Concept    From 1870 

Bovril

Categories: Food & Drink

The trademarked name of a thick, salty meat extract developed in the 1870s by John Lawson Johnson. It is made in Burton upon Trent and is now (2013) owned and distributed by Unilever UK. The first part of the product's name comes from the Latin 'bos' meaning ox or cow, and 'vril' from Edward Bulwer-Lytton's novel 'The Coming Race', the plot of which revolves around a superior race of people, the Vril-ya, who derive their powers from an electromagnetic substance named Vril.

Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk

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This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Bovril

Commemorated ati

East Ham tram depot

{Two trams; one bears the destination 'Docks' and the number 216; the other b...

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John Lawson Johnston

John Lawson Johnston, 1839 - 190, inventor of Bovril, owned and lived here at...

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Other Subjects

White Lion pub, Islington

White Lion pub, Islington

We can find no information about this pub.

Building, Commerce, Food & Drink

1 memorial
The Bell, Carter Lane

The Bell, Carter Lane

From this inn, on 25 October 1598, Richard Quiney wrote a letter to William Shakespeare. This letter, the only one addressed to Shakespeare that has survived, is held by the museum at Strafford. Th...

Building, Commerce, Food & Drink

1 memorial
W. Young & Son

W. Young & Son

The Young family began fishing the Thames for whitebait in 1750. In 1811 William Young married Elizabeth Martha who had been selling fish at the Greenwich quayside. They set up a fish shop and the ...

Group, Commerce, Food & Drink

1 memorial
Marylebone conduit

Marylebone conduit

At London Sideways we learn that in 1237 the City of London, short of water, were granted a piece of land beside the Tyburn River so that they could lay conduits to carry water to the City. This l...

Building, Food & Drink

1 memorial