William Horlick

William Horlick, Sr. (23 February 1846 – 25 September 1936) was an English-born food manufacturer and the original patent holder of malted milk. He emigrated to the United States in 1869, settling in Racine, Wisconsin. There he started a food company with his brother, James. Horlick was a well-known philanthropist in the Racine area. He was also a major sponsor of the Racine Legion, which played in the National Football League from 1922 until 1924. He died 25 September 1936 at the age of ninety. Biography Early life and family He was born in Ruardean, in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England, the youngest surviving child of James Horlick (1809–1878), a saddler, and his wife Priscilla Griffiths (1817–1874). He was sent to school in Hampshire with his brothers Peter (1842–1901) and James (1844–1921), before becoming apprenticed to a local saddler. At the same time, his brother James began working for the Mellin Food Company in London, which produced a powdered baby food from malt and bran. When at home in Ruardean, James, William and their father began experimenting with ways of making a granulated powder based on wheat and malted barley which could be stored for long periods in sealed containers. Malted milk After immigrating to the US in 1869, Horlick settled in Racine. In 1872, he moved to Chicago to begin a food manufacturing business with his brother, James. This was the genesis of the Horlick Food Company, which the two founded in 1875, and moved to Racine in 1876. At around the same time, William began working on creating a dried milk product. This work culminated with a US patent in 1883 and a product that was originally called "Diastoid," but was later trademarked as "malted milk" in 1887.