Glasgow was the second largest city in the United Kingdom but, unlike every other large centre of population, there was little brewing. It struck me as quite odd. I couldn't think of any reason why Glasgow should be different. I hate unsolved puzzles. Then just today a possible explanation dropped into my lap.
Trolling through Google Books, I happened upon a Port Office Directory for Glasgow from 1863. Old directories are great sources, being much like a modern Yellow Pages. When I looked under the heading "Brewers" I had a shock. At first glance, the list looked far too long. It had over 60 entries. My list from 1837 only included 20 entries. And I know from other sources that in 1849 there were only 7 breweries in Glasgow.
When I looked closer, I realised almost all the entries weren't for breweries but their Glasgow agents. Only 5 were for Glasgow-based breweries. The list of brewers with agents in Glasgow is like a roll-call of Britain's top breweries. With a few oddities thrown in. Burton, Dublin, Edinburgh and Alloa feature prominently, as you would expect.
Thorn Brothers and Furze & Co. (both of London) surprised me. I've not heard of either. Nor William Whitwell & Co. of Kendall. There are a few Edinburgh breweries, too, that are new to me.
What does this proliferation of brewers' agents tell us? That brewers from outside were selling lots of beer in Glasgow. I can imagine the attraction. A city with few brewers of its own, a large population and no tied house system. It must have been a happy hunting ground for ambitious brewers.
I could be wrong. I've no real evidence of the quantity of beer brought into the city. But it is a possibility that, without the protection of tied houses, the relatively small brewers of Glasgow were swamped by outside competition. Except for Tennent, the only really substantial brewery in Glasgow. And, ironically, one of the few breweries mentioned to still exist. All the Scottish breweries have gone. Only Guinness really remains in the same form.
Here's the full table of agents:
| Agents in Glasgow for outside brewers in 1863 | |
| Brewery | Town |
| Black & Co. | Aberdeen |
| Blair, Alex. | Alloa |
| Meiklejnohn. Robt. & Son | Alloa |
| Younger, Geo. & Sons | Alloa |
| Knox, B. & Son | Cambus (Alloa) |
| Ind Coope & Co. | Burton-on Trent |
| Ind, Coope, & Co. | Burton-on Trent |
| Ind, Coope, & Co. | Burton-on Trent |
| Allsopp, Samuel & Sons | Burton-on-Trent |
| Bass, Radcliffe, & Gretton | Burton-on-Trent |
| Burton Brewery Co. | Burton-on-Trent |
| Coope & Co. | Burton-on-Trent |
| Salt, Thomas, & Co. | Burton-on-Trent |
| Salt, Thomas, & Co. | Burton-on-Trent |
| Eadie, James | Burton-on-Trent |
| Worthington & Robinson | Burton-on-Trent |
| Mitchell, J. & W. Springbank | Campbelton |
| Arnott, Sir John, & Co. | Cork |
| Dalkeith Brewery Co | Dalkeith |
| Findlater & Co. | Dublin |
| Guinness, A. Son, & Co. | Dublin |
| Guinness, A. Son, & Co. | Dublin |
| Guinness, A. Son, & Co. | Dublin |
| Manders, R. & Co. | Dublin |
| Manders, R. & Co. | Dublin |
| Manders, R. & Co. | Dublin |
| Manders, R. & Co. | Dublin |
| Simes & Co. | Dublin |
| Sweetman, P. & E. | Dublin |
| Watkins, J. & Co. | Dublin |
| Watkins, J. & Co. | Dublin |
| D'Arcy, John, & Son | Dublin |
| Aitchison & Co. | Edinburgh |
| Beswick, Wm. & Co. | Edinburgh |
| Bernard, T. & J. | Edinburgh |
| Caltonhill Brewery | Edinburgh |
| Campbell, A & Co. | Edinburgh |
| McEwan, Wm. Fountain Brewery | Edinburgh |
| Melvin, Alex. Borough Loch | Edinburgh |
| Taylor, Anderson, & Co., | Edinburgh |
| Usher, J as. & Thomas | Edinburgh |
| Younger, R. | Edinburgh |
| Younger, Wm. & Co. | Edinburgh |
| Dick, Chas. & Son | Edinburgh |
| Edinburgh & Leith Co. | Edinburgh |
| Fulton, John, & Co. | Edinburgh |
| Jeffrey, John, & Co. | Edinburgh |
| Aitken, James, & Co. | Falkirk |
| Laurie, Thos. Lidegate | Haddington |
| Whitwell, Wm. & Co. | Kendal |
| Combe, Dalefield, & Co. | London |
| Hoare & Co. | London |
| Meux, Sir Henry, & Co. | London |
| Reid & Co. | London |
| Thorn Brothers | London |
| Truman, Hanbury, Buxton, & Co. | London |
| Whitbread & Co. | London |
| Furze & Co. | London |
| Fowler, John, & Co. | Prestonpans |
| Argyle Brewery | St. Andrew's |
| Joul, John, & Sons | Stone |
| Steel, William | West Barns, Dunbar |
| Source: | |
| "POST OFFICE GLASCOW DIRECTORY FOR 1863, 1864", pages 461 - 462. | |
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7 comments:
William Whitwell? This helps a bit:
http://www.visitcumbria.com/kendal/kendal-brewery.htm
This looks very attractive, Ron:
http://www.scottishbrewingarchive.co.uk/events.html
Gary
Tandleman, damn, I should have remembered that. I've seen that brewery, albeit many years ago, when I was in Kendall. It's why most of the town's pubs used to sell Lorimer's Scotch.
Thorn Brothers should be Thorne Brothers, who were in Nine Elms, South London: they were taken over by Meux in 1921, who moved their own brewing operations to Nine Elms from Tottenham Court Road. The brewery site is now the New Covent Garden market. Furze & Co were at the St George's brewery, Whitechapel, East London: they were acquired by Taylor Walker in about 1900/01. Neither were particularly big operations, although both were close(ish) to the Thames, which may have made shipping their beers to Glasgow easier.
You could be on to something here, although it might not be the whole story. I've seen the same phenomenon of Glasgow agents for brewers from outside the city, including Barclay Perkins.
If you look at the Virtual Mitchell pubs gallery at http://www.mitchelllibrary.org/virtualmitchell/index.php?a=subject&s=gallery&key=sYToxOntpOjA7czo0OiJQdWJzIjt9 , there are an amazing number of pubs with Bass adverts in the window.
William Steel, West Barns was the inventor of the Steel's patented masher. Not as is sometimes reported James Steel of Steel and Coulson...
George,
thanks for that. Hadn't realised it was a Scot.
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