How to take tea like a Georgian
The aristocratic ritual that became a delightful, affordable pastime for the masses
With series three of Netflix's popular series Bridgerton arriving on our screens, Ranger's House in Greenwich is once more featuring as the Bridgerton family's London residence.
We've looked at how Ranger's House was transformed for filming. In this article, Food Historian Annie Gray explores another aspect of the show: the history of Georgian tea-taking, and how it became what we now call Afternoon Tea.
The heady swirl of the dancefloor is where eyes meet over dance cards, and hands are held under the watchful eye of chaperones.
But it is in the drawing rooms of the 'bon ton' where the hard graft of matchmaking – and news-swapping, support-giving and information-gathering – really takes place.
We see debutantes waiting for gentleman callers surrounded by sponge cakes and tea urns, and we also see larger tea-parties (such as the garden party given by the Queen in series one of Bridgerton).
Ranger's House certainly saw its share of these sort of parties in real life.
Ranger's House in 1813
In 1813, when Bridgerton is set, Ranger's House was known as Brunswick House, and was the main residence of Augusta, Dowager Duchess of Brunswick.
She was George III's older sister and had spent much of her life in the German principality of Brunswick.
She'd returned to her homeland to be near her daughter, Caroline, Princess of Wales.
In classic Georgian fashion, the family was at war: Caroline's marriage had (notoriously) broken down in a very public fashion, while the Dowager Duchess managed – just – to live next door to her daughter and mainly remain on speaking terms.
Caroline was widely described as vivacious and witty. She'd fallen out with the Queen over accusations that she was the centre of an alternative court, such was the draw of her person – and her social events. However, by 1813, she was nearing the end of her life.
Big events would have been a thing of the past – but smaller tea-parties would not have been.
We know from the main accounts of the royal family that they were avid tea-drinkers. They bought tea from several dealers in London, including the Antrobus family, who had premises on the Strand.
A brief history of tea
Tea first arrived in Britain via merchants dealing with China, where it originated.
By the 1650s it was being touted as an exotic wonder, a health drink with reviving properties. It was expensive, difficult to obtain, and needed a certain level of paraphernalia to make properly – ideal for showing off to one's friends.
Initially it was drunk without milk or sugar, but by the end of the century both were commonly added.
Quickly, English manufacturers started to make their own versions of the Chinese redware teapots which were imported along with the tea itself.
You can see an example in the Wernher Collection, which is on display at Ranger’s House today.
It remained the province of the rich for much of the 18th century, with debate raging as to whether it was un-English and emasculating, or a drink which brought comfort and cheer.
It was rapidly feminised, with strong domestic associations. Conversation pieces sometimes showed a family at tea, with the mistress of the house in charge of the locked tea caddy.
By the end of the 18th century, tea imports were booming – but the vast majority was smuggled, and the government grew increasingly exasperated at losing all the tax revenue.
In 1794, the Commutation Act was passed, slashing duty to 12.5%. The debates around the Act made clear that everyone drank tea – even poor rural workers.
But it was often adulterated, and while many people drank it, only those with leisure time and money could elevate it into a social ritual.
What did a Georgian Tea-party look like?
For high society, tea-taking was a chance to show off.
Manufacturers were well aware of the social cachet of successful tea-parties, and there was a brief vogue for black basaltware teapots, which showed off the whiteness of a lady's hands as she poured.
Tea was drunk throughout the day. But it was as what was sometimes already called 'afternoon tea' that it held the most status and was the most ritualised.
The 'bon ton' dined in the early evening by 1813 and the period after luncheon was informally designated as visiting time.
Some guests (mainly friends) would be welcome on any day – others would have been invited or would leave their card with a footman to convey to the family who decided who gained entry.
Once in, a guest would see a large tea urn full of hot water, kept refilled by a servant (they usually contained hot coals or had a spirit burner underneath). Servant participation was minimal though: the point of tea was its intimacy, with the lady of the house making and pouring the tea.
A footman or, at a slightly lower social level, maid, would be on hand to proffer biscuits or light cakes, but otherwise the illusion of privacy was paramount.
By 1813 handled cups were coming in, though many tea services still contained tea bowls with a saucer. Pots were small – they could be refilled, so did not need to be large – but they were nevertheless larger than they had been.
Often spherical, they also came in geometric shapes, and the current fashion was for boat-shaped 'Empire' pots.
They were one of the few items of material culture which a new wife might choose for herself (so much was inherited) and provided a means of expressing identity – was today a neutral floral day, a political day, or an emphasise-my-imperial-connections-day?
Tea-parties could also take place in the garden. At Audley End House & Gardens, Robert Adams designed a tea bridge, complete with a marble table.
Meanwhile the garden buildings of Wrest Park (another of Bridgerton's filming locations) were also ideal for 'finding tea' as a later monarch (Queen Victoria) put it. Of course, the bon ton 'found', while their servants prepared, carried, set up, and then made themselves scarce.
Later Teas at Ranger's House
The Duchess died in March 1813, and the house became a Grace-and-Favour residence for the Ranger of Greenwich Park.
Anyone living there would have continued to enjoy tea-parties, in much the same vein as those of the Georgians.
Tea kept getting cheaper, as new plantations in India started to yield large crops, and it was harder to maintain the tea-based rituals of the 'bon ton' as exclusive to them.
In the 1870s, the Victorians wrote manuals on etiquette and came up with an invention myth around what they now called 'Afternoon Tea', attributing its introduction to the Duchess of Bedford in the 1840s rather than recognising its slow evolution over two centuries.
In the 1920s, Ranger’s House became a tea room as tourism rose, and Greenwich became a destination for the masses.
Afternoon tea had a delightful whiff of the aristocratic about it, but was affordable – and ideal for working class tourists on a budget, for they could feast on scones and sandwiches, and skip dinner entirely.
Today, you can visit and have a thoroughly 21st century cup of tea – but if you look carefully, the Regency is still lurking.
Twinings, who supply some of our tea, was founded in 1706 and supplied most of the ton with their tea in 1813. And the sponge cake you might eat was first called such in print around the start of the 19th century.
Even the cry of 'Shall I play mother?' plays into the feminised rituals of the 18th century.
Visit Ranger's House to discover more about its rich history and explore the Wernher Collection
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