Juan Famenias Floris came to England in 1730 from his native island of Menorca via Montepellier in France, where he had learned to mix fragrance essences, and settled in Jermyn Street, near the Royal Court of St. James and in the heart of gentleman's "club land" as a "barber" and "comb maker", where he soon became the talk of London society with his products and was successful. He created individual fragrances for his customers, the recipes for which he carefully stored so that he could resupply them when needed. He married Elizabeth Hodgkiss, with whom he had seven children.
The company is now run by the eighth generation of the family, John Bodenham and Christopher Marsh, who are both great-great-grandchildren of Mary Anne Floris, herself a great-granddaughter of Juan, the founder. Mary Anne Floris had married James Bodenham, hence the change of surname. The company has been awarded the title of Purveyor to the Court over sixteen times and is now "Perfumers to HM The Queen Elizabeth II" and "Manufacturers of Toilet Preparations to HRH The Prince of Wales".
