A RETROSPECT 9 



were owners of West Indian estates, and importers of 

 sugar. Even as late as 1811 sixteen refineries were 

 at work. But when, shortly afterwards, the vacuum 

 pan superseded the older processes the industry became 

 concentrated in fewer hands and, in 1848, the number 

 had been reduced to five. In 1863 only two remained, 

 afterwards increased to three. 



One of these, an old-established firm, was for 

 many years a leading feature of the Bristol sugar re- 

 fining industry, and carried on the work on a larger 

 scale than any of its competitors in England or Scotland. 

 It was the first to adopt the centrifugal machine on a 

 large scale, and to turn out large-grained crystallized 

 sugar. Of this trade it had for many years almost a 

 monopoly, and a well-deserved celebrity. The family 

 of Finzel were quite the sugar kings of that day, and 

 were as celebrated for their munificent charities as for 

 their fine sugar, of which they turned out more than a 

 thousand tons a week. But, alas, this most successful 

 firm, and their large fortune, disappeared, squeezed 

 out by foreign competition, and by newer schemes 

 and discoveries. The West India sugar, which was 

 the original basis of the Bristol industry, disappeared 

 from the market, and Bristol refiners had to seek their 

 raw material in other and less convenient quarters. 



Our brief retrospect of sixty years comes to this. 

 At the beginning of the period we made all our own 

 refined sugar for home consumption. At the end of 

 it we import nearly a million tons of foreign refined, 

 but still manage to produce about 700,000 tons at home. 

 Big refineries have taken the place of small ones. In 

 London, where there were twenty, there are now two, 

 both on the banks of the Thames. But there are also 

 two large refineries and one or two small ones where 

 sugar is refined for the use of brewers. 



