1865 Pharmacist James Lofthouse opens a Pharmacy shop in Fleetwood, North West England and invents Fisherman’s Friend®. Fleetwood is the center of the English fishing industry. The recent iron and steel revolution allows boats to be built that can go deeper into the arduous and unwelcoming conditions of the deep North Sea fishing grounds of Norway and Iceland, often for  weeks at a time.

The conditions cause fisherman to return complaining of colds, flu and bronchial ailments. James Lofthouse devises a remedy. The first Fisherman's Friend® is a liquid which is stored in glass bottles. The glass bottles were hardly suitable for the inclement conditions of the North Sea.  Undeterred, James creates the now world famous lozenge.  The fishermen come into his shop asking for an ounce of their ‘Friends.’ The trade name Fisherman’s Friend® is born!