Does anyone know what a "tea warehouseman" was in Rotherham?

Question

an ancestor of mine,john burley kay was called this on the 1881 census of Rotherham. it says "employing 16 hands" did that mean he was just a warehouseman for a bigger company that employed 16 hands,or did it mean he employed them and it was his firm? The 1901 census called him a "retired tea trader" on the 1871 census he was described as a "clerk(manufactures)brafs works ? I have blown up the size of the writing,but it still looks brafs.does not make sense really,buy does any one know what company it may be,and did he work for a company having a connection with tea? Does anyone also know in the late 19th century how imported tea would have got inland to Rotherham? John Burley Kay was born in Sheffield 1839 and died 1915. He had a wife Emma,born in Rotherham.They are both buried in Moorgate cemetery.I would appreciate anything any one can tell me,especially about the warehouseman

Answer 1

employed could mean employed them for himself or as a manager for someone else but retired tea trader suggests he employed them himself,

the brafs is actually brass the long thin letter is an old way of writing an S ( if you look it should not have a stroke across it like an f )