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San Antonio Express-NewsHearst Newspapers Logo Skip to main content Subscribe News * Local * Politics * Border & Mexico * U.S. & World * Education Sports * High School * Spurs * Gregg Popovich * Cowboys & NFL * Colleges Weather * Forecasts * Flood Risk Map Business * Real Estate * SpaceX Opinion * San Antonio Forward Food * Top Restaurants * Best BBQ * Cooking & Recipes Lifestyle * Travel & Outdoors * Arts & Entertainment * Comics * Puzzles * Fiesta Special Projects * Remembering Uvalde Victims * Bleeding Out * Nowhere To Hide Podcasts * Puro Politics * Nosotros * Spurs Insider * EN Depth Classifieds * Obituaries * Place an Obituary * Legal Notices About Us * Privacy Notice * Terms of Use * Photo Store Newsletters San Antonio Express News LogoSale Extended: ONLY 25¢ News ENGLISH IMMIGRANT FOUND SUCCESS IN SAN ANTONIO BY SELLING TEA TO TEXANS BRITISH IMMIGRANTS DIDN’T ESTABLISH A ‘COLONY’ IN THE AREA, BUT THEY DID BUILD A COMMUNITY BY NETWORKING, FORMING ASSOCIATIONS. By Paula Allen, Guest columnistJune 1, 2024 Members of the Texas British Association and its auxiliary, the Texas British Women’s Club, are shown at an early 1900s patriotic celebration. According to city directories, the organization met the “first Wednesday of each month at private residences.” Courtesy Fred Hawkins I’m looking for information on what my age-80-plus cousin recently told me was an “English colony” circa 1910 in San Antonio, where my great-grandfather, who was raised ranching sheep in Val Verde County, had been sent by his family to learn manners and find a wife. His parents had immigrated from England to Texas about 1885. I think the William Holland you mention (in a July 8, 2023, column) may be my great-great-great-grandfather. I have a list of ancestors my grandfather wrote down that has a William Holland, born June 11, 1829, Heathersage, Derbyshire; died in San Antonio. Findagrave.com shows a William Holland born June 11, 1828. My grandfather’s list includes William’s children, and I found the grave of his son, Richard Ambrose Holland (my great-great-grandfather) in findagrave.com. The findagrave web-posting for Richard mentions he owned a tea and coffee shop in San Antonio. I remember as a child seeing old family photos of a flood in downtown San Antonio with people in boats in front of a “Tea & Coffee Shop.” Advertisement Article continues below this ad Also timely, my wife recently found the attached certificate and photo of her ancestor, Harry Peel. She recalls stories of him stopping cattle work near Jourdanton at teatime to have a proper English tea out in the pasture, possibly with tea he had purchased at Holland’s. Interesting to think our forefathers knew each other. I (also) thought you might be interested in seeing the attached photo my sister sent me from an old family photo album she has. I presume this is San Antonio. I wonder if the house is still standing. — Fred Hawkins It’s fun to imagine Brits colonizing a San Antonio neighborhood, filling the air with the exotic aromas of their Sunday roasts and Yorkshire pudding, chatting in their foreign accents (Cockney, Liverpudlian, Yorkshire, Scottish and more) and popping down to shops that carried beloved native specialties. It wasn’t quite that way — these immigrants lived among those born here or elsewhere in Europe — but San Antonio had a British community in the late 19th century. Some of its members were broadly influential: London-trained architect Alfred Giles designed Texas courthouses, grand homes, schools and hospitals; his father-in-law, born in Suffolk, England, was chief surveyor of Bexar County; and Dr. George Cupples of Berwick, Scotland, was president of San Antonio’s Board of Health. Advertisement Article continues below this ad S.A. HISTORY: Ledger spurs quest to uncover history of San Antonio’s British immigrants Your ancestor, William Holland, another leader of this community, was a merchant who started a business that turned countless Texans into literal tea-sippers. While his countrymen didn’t have a geographical enclave, they were organized. From the late 19th century through the early 1900s, San Antonio boasted at least three British national clubs, although they didn’t overlap — the St. George’s Society, founded in 1873; the San Antonio British Association, established in 1882; and the Texas British Association, organized in 1898. This certificate for membership in the Texas British Association was presented to Harry H. Peel from Manchester, England, when he joined the British immigrants’ organization in August 1899. Courtesy Fred Hawkins Like most fraternal organizations, these groups were intended to provide mutual aid, fellowship and networking. The Texas British Association’s aim was to “strew flowers along the pathways of friends,” according to the San Antonio Light, Dec. 22, 1911. The report was on an “enthusiastic smoker” at which “veteran member” Holland was presented with a life membership, and “all present sang ‘Auld Lang Syne’ and ‘God Save the King.’ ” Holland, who arrived in San Antonio in 1880, was the first president of the second club and first chairman of the last and longest-lasting band of British brothers. He was nearly always an officer after that, usually on the board of directors. In fact, there might not have been a successor to the St. George’s Society if not for Holland. “A number of Englishmen met last night to form a society for social and beneficiary purposes,” said the Light, June 10, 1882. “Mr. William Holland was called to the chair, and it was then decided that a British association should be formed,” and he was forthwith elected president. S.A. HISTORY: National groups brought soccer to San Antonio At that time, he was already a well-known merchant, philanthropist and deacon of First Baptist Church. Known as “the Tea Man,” Holland appears in city directories as a dealer in coffee, tea and spices. At that time, “good tea and coffee were hard to find in this grand old state,” said the Light, June 23, 1903. William Holland joined his son in the San Antonio shop and “yearly increased his business until there was no tea or coffee business (that) surpassed him” in Texas. In 1903, he retired, assigning the San Antonio business to his grandson, Richard E. Holland, says the Light, “and his Waco business to his son, Richard A. Holland.” Your wife’s ancestor, Harry Herbert Peel, was born in 1858 in England to an English father and a Welsh mother. He arrived in this country in 1878 and was naturalized in 1917, according to the 1920 U.S. census, when he was listed as living on Cantrell Street in Jourdanton and employed as “manager of the T.H. Zanderson farm.” (With Jourdan Campbell, Zanderson was co-founder in 1909 of Jourdanton; as business partners, they co-owned a 40,000-acre ranch.) English immigrant Harry H. Peel is one of the men standing at the base of the oil rig in this 1915 photo titled “Boring for oil in Jourdanton.” Courtesy Fred Hawkins And yes, the British forefathers counted by you and your wife probably knew each other. When the Light, May 25, 1909, reported on the Texas British Association’s annual banquet in honor of Queen Victoria’s birthday, held May 25, 1909, in the Mahncke Hotel, both William Holland and Harry H. Peel were noted among those present, along with Giles and Boerne Post editor John Guthrie. S.A. HISTORY: San Antonio’s German-style shooting club of the 1800s-1900s sharpened skills, built community As for the group photo with men in uniform, people portraying Uncle Sam and Britannia, children in miscellaneous sailor suits and adults in varying dress from fancy to cowboy casual, we don’t as yet have a location. The Texas British Association met variously in rooms at banks, other business buildings, fraternal-organization halls and schools. What we can see of this meeting place — distinctive columns and a deep porch — isn’t the Garden Military Academy, the Hot Wells resort or St. Mark’s Episcopal Church parish house, where the Brits respectively held lectures, a picnic and a production of Charles Dickens’ “Pickwick Papers” as a play. Once the organization launched its women’s auxiliary in 1906, the original group often met with the Texas British Women’s Club, listed in city directories as meeting “the first Wednesday of each month at private residences.” The building they’re posed in front of might have been a private house; anyone who recognizes it may contact this column. S.A. HISTORY: Lineage groups open to descendants of early settlers The uniforms pictured “look to be a mix made to look British if not actually British issue,” said Bryan Howard, curator of the Fort Sam Houston Museum. “Bottom line is, they are representing British uniforms from the late 1890s to early 1900s.” The Texas British Association celebrated many patriotic holidays, such as their sovereigns’ birthdays, Canada’s Dominion Day and even Washington’s birthday, so that could explain the presence of someone portraying Uncle Sam while a woman is garbed as Britannia. Thanks to Sylvia Reyna at the San Antonio Public Library’s Texana/Genealogy Department for city-directory assistance and to Marlene Richardson, archivist of the Maverick Carter House for sharing images of pages from the 1873 St. George’s Society ledger. historycolumn@yahoo.com | X (formerly Twitter): @sahistorycolumn | Facebook: SanAntoniohistorycolumn San Antonio Express News Logo Sign up for Express Briefing Start your day with the San Antonio news you need to know. Email Sign Up By signing up, you agree to our Terms Of Use and acknowledge that your information will be used as described in our Privacy Policy. June 1, 2024 PAULA ALLEN The History Column PAULA ALLEN WRITES ABOUT HISTORY FOR THE EXPRESS-NEWS. MORE NEWS ENGLISH IMMIGRANT FOUND SUCCESS IN SAN ANTONIO BY SELLING TEA TO TEXANS British immigrants didn’t establish a “colony” in the area, but they did build a... 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Texas GATOR HAD MISSING WOMAN'S REMAINS IN ITS JAWS WHEN HOUSTON POLICE SHOT IT DEAD San Antonio's Top Restaurants MIKE SUTTER’S 5 WORST BURGERS IN SAN ANTONIO Lifestyle PHOTOS: DRAKE DROPPED $15 MILLION ON THIS RITZY TEXAS RANCH Return To Top San Antonio Express News Logo About Our CompanyCareersOur Use of AIStandards and Practices Contact Customer ServiceFrequently Asked QuestionsNewsroom Contacts Services ArchivesAdvertisingCorporate SubscriptionsPhoto Store Account SubscribeNewsletterse-Edition About * Our Company * Careers * Our Use of AI * Standards and Practices Contact * Customer Service * Frequently Asked Questions * Newsroom Contacts Services * Archives * Advertising * Corporate Subscriptions * Photo Store Account * Subscribe * Newsletters * e-Edition Hearst Newspapers Logo © 2024 Hearst Newspapers, LLCPrivacy NoticeYour California Privacy RightsInterest Based AdsTerms of Use