James Sceats

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James Sceats James Sceats, was a wine and spirit merchant with offices in Bishopsgate London in the 1890s. In 1898 James purchased the Camberwell Distillery in Addington Square London, it was here he conceived the recipe that would become El-Bart Gin.

El-Bart became the best-selling London Gin in the USA across the first half of the 20th century. Operating from the Flat Iron Building in New York, El-Bart was the house gin of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel and the basis of the world’s most influential cocktail recipe book by Hugo Ensslin.

James passed away in 1903 and he never lived to see the success of his gin, but the global Sceats Family (including British Businessperson Peter Sceats) reclaimed the recipe and revived the family business.

Early life[edit]

James SCEATS was born in Homerton, Middlesex in England in 1851. His parents Joseph and Susannah were 37. By the 1861 census, James was a schoolboy living at the family home in Kings Road Finsbury, just North of the City of London.

His parents were of modest means, his father's unusual career path took him from gardener to florist to milliner; but Joseph was successful, and the family moved to a large house at number 10 Gt. Ormond Street London.

After leaving school, James started as a trainee cooper (barrel maker) and by 1870 working in London's (then) Brewing Quarter at 12 Great Crown Court, Little Pulteney Street (now Brewer Street) Soho. His connections in the trade led to James becoming a wine & spirit merchant and married Elizabeth Briant HILL on 30 June 1881 in Liverpool, Lancashire, UK.

Distilling[edit]

In 1898, James expanded into distilling. Aside from regular distilling and pioneered a concept to recover alcohol from barrels for the medical trade.

The Camberwell Distillery was conveniently located on the south side of Addington Square, a stone’s throw from Camberwell Wharf where the Grand Surrey Canal connected the distillery to the River Thames and the Port of London.

James fell seriously ill as a result of his childhood scarlet fever and sold the Camberwell Distillery's gin stills and a gin recipe to an American company in 1901.

James Sceats died on 10 October 1903 at Creighton Mansions, Brunswick Square London at the age of 52. He is buried in Highgate Cemetery with his wife who passed away 47 years later.

El-Bart Gin[edit]

The first gin advert based on the Camberwell Distillery recipe appeared in New York in 1905 under the "El Bart Gin" brand. The label carried the Sceats & Willis name underlining its "London Gin" roots. By the start of the First World War in Europe, supplies of British gin to the USA were being disrupted and El Bart was one of the only London Dry Gins available; as such it gained great popularity.

El-Bart became the house gin of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel and was the gin of choice for Hugo Ensslin, the German-born cocktail maestro of the Wallick Hotel in New York and author of the most influential cocktail book ever written. James Sceats’ gin had 40 years of profitable sales across the USA.

Mothballed[edit]

James Sceats’ El-Bart - the London Gin that travelled the Atlantic, survived the 13 years of Prohibition in the USA and two world wars - was purchased by multi-national drinks company Seagrams who mothballed the recipe and the brand so it could not compete with their own branded gins.

For decades, the El Bart brand disappeared from cocktail bars and was seen only in cocktail books and in the trade of its advertising posters and signs.

The Revival[edit]

El-Bart was the initial choice for Hollywood actor Ryan Reynold's gin, but instead he chose to name his gin after El-Bart's cocktail the "Aviation". James Sceats did not get to reap the rewards of his hard work, but the global Sceats Family bought back the recipe, trademark and copyright of El-Bart and the brand returned.

==External links==

References[edit]

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