Lattey,
Livermore & Co. Ltd., an advertiser on the 1893 New Zealand Second Sideface Issue
Lattey,
Livermore & Co. / Ask for their Pure Indian & Ceylon Teas.
Overview
Henry (Harry) Fitzherbert Lattey and Ernest Livermore travelled
to New Zealand in 1891 to start a tea import and wholesaling business: Lattey,
Livermore, & Co. They steadily built up the company, with local agents and new
retail outlets in central New Zealand. The scale of their newspaper advertising
was large, and their advertising extended to the rear of New Zealand’s 1893
Second Sideface stamp issue. Even though the business failed in 1895, they had developed
roots in New Zealand and life went on (albeit more quietly).
The Beginning
The first event in this history was when Ernest Livermore
was born in England, around 1853, as the fifth son of James S. Livermore Esq and
latterly of Calcutta. Ernest Livermore went to India with his father, and lived
in Cachar in Assam and in Darjeeling (both in north eastern India, by Bhutan and
in the shadow of the Himalayas). Ernest Livermore became a tea planter and Major
in the India Militia [NewZealandTim1893Apr19P2]
[NewZealandHer1917Aug24P6].
Another Livermore managed the Turzum tea estate in Hope Town, Darjeeling [AlphabeticalListOfResidents]
and later there is a connection to the Corramorre (or Corramore) tea estate,
Mungledye, Assam [NewZealandTim1894Jun23P2]
[CorramoreVideo]. It
is clear that the Livermore family became embedded in the tea industry in India
but Ernest Livermore, as a younger son, would need to find his own way in life.
Then there was the Lattey clan. One member, Dugald Buchanan Lattey,
was born in England in 1857 and went to India in 1873. There he was a tutor to
the Nawab of Bengal for two years then became a tea planter for a time, Ill health in 1888 took him to New Zealand and teaching at a) Tariki, in Huiroa, Taranaki,
east of Mt Egmont/Taranki and south of New Plymouth, b) nearby Kaimata and c) Whenuakura Public School further south in Patea [TaranakiHer1888Dec08P2] [TaranakiHer1890Jul10P2] [WanganuiHer1890Dec23] [CycloWellWhenuakura1897] (the "A" in "A.B. Lattey" in [WanganuiHer1890Dec23] is most likely a typo since other articles refer to "D.B. Lattey" and one article refers to "T.B. Lattey" in connection with Whenuakura). There was also a Dugold (sometimes Dugald?) Broughton Lattey (born in London 1854) who was brother to Harry Fitzherbert Lattey (himself born in Calcutta in 1855) [LatteyIntro]. Their father worked in a jewellery, silversmith and diamond business, which failed after speculation in cotton [LatteyIndia]. The name D.B. Lattey is recorded as an Assistant to the Debra Doon Tea Co. at Debra Dhoon [LatteyIndia] (or Dehradun) and also the Tiphook Tea Co. Ltd (of Tiphuk Grant, Assam), with 657 acres under cultivation in 1878 [PlantingDirectoryForIndiaAndCeylon1878P189]; but is is unclear if these two roles were filled by the same person (Buchanan?) or both D.B. Lattey's (i.e. Buchanan and Broughton). It is also unclear what their relationship was (perhaps cousins?). Regardless, we see that Harry Fitzherbert Lattey resided in India in his early years, likely knew his family member Dugald Buchanan Lattey, and then had a connection to the tea business.
 |
Two passenger names from the Passengers’ List, Rotomahana, Union Stream Ship Company of New Zealand, Ltd, 18 February 1891 [FamilySearchLivermore] |
More than likely Ernest
Livermore and Harry Fitzherbert Lattey met in India and planned on starting a
wholesale business for Indian teas. As we shall see from the list of shareholders
of Lattey, Livermore, & Co. (see below) the Indian nexus of their business
was associated with the Livermore clan in Darjeeling, since major shareholders
included Martin Livermore of Sonada, Bengal, and John F.L. Stevenson of Kurseong,
Bengal; each within ten miles of Turzum, Bengal.
 |
Connections in India of Lattey
Livermore and Co.
Credit: Google Maps | Your Places. |
Their choice of New Zealand was presumably guided by the relative immaturity of
its tea market, the growing population, and also because Harry Lattey already
had a local family connection, Dugald Buchanan Lattey.
Aged in their thirties, apparently Lattey and Livermore travelled
from Sydney to New Zealand together, arriving on the 1727 ton steamship Rotomahana
[NzShipMarineWikiRotomahana]
on 18 February 1891 [FamilySearchLivermore].
From the passenger list above, we have “Mr. H F Lathy” and “Mr.
