The Victory Tea Company
Kidderminster
The Victory Tea Company was formed in Kidderminster in 1931 by Ernest Hill, a local man who had earlier been the Leicester representative for the Ceylon Tea Growers Association Ltd. of Nottingham. The business first opened in Sutton Road before moving to a purpose built warehouse and office in Holman Street where tea was blended, packed and stored. Ernie, as he was generally known, also delivered tea, coffee and confectionaries to private customers and businesses throughout Worcestershire and neighbouring counties.
When the company closed in 1965 a large collection of the documents was left in a store room and survived the occupation by subsequent businesses until donated to Bewdley Museum in 2014 and subsequently transferred to the Kidderminster Historical Society in February 2015. Some of the documents were in box files in approximate year order but a large number were received thoroughly jumbled in a large plastic bag. All the documents have now been organised into year order and further sorted in various categories: orders for tea, coffee and confectionaries, receipts, invoices, motor expenses, deliveries, connection to local and national businesses, etc.
All prices for tea supplies and other goods found in the documents are, of course, in pre-decimalisation currency. For the record 1 shilling (or 1/- or 1/0d) is equivalent to the present 5p. 1p is worth 2.4d of the old money. So 1/5d has a present value of a small fraction over 7p.
The document collection (1931 to 1959) has been used to write story of the Victory Tea Company in Kidderminster between these years. Later documents and business books supplied by Ernest Hill's daughter Roselyn, have been used to supplement the story. A PDF file is available containing the story for all years between 1931 and 1977. Alternatively, PDF files for individual years, or groups of years, are available at higher quality.
​
The notes made from original files from which the story has been compiled can also be found via a link at the bottom of the page. They contain much information that does not appear in the story but do take a lot of reading.
​
Organised and prepared by Bob Millward
​
The Victory Tea Company 1931 - 1977
The Victory Tea Company - 1931
The Victory Tea Company - 1932
The Victory Tea Company - 1933
The Victory Tea Company - 1934
The Victory Tea Company - 1935
The Victory Tea Company - 1936
The Victory Tea Company - 1937
The Victory Tea Company - 1938
The Victory Tea Company - 1939
The Victory Tea Company - 1940
The Victory Tea Company - 1941
The Victory Tea Company - 1942
The Victory Tea Company - 1943
The Victory Tea Company - 1944
The Victory Tea Company - 1945
The Victory Tea Company - 1946
The Victory Tea Company - 1947
The Victory Tea Company - 1948
The Victory Tea Company - 1949
The Victory Tea Company - 1950
The Victory Tea Company - 1951
The Victory Tea Company - 1955
The Victory Tea Company - 1956
The Victory Tea Company - 1957
The Victory Tea Company - 1958
The Victory Tea Company - 1959
The Victory tea Company - 1961-1977
The Victory Tea Company Appendix 1936-1966
​
​
As the document collection was studied extensive notes were made. These usually contain much more detail than could be included in the descriptive annual narratives. These notes are collected in the PDF file below.
​
​
​