Information supplied by Mike Bunston OBE : There are 2 classes of Broker. 1st Hand (Selling Brokers) and 2nd Hand (Buying Brokers) When I joined the Tea Trade in 1959 there were 12 First Hand Brokers which were as follows: Charles Hope. Lloyd & Carter Ewart Macauey T A Kerr Lloyd Matheson & Carrit Geo White. Gow Wilson & Stanton Sanderson. Thomas Cumberlege & Inskipp Wm Jas & Henry Thompson Wilson Smithett Over the years there were a number of amalgamions Carles Hope Lloyd & Carter T A Kerr formed Ewart Kerr Hope. Gow Wilson & Stanton with Geo White forming Gow White, later joined by Sanderson. Wm Jas & Henry Thompson and Lloyd Matheson & Carrit and Ewart Macauley forming Thompson LloydEwart. Later Gow White joined Thompson Lloyd and they also incorporated Thomas Cumberlege & Inskipp S S Smith were ownned by Brooke Bond. they were Buying Brokers, buying for BB Lyons and Lipton. They applied to the Tea Brokers Asociation to become a Selling Broker to sele Brooke Bond Estates teas. They later took over a "shell company" Haines & Co to act as Selling Broker for the BB Teas. Brooke Bond closed them down in the late 1990's By the time of the last Auction in 1998 there were only 2 Brokers namely: Wilson Smithett & Co who "stayed single" all that time and Thompson Lloyd (which consisted of nine other Brokers over the period) I hope that this is of interest. Also see Tea Producing Companies |