Stephens (possibly born in 1710) was the granddaughter of a doctor who authored several publications on remedies[1] and grew up in a wealthy family in Berkshire.

Having discovered by chance a recipe which seemed to aid the dissolution of the stone in the bladder and in the kidneys, she began to prepare and distribute it, while regularly transforming its composition by an empirical approach from 1720, and this for 15 years.

Many oral remedies aimed at dissolving or breaking up stones were proposed by lay people, but none demonstrated sufficient results.

[5] However, after its many transformations, the final recipe by Joanna Stephens, who then left Berkshire for Westminster, London[6] acquired a certain fame.

To make a proprietary medicine freely available to the public, Hartley convinced Parliament to pay Stephens £5,000 for her secret recipe.

[8] It was proposed that a reward of £5,000 (a very substantial sum for the time) be given to Stephens so that she would make the recipe public to benefit as many people as possible.

Parliament agreed to pay the reward if the recipe was publicly published and tests made confirmed her claims.