[1] When the family moved to Lancashire, he took up the systematic study of science, and gained an exhibition at Owen's College, followed by the Royal School of Mines, where he secured the Associateship in Metallurgy.

[2][3][4][full citation needed] In 1881 Abram Lyle, together with his three sons, bought two wharves in Plaistow, East London to construct a refinery for making syrup.

[2][3][6][7] Initially the analysis of raw sugar was conducted for the purpose of establishing price and duty payments, however in 1883 tough times importing cargoes of sugar brought production to a near-halt, so John Joseph and Charles experimented with the refining process, of the bitter-brown treacle—hitherto a waste by-product of sugar refining—into an eminently palatable syrup with the viscosity, hue and sweetness of honey,[8] leading to Charles formulating the first version of the world's oldest branded product, golden syrup.

[3][4][6][7] Under the leadership of John Joseph the two brothers formulated the special methods of making brewers’ saccharum, inverted sugar and golden syrup.

[1][9] In his final year in Australia John Joseph inspected tropical and subtropical agriculture in the East, later returning to England as a consulting sugar expert and chemical engineer.