Strand topography, as the two hund edth anniversary of the ’ ” foundation of the “ House of Twining s unquestionably does in the annals of one of the most important branches f o British commerce . Thomas Twining in his lifetime became purveyor to the last of our Stuart sovereigns and the first two kings of the Hanoverian line . His successors and descendants who celebrate the cOrI iing anniversary of 19 1 0 can boast not only of having furnished tea to every sovereign

41 of of n these realms since the days Quee Anne, but of holding at the present moment Royal Warrants from His Majesty King Edward VI I and His Royal Highness the Prince of e Wales , as their great grandfather did , from the Princ

Regent . In addition to these they also have the distinguished hMonour of being Royal Warrant Holders to His Imperial ajesty The German Emperor, Their Majesties the Kings of u of Italy and Spain , and H is Royal Highness the D ke

- Saxe Coburg and Gotha .

- Like Dr . Johnson , Napoleon was an ardent tea drinker ,

- and some of his favourite tea pots are still in existence . ’ The silver tea- pot of Daniel Twining s celebrated customer in Bolt Court was sold for old metal by his executor, and narrowly escaped being ruthl essly broken up before its famous owner was laid to rest in Westminster Abbey . ' — Another of Johnson s tea - p0 ts a dainty specimen of white two and blue Worcester , but holding quarts , is preserved with reverent care amongst the treasures of Pembroke

. of College , Oxford It came into the posession the Parker

. G astrell . family through Mrs , with whom Dr Johnson i hfi l constantly took tea at L c e d. There is no more eagerly ’ sought - after plate connected with tea than Godefroy s “ aquatint Le T hé Parisien ou Supreme Bon T on an Com a m ” mencement du 1 S iécle g , after a drawing by Harriet and

- published by Martinet . France is now a tea drinking nation , and the beginning of the twentieth century finds a bran c h Of the great Twining business very appropriately situated in du the Rue Quatre Septembre , Paris . The Golden Lyon

has also a dependency in Drury Lane , Liverpool . The Spirit O f enterprise and energy which characterised Thomas Twining in 1 7 1 0 distinguishes his kinsmen and successors (the three grandsons of Richard Twining I I I and a son Of

i 1 1 0 . Samuel Harvey Tw ning) in 9 It is that spirit , of probably, which has determined the survivorship the Golden Lyon as one of the few links between the

London of Queen Anne and that of King Edward VI I . i It is with feelings of hopefulness , as well as of legit mate f “ of pride , that the House o Twining , at the sign the ” on Golden Lyon in the Strand , now enters the third

century of its existence .

A . M . B .

42