'Dutch Courage'

Gin was thought to be developed by Dutch physician Franciscus Sylvius, who prescribed it as medicine in 1550.

It was then used by the English during the 30 Years' War to calm soldiers' nerves before going to fight.

When the soldiers returned home they brought the gin with them!

During the 17th Century gin rose in popularity due to it being cheap to make and having much lower taxes than beer or wine.

During the 17th and 18th Century the popularity of gin was getting out of hand. In 1733 the English, on average consumed 47 million litres of the stuff! Crime, high death rates and a declining birth rate led to the Gin Acts.

8 Gin Bills were created between 1729 and 1751 to try to get some control back. This meant the price increased but so did the quality, making it a much better beverage.

Imagery of an 18th Century Gin bottle. These bottles were hand blown from green glass. Green glass bottles were much cheaper to produce than clear ones.

Image found: http://www.montaine-antiques.com/archived-glass/antique-free-blown-black-glass-gin-bottle-18th-cent

The classic G&T (gin and tonic water) was created in the 19th century by British soldiers in India. They mixed quinine (a treatment for malaria) in their water creating tonic water. This had a bad taste so the idea to mix gin in it led to the start of the G&T!

Informative pages on Gin history links:

https://sipsmith.com/gin-and-london-the-origin/ Sipsmith London. Gin and London: The Origin

https://world-gin-club.com/the-history-of-gin/ World Gin Club. The History of Gin

https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=NBPeHLc5AzcC&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=history+of+gin&ots=tDNwtU9tD4&sig=SYpbdI8-E5Ku2C8aT_44f_l16uA&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=history%20of%20gin&f=false Book by Lesley Jacobs Solmonson (2012). Gin: A Global History