John Primrose (1803 – 28 November 1876) was a Scottish distiller and brewer who had a substantial career in the

colony of South Australia In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...

. He was the founder of the Union Brewery, also known as Primrose's Brewery, in

Rundle Street Rundle Street, often referred to as "Rundle Street East" as distinct from Rundle Mall, is a street in the East End of the city centre of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It runs from Pulteney Street to East Terrace, where it becomes ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, the colony's first successful brewery.

Early life

Primrose was the son of a distiller in Carsebridge, near

Alloa Alloa (Received Pronunciation ; educated Scottish pronunciation /ˈaloʊa/; gd, Alamhagh, possibly meaning "rock plain") is a town in Clackmannanshire in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It is on the north bank of the Forth at the spot where ...

, Scotland. He was said to have linked his ancestry to the

Earl of Rosebery Earl of Rosebery is a title in the Peerage of Scotland created in 1703 for Archibald Primrose, 1st Viscount of Rosebery, with remainder to his issue male and female successively. Its name comes from Roseberry Topping, a hill near Archibald's wif ...

. He was educated at the

Royal High School, Edinburgh The Royal High School (RHS) of Edinburgh is a co-educational school administered by the City of Edinburgh Council. The school was founded in 1128 and is one of the oldest schools in Scotland. It serves 1,200 pupils drawn from four feeder primar ...

, and on leaving school he joined his father's establishment, where he remained for some time, gaining sound practical and scientific knowledge of the arts of brewing and distilling. He gained further experience managing a distillery for the Messrs. Shea, of Belfast, then that of Beamish, in Cork. He remained with them for several years, only leaving them to establish a brewery on his own account on the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

. He was then attracted to Australia, with the prospect of managing a large established distillery in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. Primrose arrived in

aboard ''Ariadne'' in August 1839 and decided to travel no further.

Businesses in Adelaide

Shortly after his arrival he set up a distillery in partnership with John Richmond. After carrying it on for about two years he ceased operation because the Government demanded payment of duty upon all spirit manufactured in the colony at the same rate as if it had been imported. Primrose then turned his attention to brewing, and in 1841 he and Richmond took over the Union Brewery on Rundle Street. This brewery had been founded on

Robert Cock Robert Cock (25 May 1801 – 23 March 1871) was one of the first European explorers of the Adelaide region of South Australia following the establishment of the colony in December 1836. History Robert was born in Dysart, Fife, Scotland in 1801, ...

Town Acre In urban planning, the grid plan, grid street plan, or gridiron plan is a type of city plan in which streets run at right angles to each other, forming a grid. Two inherent characteristics of the grid plan, frequent intersections and orthogona ...

80, east corner Rundle Street and James Place (opposite Stephens Place.), by

Daniel Cudmore Daniel Cudmore (born January 20, 1981) is a Canadian actor and stuntman. He is perhaps best known for his roles as the superhero Peter Rasputin / Colossus in the ''X-Men'' film series, and as the Volturi Felix in ''The Twilight Saga'' film ser ...

in 1838 and put up for sale in 1839. The brewery was referred to as "Primrose's Brewery" in an article in the ''

South Australian Register ''The Register'', originally the ''South Australian Gazette and Colonial Register'', and later ''South Australian Register,'' was South Australia's first newspaper. It was first published in London in June 1836, moved to Adelaide in 1837, and f ...

'' in February 1861. He ran the business until November 1875, when he transferred the management to his nephew William Ross Sawers (c. 1839–1911) and his son-in-law Arthur Rait Malcom. They were able to use the basement of the Academy of Music, Rundle Street, (opened 1879) for cellaring. Richmond sold his share to Primrose at some point, and the brewery continued into the 1890s.

Death

Primrose died on 28 November 1876 and his remains were interred in the

West Terrace Cemetery The West Terrace Cemetery is South Australia's oldest cemetery, first appearing on Colonel William Light's 1837 plan of Adelaide. The site is located in Park 23 of the Adelaide Park Lands just south-west of the Adelaide city centre, between ...

Family

John Primrose married Elizabeth Paton Reid (1822 – 30 August 1867) on 10 April 1845. A daughter, Elizabeth Margaret Adelaide Primrose (1849–1874) married Arthur Rait Malcom (c. 1847–1890) in 1872. Malcom married again on 29 June 1882, to Joanna Barry of South Melbourne. He was a prominent member of the

Adelaide Hunt Club The Adelaide Hunt Club is an Australian fox hunting club founded in the 1840s. History Originally called The Adelaide Hounds, the club was founded in Adelaide in the early 1840s.Adelaide Hunt Club. As early as 3 July 1841, the Governor of South ...

Other breweries

Other breweries operating in the late 1860s included: *

Kent Town Brewery Kent Town Brewery was a brewery in Kent Town, a suburb adjacent to the city of Adelaide on its eastern side, in South Australia. Its original name was Logue's Brewery, after its first proprietor. History The brewery was founded on King Willi ...

; * West End Brewery; *

Pirie Street Brewery The Pirie Street Brewery was a brewery situated on Pirie and Wyatt Streets, Adelaide, in the early days of the British colony of South Australia. It was succeeded on the same site after a few years by the Adelaide Brewery. Its original address w ...

; *

Hindmarsh Brewery The Hindmarsh Brewery was a brewery founded 1844 in Hindmarsh, in the then colony of South Australia, by E. J. F. "Fred" Crawford. Crawford lost possession of the business in 1859, then re-established it on a different site before becoming bankru ...

; *

Morphett Street Brewery The Morphett Street Brewery was a brewer of beer in Adelaide, South Australia. History John Reid ( – c. 24 November 1863) and Isaiah Reid (c. 1832 – 9 April 1877) had a licensed grocery shop on a half acre of land on Morphett Street near No ...

; and *

Walkerville Brewery Walkerville Brewery was a brewer of beer in Adelaide, South Australia, originally founded in the 1840s. The company became a co-operative, and grew by admitting hotel owners as shareholders, and absorbed smaller breweries. After several amalgamat ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Primrose, John 1803 births 1876 deaths People from Alloa People educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh Distilleries in Australia Australian brewers Burials at West Terrace Cemetery 19th-century Australian businesspeople

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

Drink company founders