Robert Fortune (1812-1880)
In 1840’s, desperate to regain their hold on the tea trade, the British East India Company hired Scottish botanist, plant hunter, and traveller Robert Fortune to travel into China’s interior, forbidden to foreigners, to steal the secrets of tea horticulture and manufacturing. Between 1843 and 1851, Robert Fortune succeed where those before him had failed - the infiltration of China’s interior and the successful transportation of tea plants to India.
Born in Berwickshire, Scotland in 1812, while very little is known about Robert Fortune’s early years, we do know that he began apprenticing in nearby gardens at an early age. Proving to be an excellent student, he quickly secured a position with the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh in 1840. In Edinburgh, he worked with noted Scottish gardner William McNabb. With McNabb’s support, Fortune later applied for a position with the Horticultural Society Gardens in Chiswick, England. A few months later, Fortune became the Society’s Collector in China.
Fortune was sent off in 1843, with little pay and a list of interesting instructions, including: collecting tea plants, detailing the process of tea manufacture, search for blue-flowered peonies and peaches (which were rumored to grow in the Emperor’s private garden). After landing in Hong Kong in July of 1843, Fortune hired a servant, Wang, to take him deep into China’s Northern provinces. He adopted a disguise and even shaved his head to appear less suspicious. Fortune also managed to learn Mandarin to help his disguise as an authorized tea inspector.
What Fortune discovered would forever change the tea trade. Some of his major discoveries included learning that green and black tea are derived from the same plant, what makes them unique is how they are processed. Black tea is fermented and left to dry in the sun where the leaves can oxidize and wilt. Fortune also discovered Chinese workers were dying the green tea with gypsum, a toxic substance, to make the tea appear more “green” to boost sales. These discoveries were displayed in London’s Great Exhibition of 1851, and provided an irrefutable argument for British-manufactured tea.
In 1848, Fortune traveled to India with 20,000 tea plants and seedlings to the Darjeeling region. He also brought with him a group of trained Chinese tea workers who would assist in the facilitation of tea production. The technology and knowledge brought over from China was instrumental in the later flourishing of the Indian tea industry.
Fortune made several trips to China, Japan and India during his life, and successfully introduced 120 plants to Western gardens. He died in London in 1880, and is buried in Brompton Cemetery.
written by Ashley Kane