Johann Jacob Schweppe

Who was Johann Jacob Schweppe?

Johann Jacob Schweppe was a German-born naturalised Swiss watchmaker and amateur scientist who developed the first practical process to manufacture carbonated mineral water, based on a process discovered by Joseph Priestley in 1770.

Schweppe was born in Hesse. He moved to Geneva in 1765 to work as a watchmaker and jeweler. He founded the Schweppes Company in Geneva in 1783. The addition of carbon dioxide was considered, at the time, to have medicinal properties. In 1792 he moved to London to develop the business there, but it was not successful and failed in 1795. However Erasmus Darwin, the grandfather of Charles Darwin, started talking up the beverage, which started to become popular. Schweppe returned to Geneva in 1821. In 1831, King William IV of the United Kingdom adopted the beverage which could then use the famous "by appointment of". It subsequently became very popular.