Burton upon Trent Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. In 2011, it had a population of 72,299. The ...

has a long history of brewing, at one time exporting beer throughout the world and accounting for a quarter of UK beer production; emulation of Burton water in brewing is called Burtonisation. Much of the town was given over to the industry throughout the 19th century and brewers dominated it politically and socially.

Brewers and brewing companies

Some brewers had more than one brewery and brewery buildings sometimes changed hands. In addition to companies started from scratch, there were also pre-existing brewers from outside Burton who moved into the town in the 1870s. *Benjamin Printon 1708 - bought by James Musgrave 1729 *James Musgrave (and sons) 1729 - bought by John Greaves 1803 *Samuel and William Sketchley c1741- bought by Benjamin Wilson 1790 * Benjamin Wilson 1743- bought by nephew Samuel Allsopp 1807 * Joseph Clay c1751- passed to Thomas Salt 1813 *Charles Leeson c1753-1800 * William Worthington 1760- bought by Bass 1927 *Thomas Morecroft *Thomas Dicken * William Bass 1777- bought by Coors 2000 *Henry Evans 1790 - settled on son-in-law William Worthington *John Walker Wilson -1790 *Hill and Sherratts c1780 –partnership dissolved 1820, bought by Lewis Meakin 1822 *John Greaves 1803- went bankrupt 1815 – run by Mason and Gilbertson by 1830 * Samuel Allsopp 1807- merged with Ind Coope 1934 * Thomas Salt 1813- acquired by Bass 1927 *Lewis Meakin 1822- acquired by Charrington 1872 *Charles Hill - the Hill of Hill and Sherratt - in 1874 Charles Hill and son *Mason and Gilbertson 1830- * John Marston 1834- merged with Thompson 1898 *Saunders 1837- *

Burton Brewery Company The Burton Brewery Company was one of the largest brewers in Burton upon Trent, England in the 19th century. The company was founded in 1842 by Henry and Thomas Wilders, who came from a family of Tanner (occupation), tanners. They built their bre ...

1842- bought by Worthington 1915 *

Ind Coope Allied Breweries was the result of a 1961 merger between Ind Coope (of Burton), Ansells (of Birmingham), and Tetley Walker (of Leeds). In 1978, Allied Breweries merged with the food and catering group J. Lyons and Co to form Allied Lyons. The bre ...

1856 - went into receivership in 1909 and merged with Allsopp in 1934 * Charrington (Head & Co) existing London brewer 1872 - ceased brewing in Burton 1926 * Truman, Hanbury, Buxton & Co existing London brewer 1873-1971 * Mann, Crossman & Paulin existing London brewer 1874 - merged with Watney 1958 *Peter Walker 1876- acquired by Bass 1923 *

Sydney Evershed Sir Sydney Herbert Evershed (13 January 1861 – 7 March 1937) was an English brewer and cricketer who played first-class cricket for Derbyshire from 1880 to 1901 and was a long-serving club captain from 1891 to 1898. Evershed was born in Stap ...

pre 1880 - merged with Marston Thompson 1909 * John Thompson pre 1880 - merged with Marston 1898 *John Bell & Co. pre 1880 - bought by Thomas Salt 1901 *Henry Boddington & Co. existing Manchester brewer - bought by Everard 1892 * James Eadie 1854 - Bought by Bass 1933 *Thomas Sykes 1881- taken over by Everard 1898 * William Everard existing Leicester brewer 1892-1985 * Marston and Thompson 1898- merged with Evershed to form Marston Thompson Evershed 1909 * Marston Thompson Evershed 1909-1999 bought by Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries PLC The Marston's Brewery also produces Bass under licence from

InBev InBev () is a brewing company that resulted from the merger between Belgium-based company Interbrew and Brazilian brewer AmBev which took place in 2004. It existed independently until the acquisition of Anheuser-Busch in 2008, which formed Anheus ...

