Mary of Modena, Duchess of York Tea was first served in the royal palaces of both Scotland and England by queens who grew up on The Continent where tea was already a fashionable beverage. The Duchess of York, Italian born Mary of Modena, picked up her tea habit while living in the Netherlands. She poured…
The First Written Mention of Tea by an Englishman
Dutch East Indiaman (Dutch East India Cargo Vessel)The earliest mention of tea—as “chaw”—by an Englishman is the famous Wickham letter of 1615.The letter was found in a set of old records entitled Japan Miscellanies, consisting of copies of letters from Richard Wickham, the East India Company’s factor at Hirado (Japan’s only port of trade to…