1619

When the first Company of Tobacco Pipe makers was granted a charter by James 1 on 5th October 1619, smoking had already caused something of a stir in the land. Well before 1586, when Drake returned to England, English sailors had started to smoke pipes using tobacco seeds and plants as well as cigars, a habit picked up from Spanish, Portuguese and French sailors. Drake popularised smoking, having found a method of curing the tobacco, but it was an expensive pastime. Only small clay pipes using modest amounts of tobacco were used in the "tobagies", early meeting houses. It was also considered a "custom loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose and harmful to the braine", according to James 1 and his courtiers!

However, by 1613, there were over 7,000 "houses" that supported themselves by the sale of tobacco and even the King had to accept the benefits which the trade in tobacco had brought. Taxation was therefore introduced which only encouraged smuggling and in 1619 James 1 proclaimed that growing tobacco in England was forbidden. In the same year, James ordered all tobacco to be brought into England through London, and also granted the first Charter to the Company.