E. Livermore” where “H F Lathy” is not so very far from “H. F. Lattey” [NewZealandHer1891Feb18P4].
This hypothesis is strongly buttressed by the evidence that,
within days, a “Lattey” and a “Livermore” boarded the steamship Takapuna
at Onehunga, Auckland, on 23 February 1891 [NzShipMarineTakapuna]
[OtagoDailyTim1891Feb24P1].
The steamship’s destination was “for the south”, and surely they
disembarked at New Plymouth and then joined D. B. Lattey (presumably Dugald Buchanan Lattey) further south who was paying off land (section 23,
block 10) in Huiroa near Tariki [TaranakiHer1890Mar25]. By March 1891,
Lattey and Livermore were also paying off land, which was labelled sections 9 and
11, block 7, Huiroa [TaranakiHer1891Mar18P2].
It makes most sense if these sections were in Midhirst since it is recorded that
Lattey and Livermore built a large house at Midhirst [NewZealandHer1892Aug23P6].
From the extant records, it seems that the tea business took
a longer time to initiate, perhaps because the pair did not travel with tea
chests and needed to import them subsequently. Certainly the first advertisement
that bears their name is on 28 October 1891, where William Walton of The Corner
Shop advertises in the Taranaki Herald, published in New Plymouth, that he is
the sole agent for Messrs. Lattey, Livermore, & Co. “Direct from India,
Purest Indian Tea … Direct from the Tea Gardens. No merchants’ profits to pay
…”
 |
Acknowledgement: the National Library of New Zealand |
Lattey, Livermore & Co. are often described in the
philatelic literature as Wellington tea merchants, which is certainly true, but
it is noteworthy that their initial base of operations was Taranaki, and indeed
William Walton began as – and remained – a staunch supporter of their business;
for example:
|
Mr W. Walton, grocer, corner of
Devon and Brougham-street, writes to us as follows :— “Permit me to correct a
misstatement that apparently inadvertently crept into your issue of Saturday
last, in which it is stated that Mr R. Cock was the first to import teas to
New Plymouth direct from India. So far from this being the case, I have been
selling for several weeks pure teas imported by Messrs Lattey, Livermore,
& Co., direct to New Plymouth from their estates in the Himalayas, where
the tea was grown and prepared, and which was, further, specially packed for
the exigencies of the New Plymouth trade. [TarankiHer1891Dec19P2]
|
In February 1892, Lattey, Livermore & Co. delivered a second
tea consignment to Walton [TaranakiHer1892Feb05P2]
and a further consignment in May 1892 [TaranakiHer1892May21P3].
At the same time Lattey, Livermore and Co. began direct advertising for their
“Pure Indian Teas … imported direct from the Estates in Assam and Darjeeling”
in Wanganui [WanganuiChron1892May11P3].
Wellington
It seemed that Harry Lattey’s ties to Taranaki did not outweigh
the modest size of its market and already in December 1891 preparations were
being made to move their base [HaweraNormanbyStar1891Dec16P2].
Around 16 June 1892, Lattey, Livermore & Co. had opened a “branch
establishment” (surely their sole wholesale site at the time) at 37 Featherstone
St, Wellington [NewZealandTim1892Jun16]
and had sold their Taranaki house [NewZealandHer1892Aug23P6].
Likely Lattey and Livermore travelled from Huiroa/Midhirst by railway, via the
New Plymouth-Marton secondary main line (complete 1885) [WikiNewPlyLine]
and thence via the main trunk line to Wellington (this section complete in
1886) [WikiMainTrunkLine].
Their Featherstone office had been promptly connected to the
Telephone Exchange [NewZealandTim1892Jun04P2].
No telephone number is listed so presumably this is the era of manual
switchboard operators before telephone numbers even existed.
Soon Lattey, Livermore & Co.’s teas were sold in the
iconic Wellington department store Kirkcaldie & Stains [NewZealandMail1892Jul21P14].
The articles of association of Lattey, Livermore & Co.
(Limited) were registered on 30 March 1893 [NatLibMemAndArticles]. H.F. Livermore was the Managing Director and the shareholders recorded on 11 August 1893 were:
 |
Archives New Zealand, Wellington
Office, Record R20463859, “Lattery [sic] Livermore and Company Ltd” [NzArchiveLatteyLivermore]
Credit: A vastly helpful Wellington philatelist. |
|
Folio in
register
|
Surname
|
Christian
name
|
Address
|
Occupation
|
Shares held
on 10th Augt/93
|
|
1
|
Lattey
|
Harry F
|
Wellington
|
Tea Merchant
|
139
|
|
2
|
Livermore
|
Ernest
|
ditto
|
ditto
|
77
|
|
3
|
Livermore
|
Martin
|
Sonada, Bengal
|
Tea Planter
|
115
|
|
4
|
Stevenson
|
John F L
|
Kurseong,
Bengal
|
Ditto
|
124
|
|
5
|
Lattey
Livermore |
Harry F
Ernest |
Wellington
|
Tea Merchants
|
6
|
|
6
|
Livermore
|
James Henry
|
?Undercliffe
near ?Dover, England
|
Gentleman
|
60
|
|
7
|
Lattey
|
Dugald
|
Wellington
|
Accountant
|
1
|
|
8
|
Chapman
|
Martin
|
ditto
|
Barrister
|
1
|
|
9
|
Tripp
|
Leonard O.H.
