Arthur Brooke (1845–1918) founder of the British tea company Brooke, Bond & Co. Ltd born in Manchester,

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

. Established his business in 1869 and was making £5,000 a year at the age of 30 with shops in all the major cities of Britain and warehouse in London.

Early life

Arthur Brooke was born on 30 November 1845 in

Ashton-under-Lyne Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. The population was 45,198 at the 2011 census. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the north bank of the River Tame, in the foothills of the Pennines, east of Manche ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

to tea wholesaler Charles Brooke and Jane ''née'' Howard. He had a short career in the textile industry before getting terminated due to the

cotton famine The Lancashire Cotton Famine, also known as the Cotton Famine or the Cotton Panic (1861–65), was a depression in the textile industry of North West England, brought about by overproduction in a time of contracting world markets. It coincided wi ...

in 1864, he trained to work in Peek Brothers and Winch tea company in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

where he was transferred to the company's head office in London. But Brooke decided to return home to help in father to revive his wholesale tea business by establishing new outlets all over

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

Personal life

Brooke was married to Alice Young daughter of William Young a naval officer, in 1875. They first lived in Stonebridge Park,

Willesden Willesden () is an area of northwest London, situated 5 miles (8 km) northwest of Charing Cross. It is historically a parish in the county of Middlesex that was incorporated as the Municipal Borough of Willesden in 1933, and has forme ...

then moved to Bedford park, then Kensington later bought a country house near Dorking. The couple had four children Gerald, Justin, Neville, and Rupert and two known grandchildren namely John and David, who were all involved in the company. Brooke also had a younger sister named Agnes Bushell ('' née'' Brooke), who went on to marry Alfred Thomas Bushell who previously worked in Brooke's Liverpool shop. Busheel emigrated to Australia and founded the

Bushells Bushells is an Australian company that produces tea and coffee. History Bushell's was founded by Alfred Bushell in 1883, when he opened a tea shop in Queensland. His sons moved the enterprise to Sydney in 1899 and began selling tea commercia ...

Tea Company. Brooke died on 13 April 1918 in Dorking due to acute tuberculosis and pneumonia. A Blue Plaque was donated in his honour Brooke, Bond & Co in 1966 which can be seen at his birthplace in 6 George street, Ashton-under-Lyne.

Arthur Brooke in Brooke, Bond & Company Ltd.

In 1869 Brooke opened his first own shop and named the business Brooke Bond & Company at 29 Market Street,

where he sold tea, coffee and sugar. He added the name Bond even though there was no Mr Bond because he liked the sound of it, hence the name stayed. Brooke developed and blended his products and sold them in ½ lb and 1 lb paper bags. He offered precise mixtures of premium blends of tea and did not go with the marketing trends of the day, so customers could buy consistent flavours from week to week. Each bag was signed with the company name to avoid counterfeiting. Brooke delivered his products in his own transport to make sure they reached his customers regularly and always fresh, promising good quality products as the company's goal. One of Brooke's early slogan was “''Good Tea unites good company, exhilarates the spirits, opens the heart, banishes restraint from conversation and promotes the happiest purposes of social intercourse''” which indicated his adeptness for good advertising. In the early 1870s Brooke opened a warehouse in a London and shops in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

, London, Bradford and few stores in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. The company headquarters in 1872 at 129 Whitechapel High Street in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. When the British trade industries were hit by

long depression The Long Depression was a worldwide price and economic recession, beginning in 1873 and running either through March 1879, or 1896, depending on the metrics used. It was most severe in Europe and the United States, which had been experiencing st ...

Brooke Bond had to close their stores in London and Scotland. Arthur Brooke had considered moving to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

before he decided to sell his products to wholesale grocers that changed the direction of his business. This helped in further expanding the business but it Brooke Bond was now selling tea in packets to wholesale grocers instead of hand delivering 1/2 lb and 1 lb paper bags to customers. In 1892 the company became Brooke Bond & Company Ltd and the business was largely wholesale and Arthur Brooke became the chairperson and continued that role until he retired in 1910.The company expanded leading to purchases of warehouse on Whitehorse Street, Leeds and a sixty-eight-year signed lease of St. Dunstan's Hill, London which was the registered office of the company. The company was known to have become freeholders of warehouses in Goulston Street London in 1898. The business under Arthur Brooke was expanded to the Indian market as Brooke Bond Red label in 1903, where the brand is popular to this day. Brooke strictly followed the eight considered a model employers his employees looked upon him more as a colleague than an employer. His son Gerald Brooke took over the business as chairperson after Arthur Brooke retired in 1910.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brooke, Arthur 1845 births 1918 deaths People from Ashton-under-Lyne British company founders British industrialists Tea brands Unilever brands Blue plaques 19th-century British businesspeople