Henry Jones (1812 – 12 July 1891) was a baker in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, England, who was responsible in 1845 for inventing

self-raising flour Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cultur ...

. He established a family business called Henry Jones (Bristol) Ltd. His flour meant that hard tack could have been removed from sailors of the

British Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

but the admiralty resisted for some years.

Biography

Jones was born in Monmouth, (Trefynwy) in Wales and established a bakery in Broadmead, Bristol. He was granted a patent for self-raising flour in 1845, and by the end of 1846 its runaway success led to him being appointed purveyor of patent flour and biscuits to

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

. He was granted a patent in the USA on 1 May 1849, and in 1852 the first gold medal for the new flour was issued to a Chicago firm using the Bristol formula. It took Jones some years to convince the British Admiralty of the benefits of using the new flour in preference to the hard biscuits to which sailors were accustomed. Jones emphasised the benefits to the sailors of having fresh bread throughout their voyages. Finally, in 1855, his flour was approved for use of participants in the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

, partly at the behest of

Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during the Crimean War, i ...

. From 1864, he lived at Court House, Caldicot, Monmouthshire, where he died in 1891.Some Memorial Inscriptions, Caldicot, Monmouthshire
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References

1812 births 1891 deaths British bakers People from Monmouth, Wales Welsh chefs Date of birth unknown Businesspeople from Bristol Defunct companies based in Bristol 19th-century British businesspeople {{food-bio-stub

Biography

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References