Catherine Cranston

Scottish, 1849-1934

The daughter of a successful Scottish baker and restaurateur, Catherine Cranston was born and raised in Glasgow, where her father owned a popular hotel. After her older brother Stuart became a tea merchant, she founded a chain of tea rooms in Glasgow – this proved a boon to the strong local temperance movement that eschewed public houses. At the time, tea was habitually only drunk at home but Miss Cranston’s tea rooms transformed the taking of tea into a pleasant and decorous social activity that could be enjoyed by anyone – especially women, who previously had very few public places where they could meet and socialise.