|
ditto
|
ditto
|
1
|
|
10
|
Stuart
|
David F.
|
ditto
|
Accountant
|
4
|
Martin Chapman [WikiChapman], Leonard
Tripp [NatLibTripp] and David
Stuart [EveningPost1923May18P3]
were experienced, local professionals.
By May 1893, Lattey, Livermore & Co. teas were sold by
eight different Wellington retailers:
·
Allan Anderson, Adelaide
Road
·
F. Terenni, Riddiford
Street
·
G. Little & Co., Courtenay
Place
·
J. Thomas, Molesworth
Street
·
Mrs. Flockton, Tory
Street
·
W.F. Smart, 66
Cuba Street
·
Farmers’ Co-operative Dairy Co., 82 Cuba Street
·
H.G. Mayo, Petone
If that wasn’t enough, by May 1894, Lattey, Livermore &
Co. had opened their own retail branches at 66 Cuba St (replacing W.F. Smart?) and
71 Willis St [EveningPost1894Apr28P2],
each with their own telephone line [EveningPost1894May03P3]
[EveningPost1894May05P1].
Indeed, the Willis St site was developed as a “really first-class afternoon tea
rooms … in the very best style” [EveningPost1894May18P2]
[EveningPost1894May18P3]
where the tea was “daintily served at moderate price” [EveningPost1894Jun13P3].
As before, there is no mention of telephone numbers.
Somewhat earlier, they had applied for a trademark:
 |
| "...04; 1st June 1893; Lattey Livermore & Co. Limited, of 37 Featherston Street, Wellington New Zealand, Tea Importers; 42; A label, with a red band across it from right top corner to left bottom corner containing the initials of applicants within a diamond; NRd [Numbered] 818." Trade Mark Application Register 1-1000 (R23395165) [NzArchTmArchReg] The 42 denotes "Class 42", which is defined in "Trade-Marks and Industrial Designs Rules" p5, as "Class 42 . Substances used as food, or as ingredients in food - such as cereals; pulses [edible dry peas, beans etc]; olive oil; hops; malt; dried fruits; tea; sago; salt; sugar; preserved meats; confectionary; oil cakes; pickles; vinegar; beer-clarifiers" [NzParlTmId] Credit: A vastly helpful Wellington philatelist. |
The trademark record is:
 |
| "804-818; 1st June 1893 Lattey, Livermore & Co. Ld. of 37 Featherstone St, Wellington, N.Z., Tea Importers 'L.L.&Co. Lattey, Livermore & Coy., Ltd. Wellington, N.Z. Importers of Indian and Ceylon Teas. Specially Selected in India & Ceylon' Tea Class 42 Essential particulars L.L. & Co. in diamond & design of label with red band & words "Red Band". Added matter except name is disclaimed." Trade Mark Application Register 1-1000 (R23395165) [NzArchTmArchReg] Credit: A vastly helpful Wellington philatelist. |
We can zoom in on the design itself:
 |
| Lattey, Livermore & Co. Ltd. trademark application Trade Mark Application Register 1-1000 (R23395165) [NzArchTmArchReg] Credit: A vastly helpful Wellington philatelist. |
The First Nugget
From time to time Lattey and Livermore would seed
educational stories of the tea trade in the newspapers. This early story is
most informative [NewZealandMail1892Jun23P11]:
|
The Sketcher.
THE HISTORY OF THE INDIAN TEA TRADE.
