Afternoon Tea History

A little piece of History.

While the true origins of afternoon or 'high tea' is debatable, it is widely agreed that it was 'invented' by Duchess Anna Maria, the wife of the seventh Duke of Bedford, who in 1841 started drinking tea and having a bite to eat in the mid-afternoon. This was to tide her over during what was a lengthy gap between lunch, which was eaten at around 1pm and dinner, had around 7pm.

Initially taken on her own, it swiftly developed into a social occasion as soon the Duchess was inviting guests to join her for afternoon tea at 5 o'clock.

By the 1860s the fashion for afternoon or 'high' tea had become widespread and had evolved into decadent affairs, with tea drunk from the best china and bite-size morsels of food presented delicately on small china plates. On regular offer were bread and butter, traditional scones, cakes and finger sandwiches.