INDUSTRIES 



'Entrance to London from Tottenham Court 

 Road.' It was founded by a Mr. Blackburn, 

 and was from the days of George III famous 

 for its black beer. The brewery was pur- 

 chased by Mr. (afterwards Sir Henry) Meux 

 when he retired from the famous firm in 

 Liquorpond Street, of which he was the prin- 

 cipal partner. This gentleman, who was 

 very prominent in his day and a cousin of 

 Lord Brougham, was made a baronet by 

 William IV in 1831. The great porter vat 

 of this brewery, which was one of the sights of 

 London, was 22 ft. high and contained 3,555 

 barrels, sufficient to supply more than a million 

 persons with a pint of beer each. A terrible 

 catastrophe occurred in 1814, caused by the 

 bursting of this huge vat owing to the in- 

 security and defective state of some of its 

 hoops. The brewery was then surrounded 

 by a multitude of small tenements which 

 were crowded with tenants of the poorer 

 classes. Many of these houses were flooded 

 by porter, and some of them collapsed with 

 fatal results ; no less than eight persons died 

 from drowning, injury, poisoning by the 

 porter fumes, or drunkenness. The loss to 

 the firm was also most serious, and threatened 

 their existence ; but an application to Parlia- 

 ment procured for them the return by the 

 excise commissioners of the duty paid upon 

 the lost liquor. The retail department of the 

 brewery, known as the ' Horse Shoe ' tap, is 

 now converted into a restaurant and hotel, 

 but was formerly a comfortable inn and place 

 of refreshment patronized by tradesmen and 

 well-to-do people in the district. It was also 

 early in the last century a favourite place of 

 call for farmers and porters, who refreshed 

 themselves with the porter for which the 

 house was celebrated. 



This firm supplied with Meux's porter 

 most of the old-fashioned inns in the western 

 suburbs of London, of which the ' Watering 

 House ' at Knightsbridge was a typical ex- 

 ample. The house was a quaint, comfortable 

 little structure where gentlemen's horses and 

 grooms were put up, and farmers and graziers 

 resorted. In front was a stone bench where 

 porters might rest themselves or place their 

 loads. The malt used in this brewery is 

 specially manufactured for the firm and 

 shipped to their wharf in Grosvenor Road, 

 Pimlico, from whence it is conveyed to the 

 brewery in their own wagons. Messrs. Meux 

 have long been famed for their porter a 

 beverage which is said to take its name from 

 the partiality shown to it by porters. It be- 

 gan to be generally brewed by the London 

 brewers about the year 1722, and was then 

 sold at 231. per barrel. From this price it 



gradually rose to 30*., which it reached in 

 1799, when in consequence of the increase 

 in price of both malt and hops porter was 

 raised to 35;. per barrel, and was retailed at 

 4^. a quart instead of 3</. as heretofore. Since 

 1872 Messrs. Meux & Co. have brewed ales 

 to meet the public demand for that beverage ; 

 they had previously brewed stout and porter 

 only, and for many years were the only brewers 

 in London who did not brew ales. The firm 

 is now styled Meux's Brewery Co., Ltd. 



On the borders of the City of London, 

 but within the parish of St. Luke's, is Whit- 

 bread's brewery in Chiswell Street. The 

 business was established in 1 742 by Samuel 

 Whitbread, son of a yeoman possessed of a 

 small estate in Cardington, Bedfordshire. He 

 first set up as a brewer in Old Street, but these 

 premises soon became too confined, and in 

 1750 Mr. Whitbread purchased a brewery in 

 Chiswell Street, which had been established 

 for over fifty years. The business rapidly 

 grew, and in 1760 had reached the position of 

 the second largest brewery in London, with 

 an annual output of nearly 64,000 barrels. 

 Pennant gives a list, 19 taken from a newspaper 

 of his day, of the chief porter brewers of 

 London and the barrels of strong beer they 

 brewed for the year 1786-7. In this list 

 Whitbread stands first with 150,280 barrels ; 

 the number of breweries is twenty-four, and 

 the total quantity of beer amounts to 

 1,176,856 barrels. The number of breweries 

 had largely decreased in 1796, when there 

 were not more than twelve of first-rate im- 

 portance, Whitbread still heading the list with 

 2O2,OOO barrels. This brewery was one of 

 the first to take advantage of the introduction 

 of steam power, and in 1785 set up a sun 

 and planet engine, supplied by the firm of 

 which the celebrated James Watt was a 

 partner. This engine, originally of 35, was 

 increased to 70 horse-power in 1795, and 

 until the year 1887 was still in use at the 

 brewery. It is now exhibited in the Victoria 

 Museum, South Australia, and bears an in- 

 scription recounting its history. In 1787 

 King George III and Queen Charlotte, at- 

 tracted by the fame of this brewery, paid a 

 visit of inspection, when the king entered 

 minutely into the details of the various pro- 

 cesses, and took care not to overlook any de- 

 partment. The royal visit forms the subject 

 of a lengthy humorous poem by Peter Pindar 

 (Dr. Wolcot), who, speaking of the king's 

 conversation, says his Majesty 



Asked a thousand questions with a laugh 

 Before poor Whitbread comprehended half. 



19 Some Account of Land. (ed. 4, 1805), 266. 



175 



