Origins & Early Life

Sir Thomas Johnstone Lipton, 1st Baronet (10 May 1848 – 2 October 1931) was a Scottish businessman and company founder of Lipton Tea, merchant, philanthropist and yachtsman who lost 5 America's Cup races. Lipton used extensive advertising to promote his chain of grocery stores and the Lipton tea brand. He was also a yachtsman, challenging for the America's Cup yacht racefive times between 1899 and 1930. Lipton was born in a tenement in Crown Street in the Gorbals, Glasgow, on 10 May 1848.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

His Ulster-Scots parents, Thomas Lipton senior and Frances Lipton (née Johnstone), were from the townland of either Shannock Green or Shankillk (Tonitybog), both near Roslea, in the south-east corner of County Fermanagh in Ulster, not far from Clones in County Monaghan. His parents were married in St. Mark's Church of Ireland Church in Aghadrumsee, near Roslea. The Liptons had been smallholders in County Fermanagh for generations but, by the late 1840s, Thomas Lipton's parents had been forced to leave Ireland due to the Great Famine of 1845. Moving to Scotland in search of a better living for their young family, the Liptons had settled in Glasgow by 1847.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

Lipton's father...

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