The company was born when the Irishman Richard Hennessy, who had been a mercenary for the French king, was compensated with land in the town of Cognac in France in 1765 and started a trading business, initially sending liquor back to Irish friends and relatives. His son, James Hennessy, expanded the business into the brandy production with which the town is now synonymous. The business was renamed James (or Jacques) Hennessy and Co, a name the company retains today. The company has been managed by successive generations of Hennessey's (now in the eighth generation).