John Wheeley Lea was born in 1791 and William Henry Perrins in 1793.

Lea took over a pharmacy in Broad Street, Worcester and employed Perrins as his apprentice. They decided to go into partnership in 1823. By the mid-1800s, with other partners, they owned four pharmacies including one at Kidderminster and another at Cheltenham.

The details of the actual beginnings of Worcestershire Sauce have been lost but theories remain.

One version is that a Maharajah came into their shop demanding tongue-blistering sauces that were modified to Worcestershire Sauce.

A more probable version is that a former governor of Bengal called at their pharmacy to see if they were able to prepare his recipe for a sauce. He was so delighted with the result that he introduced it to his friends and it became locally popular.

It was in 1837 that Worcestershire Sauce began to be produced commercially. Lea and Perrins decided to advertise. The product became so popular that they took the premises next door to have the room to manufacture the large quantities required.

One of their promotional activities was to arrange that all restaurants on ocean liners sailing to and from England carried Worcestershire Sauce.

Lea and Perrins factory,
Worcester, exterior

They even paid the waiters to serve it. Customers could purchase a bottle of this tasty delight to take home with them!

Lea and Perrins factory,
Worcester, bottling room

In 1839 Worcestershire Sauce was introduced into America. It was such a success that the importer, John Duncan of New York, opened a processing plant, imported the ingredients from England and manufactured exactly according to the English formula.

By 1865 the partners' business had so increased that they gave up the pharmacy side of the business and concentrated on the manufacture of Worcestershire Sauce.

Perrins died in 1867 and Lea in 1874.