JOSEPH EVANS (1803 – 1874), BOTANIST AND HERBAL DOCTOR FROM BOOTHSTOWN. HE PRACTISED HIS SCIENCE AND HEALD PUBLIC SURGERIES IN PUBS AROUND BOOTHSTOWN. AS A HERBAL DOCTOR HE PRECRIBED BOTINICAL REMIDIES. HE WAS PARTICULARLY INTERESTED IN GOOSEBERRIES, RICH IN ANTIOXIDANTS, FOR THEIR MANY HEALTH BENEFITS.

AS WITH MANY TRADITIONAL GIN DRINKS, JOE’S GIN BEGAN WITH GOOD MEDICAL INTENTIONS. EVAN'S PRESCRIBED HIS OWN RECIPE GIN INFUSED WITH BOOTHSTOWN AWARD WINNING GOOSEBERRIES WHICH HE CLAIMED HAD HEALTH-GIVING PROPERTIES. HE ALSO TOOK THE GIN HIMSELF WHICH HE DESCRIBED AS TONIC TO ‘RESTORE RED CHEEKS AND SMILES’. AT HIS INFAMOUS PUB SURGERIES HE ENCOURAGED HIS PATIENTS TO REMAIN DRINKING HIS TONIC AND SINGING INTO THE NIGHT.