INDUSTRIES 



Malt. 

 Per Quarter. Per Bushel. 



>. d. .. a. 

 And for 10 years since from 



1746 to 1756 .... i 5 4 32 

 Malt at the highest price 



A.D. 1659 288 62 



Malt at the lowest price 



A.D. 1691 o 17 4 22 



The difference between 



the two extremes . I II 4 4 o 



If the century be divided 



into 2 halves of 50 years 



each, then the common 



price or mean rate of the 



first 50 years is ... I 8 4^ 3 6J 

 And the common or mean 



rate of the last 50 years 



is 1 7 lot 3 51 



And the common or mean 

 rate of the whole cen- 

 tury I 8 \\ 36 



N.B. A.D. 1756 the com- 

 mon or mean rate was .160 33 



A.D. 1757 The common or 

 mean rate was I 16 o 4 6 



The fame of Windsor ales was preserved 

 during the early part of the nineteenth 

 century by John Jennings & Co., whose 

 liquor was dignified with the title of King's 

 Ale, and Messrs. Ramsbottom & Legh, who 

 held the breweries in Thames Street, and 

 brewed the Queen's Ale, and the Twinch 

 family had the brewery in Peascod Street. 

 The Jennings also carried on the business of 

 maltsters, and the Coopers and Mr. John 

 Voules were engaged in the same trade. 



Since that period the trade has developed 

 enormously, and four large breweries supply 

 the wants of the neighbourhood and send 

 their casks to London and elsewhere : the 

 Royal Brewery in Peascod Street, owned by 

 Mr. John Canning ; Messrs. John Lovibond 

 & Sons ; Messrs. Burge & Co ; and Messrs. 

 Nevill Reid & Co., who own the Windsor 

 Brewery in Thames Street, having acquired 

 the business of Messrs. Ramsbottom & Legh 

 about the year 1835. * n ^37 they bought 

 the old brewery at Cookham, a town famous 

 for its brewing and malting, which trade was 

 carried on there in the middle of the seven- 

 teenth century. The Cookham brewery was 

 acquired by the Ray family in the early part 

 of the eighteenth century, and carried on by 

 them until 1785, when the property was 

 disposed of to Abraham Darby and the 

 business conducted by him and afterwards 

 by two of his sons. When Messrs. Neville 

 Reid & Co. acquired the business they 

 transferred the brewing to Windsor, and as 

 they have recently erected malthouses near 

 Windsor, the trade will soon disappear from 



Cookham. Hop cultivation at Cookham was 

 introduced by the Rays, but was not con- 

 tinued by their successors. 



Wallingford, being the centre of a rich 

 barley-growing country, had always an abun- 

 dant supply of grain suitable for malting 

 at the numerous malthouses that formerly 

 were at work, while the trade was greatly 

 encouraged by the ready means of river traffic. 

 During the eighteenth century the trade 

 considerably declined, though there were 

 still some considerable establishments, the 

 leading malting houses being situated in High 

 Street and Fish Street. The owners of these 

 were in 1830 Edward Wells, Peter Spokes, 

 James Bennett, Charles Morrell, Job Lovelock 

 and William Hilliard in Wood Street. As 

 late as 1835 the demand for malt annually 

 from the town was 150,000 bushels. 1 Of late 

 years the trade has much declined, and barley 

 grown in the neighbourhood, which is of 

 superior quality, is sent away in large quan- 

 tities to undergo the steeping and drying 

 process at distant kilns. The Wallingford 

 Brewery Company, Limited, was founded 

 in 1720 by Mr. Edward Wells. Dr. Mavor 

 states that in 1809 the brewery was reckoned 

 the largest in the county, about 130 quarters 

 of malt being converted into beer and porter 

 at the proper seasons. In 1896 it was formed 

 into a company. The site of the brewery 

 lies between Goldsmith Lane and the Kine 

 Croft, and a mineral water manufactory is 

 connected with and adjoining the brewery. 



In Wokingham at the beginning of the 

 last century the brewery of Mr. James Webb 

 was extensive, and Dr. Mavor states that it 

 produced a ' wholesome and pleasant beverage, 

 not inferior to any in the county.' Messrs. 

 Headington & Son, and Messrs. F. J. Baker 

 & Co. are now the chief brewers in the 

 town. 



The process of the amalgamation of several 

 breweries into one business has during recent 

 years been evident in all parts of the country. 

 At Abingdon Messrs. Morland & Co., 

 Limited, in 1887 took over the business of 

 John Thornhill Morland and Edward Morland 

 of the Abbey and Eagle Breweries at 

 Abingdon, and the business of Edward Henry 

 Morland of the West Ilsley Brewery. They 

 also acquired the breweries of Saxby & Co. 

 of Abingdon and of Field & Sons of Shelling- 

 ford. The Ilsley Brewery has been in the 

 possession of the Morland family for many 

 generations, John Morland having purchased 

 the property from Benjamin Smith in 1711, 

 and it is described as ' including the Malt 



409 



1 Doran, Hist, of Reading, p. 283. 



52 



