When Jacob was 11 or 12 years old, his parents, considering him to be too delicate for a life in agriculture, allowed a travelling tinker to take charge of him, with hopping that the travelling tinsmith could give their son a trade.
Eventually he was drawn to the city of Geneva. He works as a watchmaker and jeweller. Jacob described himself as an enthusiastic amateur scientist. He would buy and read all the sconce journals and he enjoyed replicating the experimenting detailed within their pages.
The business began in 1783 when Jacob Schweppe perfected his own process of mineral water production in Geneva, Switzerland.
By 1794 he was selling his highly carbonated artificial mineral waters to his friends in Geneva; later he started a business in London.
Sales received a major boost when the company commissioned the centerpiece of the 1851 Great Exhibition in Hyde Park. This was a twenty-seven-foot glass fountain running with Malvern spring water.
As the 18th century ended, Jacob Schweppe withdrew from the scene. By his ingenuity and determination 20 years before, Jacob had transformed both the quality and the scale of production of artificial mineral waters.
Johann Jacob Schweppe (1740-1821)
