Samuel Arthur Brain (4 May 1850 – 19 February 1902) was a brewery entrepreneur in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, founder of Brain's Brewery. He was also a JP and local councillor, becoming an alderman and

Mayor of Cardiff This is a list of mayors of Cardiff, Wales. The first mayor recorded for Cardiff was in 1126 though the title was generally given to the Constable or military governor of Cardiff Castle.

Background

Brain was born in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city i ...

on 4 May 1850, to Samuel Brain, a timber merchant, and his wife, Emma. He married in 1872 to the daughter of Mr J. Thomas, the owner of Cardiff's Old Brewery.

Brain's Brewery

By 1882, Brain was running the Phoenix Brewery in Working Street,

. In December 1882 with the help of his uncle Joseph Benjamin Brain, he purchased the long-established Old Brewery, St Mary Street, from his brother-in-law, John G. Thomas. The business went from producing 100 barrels of beer a week for its 11 licensed public houses, to producing 1,000 barrels of beer and owning 80 public houses in 1900. In 1897 the business became a limited company, S. A. Brain & Co. Ltd, which paid £350,000 for the brewery. Samuel Brain became chairman and managing director.

Politics and public service

Prior to his heavy involvement in business, Brain was a member of the Glamorgan Artillery Volunteers, becoming a sergeant. He later became captain of the No. 7 (Cardiff) Company and ultimately a major in the No. 11 (

Barry Barry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name * Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 195 ...

) Company before his death. Brain was persuaded to stand for elected office in 1885 and became a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

councillor on Cardiff Town Council for the Canton ward. After ward boundary changes in 1891, Brain was elected councillor for the Grangetown ward, despite it being a 'Radical' supporting, working class district. As an

alderman An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members them ...

of the county borough, he chaired the

Cardiff County Borough Council Cardiff County Borough Council, known as Cardiff City Council after Cardiff achieved city status in 1905, was the elected local authority that administered the town (later city) and county borough of Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales between 1889 and 1 ...

finance committee. In November 1899 he was elected

, serving for 12 months.

Death

Brain died on 19 February 1903 aged 52, at his home on Plymouth Road,

Penarth Penarth (, ) is a town and community in the Vale of Glamorgan ( cy, Bro Morgannwg), Wales, exactly south of Cardiff city centre on the west shore of the Severn Estuary at the southern end of Cardiff Bay. Penarth is a wealthy seaside resort ...

. He had been taken ill in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

on 11 February and it was believed he had later suffered a blood clot on the

brain The brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head ( cephalization), usually near organs for special ...

. He was buried at St Augustine's Church, Penarth, on the 23 February 1903. An estimated 15,000 people lined the streets of Penarth, with a funeral procession including representatives of Cardiff Council, Penarth District Council, Cardiff Conservative Association, Cardiff Licensed Victuallers Association, the Glamorgan County Police (on horse and on foot), the Glamorgan Imperial Yeomanry, 300 of the Glamorgan Volunteer Artillery and a Royal Field Artillery gun carriage.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brain, Samuel 1850 births 1903 deaths 19th-century Welsh politicians 19th-century Welsh businesspeople British brewers Conservative Party (UK) councillors Councillors in Cardiff Mayors of Cardiff Businesspeople from Bristol