The history of the gradual development of the Indian tea
trade, which has within recent years made such enormous strides, should be of
more than passing interest to our readers, and we are therefore glad to have
the following facts in connection with the cultivation of Indian teas for the
World’s markets placed at our disposal : -
Tradition tells us that tea was first introduced into China
from India, but like most traditions this is sufficiently vague to be of
little value in the history of the product. If it be true that China first
imported some hundreds of years ago from the hills on the North East frontier
of India the seed, which in due course produced the fragrant Boheas and other
teas so largely consumed by the last generation, it is equally true that the
inhabitants of the fertile Brahmaputra Valley, known as the splendid tea
producing Province of Assam, where indigenous tea is now largely found, were,
partly on fifty years ago, unaware of the existence of the valuable plants
growing so abundantly in their remoter jungles, for it is certain than when
in 1840 the Government of India urged thereto no less by private individuals
than by scientific men, decided to inaugurate experimental tea plantations,
believing that the climate and other conditions of various districts in the
north and north east portions of India were eminently suited to the
profitable cultivation of the tea plant, the seed necessary to the experiment
was imported direct from China. As a result of the speedy success of these
first experiments, tea seed from China continued to be annually imported in
large quantities. The districts chosen by the authorities for these experiments
were the Darjeeling Hills, forming the southern spurs of the snow-capped
Himalayas and the rich alluvial valleys watered by the mighty Brahmaputra
[River] and divided now into the well known districts of Sibsaugor, Mowgong,
Tezpore, Gowhatty, Cachar, and Sylhet, and forming together the Province of
Assam, the late Chief Commissioner of which, with his staff, was recently so
basely murdered in the adjoining native state of Manipur. The tea plant being
essentially a thirsty shrub, requiring over 100 inches of rain in the year to
do it justice, the accessible area at the disposal of the pioneers of Indian
tea was at first limited, and even now land suitable for this farm [sic] of
cultivation is confined to hill districts and to flats running along the foot
of the Himalayas, and known as Terais or Dooars, which get the full benefit
of the rain torrents attracted to them by the giant mountains in their rear.
The successful development of the Indian tea industry in the present day,
shows how wisely the Darjeeling and Assam districts were chosen for the first
home of the acclimatised plant, for, in spite of the enormous quantities of
tea produced by the various districts in India and Ceylon, Darjeeling still
maintains the lead for its delicately flavoured teas, and Assam remains
unsurpassed for the richness and strength of its crop. The experimental
estates in Darjeeling and Assam steadily flourished from the commencement,
plenty of capital being soon available for expanding the nascent industry;
and when in the sixties a further impetus was given to tea cultivation by the
discovery, by a veteran planter—Mr Bruce, of Tezpore —of the indigenous Assam
tea plant, yielding as was soon found a far richer and more delicately
flavoured tea than that obtained from the China leaf, the production of
Indian tea for the European markets became a firmly established and a highly
successful industry.
To return to the earlier years of the enterprise, however,
cultivation of the plant was not all the planter had to make himself
acquainted with, but the far more difficult task of preparing the leaf for
the market had to be acquired as best it might, for in the early days, when
all were learning, there was no one to show the way. At first Chinamen were
brought to India to teach Englishmen how to prepare the teas for the market;
but the latter soon learnt all the Celestial had to teach … For whatever may
be said for or against Indian tea, it is certain that it has never been
adulterated, nor will it be so long as its preparation remains in the hands
of the high-class, conscientious body of men who are known to the world under
the generic name of Indian tea planters. Gradually, by careful and
intelligent experiments, the planter learnt the secret of preparing the most
palatable teas, and the successful preparation of the leaf has now been
brought to such a point of perfection, that Indian grown teas, together with
those from Ceylon—that colony having been for years the pupil of India in the
art of tea cultivation and manufacture—take the lead in the markets of the
world, and China teas, which at any time have no rival, occupy quite a
subordinate position both in Mincing Lane [Mincing Lane is a short in the
City of London linking Fenchurch Street to Great Tower Street. In the late 19th
century it was the world's leading centre for tea and spice trading. [WikiMincing]] and in
the colonies.
For many years the preparation of Indian teas remained
entirely a manual process, with the simplest application of air and heat for
withering and firing the leaf. Long lines of swarthy and scantily clad
coolies were to be seen in every factory rolling the leaf by the hand,
thereby imparting that peculiar twist so characteristic of good tea, and by
bruising the cuticle of the leaf, encouraging the process of fermentation or
oxidisation, which it is so important in all well made teas to check at the
right moment by the application of intense heat. In course of time, however,
as the quantities of the leaf to be daily dealt with in each factory become
greater and greater, manual labour was found to be cumbersome and expensive,
and the united intelligence of those employed in the industry was directed to
devising mechanical means of replacing coolie labour, with the result that in
every process of tea making, ingenious machinery and mechanical appliances of
all sorts are now employed.
This successful introduction of machinery into the
industry, has resulted in the satisfactory verdict that British grown teas
are prepared in the most cleanly manner, or by the most scientific means
known to the trade. That they produce an eminently wholesome beverage has
been time after time proved by analytical chemists of high standing, and
their popularity is evinced by statistics, which show that seventy-five per
cent of the total consumption of tea in Great Britain is now British grown.
We are indebted for this short resumé of the Indian tea
industry to Messrs Lattey, Livermore and Co., of 37 Featherston street, whose
partners have been for years tea planters in various districts in India.
The Sketcher, page 11, New Zealand Mail, issue 1060, 23
June 1892
|
Similar content is published in [TaranakiHer1892Jul19P2],
which also reports that “Messrs Lattey, Livermore & Co have appointed agents
in New Plymouth and country districts for the sale of their teas”.
