1804, the year before the Battle of Trafalgar whilst England was fighting the Napoleonic Wars, the Duke of Wellington stayed at the London Hotel in Ramsgate, which was owned by Robert Page and his younger brother Richard. At that time, there was a threat of invasion by Napoleon and among those caught up in the invasion scare was a grocer named Fisher. He offered his shop on the corner of Harbour Street and Market Place for sale and hastily left the town. 'The Iron Duke' had taken a liking to young Richard, then just 24, and advised him to buy the empty grocer’s shop. 

The business outgrew the original shop and moved to new premises in Queen Street. This success meant the business had to move away from horse drawn deliveries and purchased the first motorised vehicle in Ramsgate to meet customer demand. The business saw war break out twice more in Europe,  Kenneth Alvis Page managed, with great determination, to keep the business running throughout the Second World War and continued to grow and developed its wine imports to make Page & Sons a house hold name in Thanet.