J L JohnstonJohn Lawson Johnston was a nutrition promoter, food manufacturer, entrepreneur and philanthropist. He created Bovril and made his home at Kingswood House in Southwark.
J L Johnston was born in Roslin, Midlothian in Scotland on September 28 1839. In 1874 Johnston secured a contract from the French government to supply a large quantity of canned beef as emergency rations for its forts. He went out to Canada in 1874 and while there began a tomato-canning business and also produced Johnston's Fluid Beef, a meat extract. This sold well in Canada as a hot drink and Johnston offered tastings at the ice carnivals held every winter in Montreal.
Johnston sold his North American business in 1880 and returned to London. Within a few years he had established a factory at 10 Trinity Square, Tower Hill from which he sold what was called ‘Johnston's Fluid Beef (brand Bovril)’. The product's success grew partly as a result of its innovative and striking advertising, aided by S. H. Benson (1854–1914), who joined Bovril in the early 1890s and then went on to establish his own business as an advertisers' agency. Bovril was among his first clients.
J L Johnston bought Kingswood House in Southwark in 1892 and spent £10,000 remodelling the house and grounds with help of architect Henry Vaughan Manchester. The house became known as Bovril Castle.
Throughout his life Lawson Johnston was an ardent teetotaller, and this fuelled his determination to find a nutritious substitute for alcohol. Johnston died on board his yacht, White Ladye, in Cannes harbour on November 24 1900. He was buried in Norwood cemetery in London on December 6, and was survived by his wife and thirteen children.
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