The Competition Warns of Tea Intoxication
Many of the Lattey, Livermore & Co.’s tea advertisements
run above or below adverts from competing tea vendors, and the business is not
gentlemanly, as evinced by the following fearmongering advert (which immediately
precedes a William Walton advert for “Choicest Indian Teas direct from Messrs
Lattey, Livermore & Co.”) [TaranakiHer1892Jun27P4]:
|
BY SPECIAL
APPOINTMENT.
SIR ANDREW CLARK, L.L.D., F.R.S., F.R.C.P. (PHYSICIAN IN ORDINARY TO THE QUEEN 1881). Lecture on Tea TO THE STUDENTS OF THE LONDON HOSPITAL. (Extract from the Pall Mall Budget.) “Tea to be useful, should be first of all black China Tea.
The Indian Tea which is being cultivated has become so powerful in its effects
upon the nervous system that a cup of it taken early in the morning, as many
people do, so disorders the nervous system, that those who take it actually
get into a state of tea intoxication, and it produces a form of nerve
disturbance which is most painful to witness.”
Although we are the largest dealers in Indian and Ceylon
Teas in the Colonies, WE HAVE ALWAYS STRONGLY ADVISED the public to DRINK our
BLENDED TEAS in preference to Indian or Ceylon alone. We maintain they are
too sickly for 90 PER CENT, of the tea drinking public; and, in England,
where such large quantities are shipped, over 80 PER CENT, are used for
BLENDING with CHINA TEAS, which are undoubtedly as PURE as Indian and Ceylon,
and FAR MORE REFRESHING when properly BLENDED. Many INEXPERIENCED firms
push Indian and Ceylon on the public because it is beyond them to produce a
regular, true blend, and the profit is larger, for cheap common Indians [Indian
teas] give out a strong coarse liquor, WITHOUT ANY QUALITY, and make people,
FOR A TIME, fancy they are getting a bargain, till they find out, to their cost,
that SIR A. CLARK is right. The LEADING MEDICAL men in ENGLAND are CONDEMNING
the use of Indian and Ceylon TEA ALONE, and the above extract from Sir A.
Clark's Lecture MUST CONVINCE ALL that a taste for Indians [Indian tea],
which has to be ACQUIRED BY FORCE AT FIRST, is a SERIOUS and dangerous thing.
We are publishing the above extract for the benefit of those
that have not seen it, and to support what we have always maintained. This is
against our own interests, for the profit on these Teas is equal, if not
more, than that on other kinds.
NELSON.
MOATE, & CO.,
INDIAN, CHINA AND CEYLON TEA IMPORTERS CHRISTCHURCH, AUCKLAND, DUNEDIN, WELLINGTON, HOBART, AND LAUNCESTON. |
Lattey, Livermore & Co. fought back, most notably by
pointing out that most tea sold was from India or Ceylon anyway. They also
highlighted the other qualitative pluses of their wares: “Messrs Lattey, Livermore,
& Co. import Indian teas and British grown teas, which, from their purity
and flavour, continue to grow in favour, the world's consumption of Indian and
Ceylon teas being now about 75 per cent., as against 25 per cent of the produce
of China. Messrs Lattey, Livermore, & Co. have agents in every place of
importance in Taranaki.” [TaranakiHer1892Sep23P2]
Sales and Marketing Tactics
·
“Samples sent on application” [NewZealandTim1892Jul22P1]
·
“Send for a free sample … and judge for yourself” [Press1892Aug09P1]
·
“A Liberal Discount” [TaranakiHer1892Sep28P3]
·
Tea as prizes in the Egmont Agricultural and Pastoral Annual Show
of Horse, Cattle, Sheep, Pigs, Dairy and Farm Produce, Implements, Dogs,
Poultry etc (with leaping and sharing competitions) in the amount of 5lbs or
10lbs [HaweraAndNormanbyStar1892Oct08P3]
·
Auctions, without limit or reserve, of 1lb packets and 5lb
to 20lb tins of tea in Christchurch [Press1892Oct14P1]
and chests, half-chests, boxes and 1lb and ½lb packets of tea in Wellington [EveningPost1892Oct17P3].
