Does anyone know what a tea trader was? A relative was such a guy in the 19th ce

Question:His name was John Burley Kay, born 1839 and died 1915.and he lived at Melton House,Gerrard Road,Rotherham.How would he have dealt in tea? Where would he buy it from,and who would he sell it to,and was it loose or packeted? I would appreciate any help,especially from people on Rotherham who may know the street. Thank you

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: His name was John Burley Kay, born 1839 and died 1915.and he lived at Melton House,Gerrard Road,Rotherham.How would he have dealt in tea? Where would he buy it from,and who would he sell it to,and was it loose or packeted? I would appreciate any help,especially from people on Rotherham who may know the street. Thank you

I have just done a very quick search of a map that covers Rotherham and Gerrard Road is still there. Although I cannot find any reference to Melton House at the moment, I am just in the process of making a few phone calls on your behalf, I may have actually sourced a photograph of Melton House, so fingers crossed on that one. I will edit my answer as soon as the person gets back to me.
Have a look at the links posted below, the Rotherham family history society have an excellent site, it has to be one of the best that I''ve seen, it's brilliant.
http://www.rotherhamfhs.co.uk/
There is a website address for the Rotherham Archives library, which I have contacted on your behalf, you have to actually go into the Archives to use their viewfinder to see any photographs they may hold in relation to JBK.
http://www.rotherham.gov.uk/graphics/Lea...
Contact Details

Archives and Local Studies Service
Rotherham Central Library
Walker Place
Rotherham
S65 1JH

Telephone 01709 823616
Fax 01709 823650
E-Mail archives@rotherham.gov.uk
When I get the information I have asked for I will edit my answer with the information.

A tea trader is exactly as described, a trader of teas. In that period of history, it would have been bought from India, Chinese tea was too expensive for the masses and production was growing in India for the British market.
It would have been bought from the importers, if he didn't do it himself, and sold to anyone wishing to buy it. It was, and I suppose, still is big business.

REMOVE YOUR ADDRESS, THERE'S PLENTY OF MUPPETS ON THIS SITE THAT WILL USE IT!!!

I live in Rotherham.But i will see if he still lives there and ask him

A bit of additional! Tea was popular in Britain because it was made with boiled water. In many places drinking water was unsafe. There had been several cholera epidemics in London due to contaminated water supplies. People drank beer or tea.
There was a thriving trade in tea imported from India, Ceylon and China. In fact the Cutty Sark, recently in the news was a Tea Clipper, designed to bring tea to England as fast as possible,
That was how "in demand" it was.
Tea comes in lots of varieties and your ancestor would have imported chests of these to sell to blenders, who mixed different varieties to get the best flavour.
All our modern teas such as Ty Phoo, Tetleys etc. were originally produced by British tea blenders who purchased their product from men like John Burley Kay!

A tea chest:
http://www.portcities.org.uk/london/uplo...

A Tea Trader is an importer and retailer of tea

www.ancestry.co.uk
1881 England Census
Name: John Burley Kay
Age: 42
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1839
Relation: Head
Spouse's Name: Emma
Gender: Male
Where born: Brightside Bierlow Sheffield, Yorkshire, England
Civil Parish: Rotherham
County/Island: Yorkshire
Country: England
Street address: 55 Moorgate
Condition as to marriage: Married
Occupation: Tea Dealer Warehouseman Employing 16 Hands
Registration district: Rotherham
Sub-registration district: Rotherham
ED, institution, or vessel: 6

England & Wales, FreeBMD Death Index: 1837-1983
Name: John B Kay
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1839
Year of Registration: 1915
Quarter of Registration: Jul-Aug-Sep
Age at Death: 76
District: Rotherham
County: Derbyshire, South Yorkshire, Yorkshire - West Riding
Volume: 9c
Page: 805

http://www.panix.com/~kendra/tea/tea_to_...
NOTES: Until tea dropped in price in the middle of the nineteenth century, members of the working class in Britain bought second hand tea leaves from the bourgeoisie and let the tea steep longer to compensate. The amount of tea used can also be reduced, and a weak cup of tea is far more palatable than a weak cup of coffee. The price of tea per pound is always higher than that of coffee, but a smaller amount of tea is used per cup than coffee, making it more economical. Chinese tea was imported until 1833. Due to increasing tensions between Britain and China, trade was restricted in 1831 when China only allowed foreign merchants contact with the Canton port. In 1834 all ports were closed to foreign vessels by an Imperial Edict from the Chinese Emperor until the end of the Britain-China war in 1842
The first tea from Java did not appear until 1835, and very little was produced in Java until a few decades later, so it is not clear where the British imported the bulk of their tea from between 1834 and 1842. The tea trade with India did not start around 1838. However, prices for this tea were very high and supply was not regular until the 1860's. In Sri Lanka (Ceylon) tea was not grown until the 1880's. Although tea drinking was common, consumption remained modest, at about three pounds per person a year, until the 1840's when consumption began to skyrocket.
Clipper ships, first built in the early 1830's in the United States, provided the fastest means of transporting tea between China and the west. They became common in the early 1840's, in Britain when trade with China resumed. They could travel to China and back in the same amount of time an earlier ship sailed half the voyage. Tea Clippers were vital to the tea trade until the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 and were in operation until the end of the 1880's. During their heyday the Tea Clippers caught the attention of the public and there were many popular and well publicized races between ships, often with large prizes for the crew of the winning ship. The increase of tea on the British market due to the clipper ships aided in driving down the price of tea so members of the working class could afford it.
Blending teas began around 1870 when tea merchants such as Twinings began to blend different varieties of tea from differing regions to achieve a stable taste. Twining's English Breakfast Blend, for example, has tasted essentially the same for decades. Now the consumer was sure of exactly what flavor she or he was buying, and would be more likely to buy more once a favorite blend was discovered. A reduction of import duties lowered the price of tea, so buying more of the favored blend was economically easier than ever before. Tea prices plummeted with the introduction of black tea from Sri Lanka in the middle to late 1880's.

During the First World War there was a strong temperance movement and tea became a popular alternative to alcohol. By 1938 the per capita yearly tea consumption reached 9.11 pounds, and tea was firmly established in British culture.

(So, judging from the above article, and the fact he was listed as a tea warehouseman in the UK's 1881 census, I would think the tea was imported from Asia (Java, Ceylon, etc.)