The self-made millionaire who turned the tea industry on its head by inventing the teabag has strong links with Southgate.

Sir Thomas Lipton was a well-known tea merchant, yachtsman and philanthropist, who bequeathed his house in Osidge as a home for working nurses.

Most of his 60-acre estate has been developed but the house known as the Sir Thomas Lipton Memorial Home still stands today as a care home for 24 elderly residents.

But the Glasgow-born Lipton was a formidable entrepreneur who amassed his considerable fortune through determination and skill.

Born in 1850, Lipton was just 14 years old when he travelled to the United States of America as a stowaway and earned a living as a farm labourer in Virginia and South Carolina.

He returned to Glasgow in 1870 and opened a grocery store. By the time he was 30, he was a self-made millionaire with a chain of stores across the country and headquarters in London.

With his fortune, Lipton bought several plantations in America and from these, established the famous Lipton tea brand. The brand took off in the United States after Lipton's failed attempts to win the America's Cup between 1899 and 1930.

Lipton, who earned the nickname, Sir Tea, was a keen sportsman. He was nicknamed "the world's best loser" on the other side of the Atlantic after failing in his five attempts to win the prestigious yacht race, the America's Cup.

He also enjoyed football and in 1909, the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy football competition took place in Turin, Italy, sometimes referred to as the first World Cup.

Teams from Germany, Switzerland and Italy took part, but the English Football Association declined. Instead, Lipton invited West Auckland FC, an amateur side from Durham in the north-east of England.

The team, made up mostly of coal miners, won the tournament, and successfully defended their crown two years later in Turin, beating Italy's Juventus 6-1 in the final.

Last week, the management of the Sir Thomas Lipton Memorial Home switched to the national charity group, Friends of the Elderly.

Lorna Long, the director of care, said: "As a charity with similar values, we were delighted to be approached by the trustees of Sir Thomas Lipton Memorial Home and it is excellent to be providing residential care in London again after a gap of some years."

Lipton died in London in 1931, bequeathing much of his fortune to the city of Glasgow to build hospitals and aid the poor.