This tactic smacks of desperation; perhaps a new shipment had arrived while Lattey,
Livermore, & Co. still had appreciable stocks from the last shipment?
|
A tea chest was a thin wooden case
with riveted metal edges, of approximate size 500 x 500 x 750mm and holding
42 to 58 kilograms of tea. They were first produced by the East India Company
to ship tea from China starting in the late seventeenth century to the United
Kingdom; and later to USA (of Boston Tea Party fame), Australia and New
Zealand. The early tea chests were lined with lead foil (!) then a layer of
paper, which gave way to aluminum or zinc over tin in future decades. [WikiTeaChest]
|
·
“Lattey, Livermore & Co. Ltd. Ask for their Pure Indian &
Ceylon Teas.” on the rear of 1893 postage stamps
·
“… handsome pictorial advertisements to all their agents,
depicting scenes on tea estates, both in India and Ceylon, which are as
interesting as they are artistic” [HaweraAndNormanbyStar1892Feb25P2]
·
Compliments: “… nothing shows more clearly how people appreciate
a first class article than the way Messrs Lattey, Livermore, and Co., tea
merchants, Wellington, have extended their business since they started about
twelve months ago. The fact is colonials are good judges, and those firms who
keep good stock reap the advantage.” [PelorusGuardianAndMinersAdvocate1893Apr28P2]
·
Advertising in the programme for Fillis’s Great Circus and
Menagerie of Performing Wild Animals with Grand Debut Performance on 16 May 1893
(with acrobats, an equestrienne, clowns, elephants, a Javanese pony, a Shetland
pony, a monkey, and goats) [NatLibFillis]
·
“Delivered free to any Address or Railway Station in Wellington”
[EveningPost1893May17P4]
·
“Ask your grocers for the cheapest and best teas yet offered to
the public” [EveningPost1893Sep26P4]
·
Popularity: “Notwithstanding the increased competition in Tea,
The sale of Lattey, Livermore, & Co.’s Pure India Teas is still
increasing.” [TaranakiHerld1894Apr13P3]
·
“Really first-class afternoon tea rooms … in the very best style”
on Willis St in Wellington [EveningPost1894May18P2]
·
“2½ Per Cent Discount for Cash with order.” [EveningPost1894Jul20P4]
·
Wholesale is cheaper: “Note these facts, and give us a trial. We
procure our supplies Direct, and are therefore THE ONLY Agents between the tea
gardens and the consumer. In selling you Tea, your grocer expects one-fourth
the selling price as his profit. The merchant who supplies the grocer requires
his profit as well. With such a division of profits somebody has to suffer, and
this somebody is the consumer. As a proof of the foregoing assertion, we ask you
to test our Teas against any other brand in the market, & and await your
judgment with confidence. The only Wholesale Tea House in New Zealand dealing
direct with the public, AND NOT AFRAID TO TELL YOU SO.” [EveningPost1894Jul28P1]
·
Freshness:
o
“Pure Ceylon Teas, Just landed direct from Colombo, Ex S.S. Port
Melbourne.” [EveningPost1894Sep18P1]
o
“New Season’s Crop” [EveningPost1894Oct09P1]
·
“Cheap freights for country residents. On receipt of a Money
Order for value of Tea ordered, together with 1s 6d added for freight, we will
forward any quantity of Tea (large or small), FREIGHT PAID, to any steamer port
or railway station in New Zealand” [NewZealandTim1894Oct19P1].
Given that the North Island main trunk line was incomplete between Marton and
Te Awamutu, multi-modal freight would be needed for locales such as Te Awamutu
and Hamilton [WikiNorthIsMainTrunk].
·
“Procure your tea at first hand and save 6d per lb – equal to the
duty” [NewZealandMail1894Oct26P14]
·
Tea as a donation to the prize fund in the Wairarapa A. And P.
Society Annual Show [NewZealandTim1894Nov02P3]
 |
Advertisements, column 5, page 1, Evening Post, vol XLVIII, issue 123, 22 November 1894 Copyright Fairfax Media, protected by a Creative Commons New Zealand BY-NC-SA licence. |
Geographic Area
·
New Plymouth (see above)
·
Normanby and Hawera [HaeraAndNormanbyStar1893May26P3]
·
Masterton. The article in [WairarapaDailyTim1893May26P2]
is a brash marketing pitch, yet there was no local retailer so customers needed
to have the tea freighted (implicitly with a surcharge) or could pick up the
tea free at Wellington Railway Station. The Wairarapa railway line extended from
Wellington as far as Ekatahuna by 1889 [WikiWairarapa].
·
Woodville [WoodvilleExam1894Apr06P2]
(which recycles the Masterton article)
·
Fielding [FieldingSta1894Apr07P2]
(which also recycles the Masterton article)
·
Wellington (see above)
·
Havelock, Marlborough [PelorusGuardianAndMinersAdv1892Nov15P3]
·
Nelson [NelsonEveningMail1894Dec15P4]
·
Blenheim [MarlboroughExpr1893Apr28P4]
·
Christchurch
o
In July 1892 Dugald Lattey, who was Lattey, Livermore
& Co.’s agent in Christchurch, operated from The Depot, 190 Columbo St [Press1892Jul19P2].
