A 17th-century ‘shopping list’ discovered hidden in local archives has revealed what is thought to be one of the earliest known references to tea in England.
Rachel Conroy, curator at Temple Newsam House, Leeds, was at the West Yorkshire Archives researching for the historic property’s new ‘Beer: A History of Brewing and Drinking’ exhibition when she found an apothecary bill for medicinal ingredients bought for the estate in 1644. Included in the English Civil War-era shopping list was an order for a number of bottles of ‘China drink’ – the old name for tea – with each bottle priced four shillings.
The bill is thought to be one of England’s earliest known written references to tea, predating the famous text by Samuel Pepys, who in 1660 wrote, ‘afterwards I did send for a cup of tee (a China drink) of which I never had drank before’. And, interestingly, Temple Newsam House’s Terrace Room is home to two desks that once belonged to the famous Earl Grey.