* Coors Brewers Limited - Bought from

in 2000. UK arm of

Molson Coors Brewing Company The Molson Coors Beverage Company is an American-Canadian multinational drink and brewing company incorporated under Delaware General Corporation Law and headquartered in Golden, Colorado and Montreal, Quebec. Molson Coors was formed in 2005 t ...

a brewery from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

* Burton Bridge Brewery, microbrewery * Tower Brewery, microbrewery * Cottage Brewery, based in the Old Cottage Inn Other brewers existing in 1880 included: *Bindley & Co *Bowler Bros *Carter Victoria Brewery *Clayton & Co *Cliff & Co *Cooper & Co *Edwin Dawson & Co *Richard A. Eddie *Green & Clarkson. *Frederick Heap *Frederick C Hill *Pegge & Co *James Porter & Sons *Robinson & Co *A.B. Walker & Co. A further three brewers are listed in 1898: *Beard Hill & Co *Burton & Lincoln Brewery *Trent Brewery Co

Political influence

When the town was incorporated as a borough in 1878, the brewers

Henry Wardle Henry Wardle (1832 – 16 February 1892) was a British brewer and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1892. Wardle was born at Twyford, Berkshire, the son of Francis Wardle and his wife Elizabeth Billinge. In 1853 a ...

, John Yeomans, and

were chosen as aldermen at the first council meeting; other brewers were co-opted, and William Henry Worthington chosen as mayor. Brewers were prominent in Parliament, with Bass,

Ratcliff Ratcliff or Ratcliffe is a locality in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames between Limehouse (to the east), and Shadwell (to the west). The place name is no longer commonly used. History Etymolog ...

, Gretton and Evershed representing Burton, and Gretton and Wardle representing South Derbyshire. Many brewers were ennobled, including Allsopp, Bass and Gretton, creating a subgroup of the peerage nicknamed the Beerage. Yet an industry that had over 30 participants in 1881 had declined to eight in 1927 and many famous names disappeared from the shelves.

Brewers and cricket

In 1827, Burton Cricket Club was formed through the influence of Abraham Bass, son of brewer Michael Bass. Bass was known as the father of Midland cricket and was a member of the Northern Counties team which played against the M.C.C. at Burton in 1841. In the heyday of brewing in Burton, many brewery companies had their own cricket teams. The Brewery Cup was established around 1894 by the Burton Breweries Cricket Association.Rex Page ''Cup handed to Tutbury'' Burton Mail 31 August 2003
/ref> A legacy of the era remains in the two cricket grounds that have been used by Derbyshire County Cricket Club - the Bass Worthington Ground and the Ind Coope Ground. First class cricketers from the brewing families, all of whom except the Allsopps played for Derbyshire, include: *

Frederic Allsopp The Hon. Frederic Allsopp (21 September 1857 – 20 December 1928) was an English first-class cricketer who played for Marylebone Cricket Club in 1884. Allsopp was born at Hindlip Hall, Worcestershire, the son of the brewer Henry Allsopp, 1s ...

* Herbert Allsopp * John Eadie * William Eadie *

Edward Evershed Edward Evershed (3 November 1867 – 18 February 1957) was an English cricketer who played for Derbyshire between 1888 and 1898. Life Evershed was born in Stapenhill, now part of Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire (then in Derbyshire), the so ...

Frank Evershed Frank Evershed (6 September 1866 – 29 June 1954)
Scrum.com was an English

Wallis Evershed Wallis Evershed (10 May 1863 – 8 May 1911) was an English cricketer who played for Derbyshire between 1882 and 1884. Evershed was born in Stapenhill, the son of Sydney Evershed the brewer and MP for Burton. He was educated at Clifton C ...

William Evershed William Evershed (25 November 1818 – 24 November 1887) was an English first-class cricketer who made his debut for Hampshire against Petworth in 1845. Evershed represented Hampshire against the same opposition again in the same season. In 18 ...

Robert George Tomlinson Robert George Tomlinson (30 March 1869 – 13 January 1949) was an English brewer and cricketer who played for Derbyshire between 1891 and 1893 and was later umpire in first-class matches in Scotland. Tomlinson was born at Winshill, Derbyshire, ...

William Tomlinson William James Vincent Tomlinson (10 August 1901 – 16 May 1984) was an English schoolmaster and cricketer who played first-class cricket for Derbyshire and Cambridge University from 1920 to 1924. Tomlinson was born at Winshill, Derbyshire th ...

References

{{reflist Beer in England Burton upon Trent Breweries in England