Since [CycloWellWhenuakura1897]
implies Dugald Buchanan Lattey was the Master in charge of the Whenuakura Public
School in Patea and presumably continued in that position until
at least 1896 when the Cyclopedia draft was finalized, it seems more likely that the Christchurch Dugald was Dugald Brougham Lattey (accountant and shareholder), and was the "D. Lattey" who arrived from Plymouth on 14 November 1891 via the Rimutaka [FamSearchLattey1891] [TePapaRimutaka] (note: neither D.B. Lattey is recorded as having died in New Zealand).
o
Later the company moved their tea warehouse to 180 High St [Press1894Feb21P1].
[EveningPost1894May05P1]
and would need a new manager [LytteltonTim1894May26P1]
for when they added retail tea and refreshment rooms [Press1894July02P6].
·
Akaroa [AkaroaMailAndBankPenAdv1893Jun20P3]
A Second Nugget, in which Lattey, Livermore & Co.’s
products are aligned with Britishness at the expense of other nations [EveningPost1892Oct13P4]
|
BRITISH-GROWN TEAS.
Lattey, Livermore & Co., 37, Featherston street, write
to us as follows :—
The annual report on the tea trade, for the season ending
on the 31st May last, and issued by Messrs. W. J. and H. Thompson, the
leading teabrokers in London, is instructive reading for the tea-consuming
public, to whom it is of vital importance that the purest article alone
should be retailed.
The report states that in spite of the very large increase
of production, stocks of Indian and Ceylon teas — British-grown teas, in fact—
are smaller than they were ten years ago, showing how popular these deliciously
pure teas have become as a beverage.
The attention which has been directed to British-grown teas
through the press, through the authoritative remarks of the Chancellor of the
Exchequer in recent Budget Statements, and through the general enterprise of
the trade, is thus giving good results in pushing Indian and Ceylon teas in
the world's markets, the verdict in every case being the same, viz., that the
pure and well-made British-grown teas are infinitely ahead of the inferior
and often adulterated produce of China and Japan. New Zealand and the
Australian colonies have endorsed this verdict by consuming ever-increasing
quantities of Indian and Ceylon growths.
The deliveries of British-grown teas in the Home market
have increased during the 12 months by 26 millions of pounds, while those of
China have decreased in the same time by 13¼ millions of pounds. These facts
speak for themselves. The following figures show the actual position of the
market : —
Deliveries. 1892. 1891.
1890.
lbs. lbs. lbs. India and Ceylon 169,530,000 143,324,000 133,115,000 China, &c. ... 71,802,000 85,276,000 90,932,000 British-Grown Teas, page 4, Evening Post, vol XLIV,
issue 90, 13 October 1892
|
Third and Fourth Nuggets
The third nugget expressed Lattey, Livermore & Co.’s perspective
of empire [EveningPost1893May16P2]
|
We learn from the manager of Lattey, Livermore & Co.
Limited that the world’s consumption of Indian and Ceylon teas has again uncommonly[?]
increased during the past year – so much so, indeed, that, coupled with a
short crop of Indian and Ceylon teas, the Calcutta and Colombia markets have
ruled very high for some time past. In spite of this fact Lattey, Livermore
& Co. (whose advertisement appears elsewhere) offer the public the
choicest teas from India and Ceylon at what they claim to be an unprecedently
low rate. There are many circumstances affecting the tea trade in the East
which are little dreamed of in the colonies in these piping[?] times of
peace. The Kuki [Indian hill tribes] raid in Manipur [CambridgeKukiRaids],
for instance, respect of which we quite recently published a cable message
is, we are informed, likely to affect the frontier tea estates in Assam very
considerably, even if they actually escape being raided themselves, which is
by no means certain. Manipur, the scene of Mrs Grimwood’s heroism [WikiGrimwood] and the
home of indigenous tea, appears to have developed a perpetual state of
unrest, and will require a strong hand for some time to come to quieten it.
An inset is circulated by the firm with this issue.
Page 2, Evening Post, vol XLV, issue 114, 16 May 1893
|
Perhaps this didn’t strike quite the right note and a fourth
Nugget quickly followed [NewZealandTim1893May18P2]:
|
The managing directors of Messrs Lattey, Livermore and Co.
(Limited), to whose altered advertisement in this issue we draw attention,
inform us that, in spite of the high prices which have been ruling for some
months past in the Calcutta and Colombo markets, they are enabled to offer
the public their choice Indian and Ceylon teas at unprecedentedly low rates.
They state that while the quality of their now well-known brands of teas is
absolutely pure, as is evinced by the careful chemical analysis and report
which is published on each packet, the public have a guarantee that the
quality will always be maintained, in the experience of this enterprising
firm, not only as tea tasters and buyers, but in the far more important
branch of the great tea industry, viz. that of tea growers, Lattey. Livermore
and Co. (Limited) claim that they ate now giving the public the best value in
pure unadulterated teas that has yet been offered in New Zealand, and we
understand they could not do this but tor the enormous expansion of the
Indian and Ceylon tea industries, which is annually causing thousands of
acres of dense jungle to be transformed into well-cultivated tea estates.
