The legacy of John Horniman
Val McFarlane write about a conference at Woodbrooke and the value of sharing common concerns and experiences
Many associate Quakers with chocolate making. Some mistakenly think Quakers were also involved in producing porridge oats. Few people associate the production of leaf tea with Quakers.
John Horniman, born in Reading in 1803, was a Quaker tea merchant. Following the Quaker testimony of integrity, he wanted to demonstrate the honesty of his company and so found a mechanical method of filling tea packets, which could then be sealed – ensuring the tea could not be tampered with. By the end of the nineteenth century Horniman’s was the largest tea trading business in the world.
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