James Pimm (1798–1866) was a British food proprietor who created the gin-based liqueur known as

Pimm's Pimm's is an English brand of gin-based fruit cup but may also be considered a liqueur or the basis of a sling or punch. It was first produced in 1823 by James Pimm and has been owned by Diageo since 1997. Its most popular product is Pimm's No ...

. Pimm was born and raised in Newnham,

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

as the son of James Norris Pimm, a tenant farmer, and his wife Susannah. He was classically educated in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, Scotland, where he focused his studies on Theology. In his early 20s, he moved to London where he established himself as a shellfish monger, the first step on a career in catering. The royal family were frequent patrons. The same year, Pimm married Mary Southernden Mallery at St Mary Woolnoth, London. Within ten years he was running a chain of five restaurants patronized by the rest of the British gentry and '' hoi polloi''. Pimm and his wife Mary had at least 11 children, however, few reached adulthood. Pimm devised the cocktail to accompany the shellfish; the recipe was a closely guarded secret then, and remains so to this day. The owners now are

Diageo Diageo plc () is a Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic beverage company, with its headquarters in London, England. It operates from 132 sites around the world. It was the world's largest distiller before being overtaken by Kweich ...

PLC. Pimm died on 16 August 1866 at the family home in East Peckham, Kent, although he was still known to be residing in addresses in

The City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London from ...

around the time of his death. He is buried at Holy Trinity Church, East Peckham, Kent, England.

Sources

*''How a Farmer’s Son Invented the Taste of the Social Summer'', by Mark Gardner, ''Faversham Times'', 25 June 2005 {{DEFAULTSORT:Pimm, James 1798 births 1873 deaths English restaurateurs People from Newnham, Kent English inventors People from East Peckham 19th-century British businesspeople