Page 2, New Zealand Times, vol LIV, issue 9904, 18 May
1893
|
Selected Advertisements
 |
Advertisements, col 1, page 3, Pelorus Guardian And Miners' Advocate, vol 3, issue 85, 15 November 1892 Acknowledgement: the National Library of New Zealand |
 |
Advertisements, col 3, Page 1, Evening Post, vol XLVII, issue 127, 31 May 1894 Copyright Fairfax Media, protected by a Creative Commons New Zealand BY-NC-SA licence. |
Commercial Failure
We see Lattey, Livermore & Co. expanding their
advertising throughout central New Zealand and adding retail shops in 1893 and
1894, but there are always hints of problems:
·
Reducing rented space [EveningPost1894Jun09P3]
History records that these problems were real, and the
liquidators had to step in. On 24 January 1895 “For sale as a going concern …
stock consists of … £1470 1s 9d … tenders will be received until 7 February
1895”. [NewZealandTim1895Jan25P1]
[EveningPost1895Jan26P3]
When the business could not be sold as a going concern, the
stock was sold off and “the commodious two-story Building, No. 37
Featherston-street” was advertised to let [NewZealandTim1895Feb21P1]
[EveningPost1895Sep07P3]
[EveningPost1895Oct18P3].
Tea adverts continued for a few more weeks as retailers sold out of their
stock.
Aftermath
Evidently Harry Fitzherbert Lattey did a fair job of
preserving his assets since he bought 1000 shares at 3/- each in The Eureka
Gold Mining Company [NewZealandHer1895Oct14P1].
He married Margaret Kate Hurthouse when he was aged around 42 and she was aged around
27, and they had at least two sons [EveningPost1927Jul13P15].
Lattey’s public profile diminishes significantly afterwards, but it seems he
remained a tea importer (or quietly retired) with some wealth since much later,
in 1938, he owned valuable land on Shannon St, Mt Victoria in Wellington, and is
described as a “retired indent agent”. [EveningPost1938Jan27P10]
|
An indent agent is described thus: “It was common for
merchants to have a range of items which they purchased from their agents and
suppliers overseas. Quite often merchants would be agents for one brand of
Scotch whisky, gin or brandy, rather than the present-day practice of liquor
merchants selling a whole range of spirits, etc. The importers, merchants and
warehousemen would ‘indent’ their orders from overseas, pay the local charges,
customs duties and the like, plus a reasonable ‘mark up’ for profit, and send
their travellers around … selling their range of stock.” [OtagoUniIndent]
|
Lattey died in 1940, aged 85 [EveningPost1940Jan20P1]
and his wife Margaret Kate Lattey died the next year, aged 70 [NzBdm]
[EveningPost1941Aug25].
During the hey-day of the tea company, in 1893, Ernest
Livermore had married married Mary Agnes Hirst at Patea (on the way when
travelling south from Midhirst to Wanganui) with Harry Lattey by his side as
best man [NewZealandMail1893Apr28P14].
Ernest and Mary were about 40 and 21 years of age at the time, respectively.
After the collapse of the tea company, Livermore moved to Ridings
Rd, Remuera, Auckland where he became the registrar of the electors for
Auckland West and also deputy registrar and permit officer [NewZealandHer1917Aug24P6]
[AucklandStar1917Aug24P7]
[AucklandStar1917Aug24P8].
He was an unwitting participant in a scandal in his registrar role, since he received
an application for a marriage certificate (and perhaps performed the civil
ceremony too) for a bigamist posing as Harry Ernest McDonald [AucklandStar1916Jun30P6].
Ernest Livermore died in 1917 and his obituary records that he
was survived by his widow, one son (on active service) and one daughter (born
1894 [NewZealandTim1894Jun23P2]
who became a nurse in Auckland Hospital) [NewZealandHer1917Aug24P6]
[AucklandStar1917Aug24P7].
Mary Agnes Livermore died aged 89 in 1961 [NzBdm,
1961/25048].
Partial List of Sailings by members of the Lattey family
Lattey, Onehunga to New Plymouth, 1894 [EveningPost1894Jan26P26]
Lattey, Wellington to Lyttelton, 1894 [LytteltonTim1894Oct22P4]
Lattey, Lyttelton to Wellington, 1894 [Lyttelton1894Oct24P6]
Lattey, Auckland to East Coast and Southern ports, 1899 [NewZealandHer1899Aug07P4]
Lattey, Wellington to Lyttelton, 1899 [LytteltonTim1899Nov13P4]
Lattey, Wellington to Lyttelton, 1900 [LytteltonTim1900Nov24P9]
No comments:
Post a Comment