Flower & Sons Brewery, 1870-1914 Part I

A social history of a midland business: Flower & Sons Brewery, 1870-1914 Part I Jonathan Reinarz Introduction commercial brewing process has changed very little since the mid- to late- Material relating to England's brewing nineteenth century. While the biochemical industry has recently re-entered econom- actions of yeast and chemical reactions ic and social history debates, especially which take place during fermentation since the publication of Terry Gourvish's continue to be investigated by chemists and Richard Wilson's The British Brewing and biologists, the steps by which hops, Industry, 1830-1980 (1994), which con- barley, yeast and water are combined tinues an earlier history of the trade from and transformed into English ale are 1700 to 1830 written by Peter Mathias in more familiar to the public than ever in the 1950s.1 While such grand narratives the past. Not only is the process repeat- inevitably focus heavily on London and edly described in scientific texts, but most other regional brewing centres, such as histories of the trade briefly outline the Burton, a fact which the authors them- operation in order that readers may selves have acknowledged, subsequent familiarise themselves with obscure studies have also revealed the trade as it terms and expressions and other aspects evolved in the provinces.2 The most peculiar to the trade. For the purposes of important of these projects include inter- this study, a summary of Peter Mathias's esting works of local history, such as description of the brewing process has Philip Eley's Portsmouth Breweries since been included in the introduction, not 1847 and Peter Shinner's description of only to make the overall claims of this Grimsby's trade in the nineteenth century, study more accessible, but in order to and very comprehensive, commissioned frame an argument which his work helps accounts of particular firms, of which initiate and thereby set this work apart Richard Wilson's detailed study of Greene from the body of literature pertaining to King is perhaps the best example.3 the trade as it currently exists. Although these authors' approaches In the introduction to Lesley Richmond's inevitably differ, often only slightly, the and Alison Turton's The Brewing Industry: Brewery History Number 140 87 A Guide to Historical Records, Peter Although these descriptions are almost Mathias, like many other brewing histori- always useful to an understanding of the ans, provides a useful introduction to trade, Mathias's particular essay also the subject by carefully outlining the presents the reader with several uncer- basic brewing procedure.4 Assuming the tainties. Presumably, the entire process typical English brewery made its own was not mechanised to the extent that malt, Mathias begins by describing the the product of each brew was efficiently way in which barley is transformed into passed from one stage to the next in the malt and milled into a coarse powder, brewery buildings. While gravity was an called grist. Mixed with hot water in the important motive force in many of the brewer's mash tun, starch contained in tower breweries constructed in England the grains is then converted to maltose during the nineteenth century, human which dissolves to form a sweet malt intervention had not been made entirely solution, commonly referred to as wort. obsolete as the result of this and other This dense sugary liquid is separated technological innovations. Nevertheless, from the spent grains and run off into a descriptions, like the one above, give lit- brewing copper to which hops are tle indication of the worker's role in the added, and the contents are boiled; production process. Instead we are left sugars may also periodically be added asking a number of simple, but practical, to the solution in order to increase the questions. For example, who ground the fermentable materials available to the malt into grist? How did this material find brewer. After the hops have been its way to the mash tun? Did the same strained from the mixture, the brew is individual perform both tasks? Or even, permitted to cool and aerated to increase were goods carefully measured, and was the rate of fermentation which takes theft a problem which plagued brewers? place in one of a number of special ves- As Mathias's particular article is imme- sels. Yeast is then pitched, or added to diately proceeded by detailed lists of the mixture, in order to convert sugar to brewery archives, many of which contain alcohol and carbon dioxide. Over sever- material relating to the subject of labour, al days, a fluffy yeast crust, or head, it challenges historians to address these forms on the product and is periodically neglected aspects of the industry's past. skimmed off. During racking, the beer is filled into casks and permitted to condi- In general, most business histories have tion. Extra hops and priming sugars may had very little to say about the general be added to increase the strength or conditions of labour or the experiences of adjust carbon dioxide in the beer. Finally, the average worker.5 Instead, business residual yeast cells and other particles in historians regularly revert to a traditional the beer are cleared by the addition of form of history writing, namely, that ‘from finings or isinglass which deposits them above', whereby business histories become as sediment. narratives primarily concerned with a 88 Journal of the Brewery History Society firm's founding families, their partners ences of workers, these historians have and their successors.6 Few business his- been described by the discipline's torians deal with issues concerning the greatest critics, such as the business labour process, often ignoring the experi- biographer, Harold Livesay, to resemble ences of workers altogether. Although, weapons of mass destruction, ‘wiping out over the years, ideas of labour recruit- the people while leaving the buildings ment, training and management have intact'.10 regularly been discussed in contempo- rary business management texts, they Although an exaggeration, Livesay's are still frequently neglected by business evaluation in some respects appears to historians, or left to labour historians to apply to much of the recent work relating write as separate accounts.7 What results to England's brewing industry. Although a is a history of a firm's creation and growth number of studies of provincial firms have of production and sales over a given corrected some of the genre's weakness- number of years. Despite the critiques of es, they have also failed to address the social historians, among other scholars, labour process in any detail. As a result, this disciplinary tradition has endured and David Gutzke's bibliography of drink, essentially become a dominant narrative. Alcohol in the British Isles (1996), does For example, in an article which recently not contain an entry for labour in the drink appeared in the Author, the journal of the trades. Ian Donnachie's history of the Society of Authors, Stephanie Zarach industry in Scotland remains the only describes business history as being work which contains an entire chapter ‘simply a multi-sided biography'.8 More- devoted to labour, although most of his over, Zarach does not even consider the conclusions remain hypothetical and are difficulties associated with writing a not based on a detailed examination of commissioned history. wage and salary ledgers.11 To be fair to traditional business historians, wage and While the multi-sided biography may be salary ledgers have not survived as well the aim of some business historians as have directors' reports and sales and is unarguably a very accessible form ledgers. Nevertheless, some evidence of historical narrative, most business clearly exists, as Richmond's and histories too often resemble boards of Turton's guide demonstrates, and greater directors' annual reports. Usually research- efforts are needed to include this materi- ed and written by an historian trained in al in business histories. an economic discipline primarily for the eyes of a firm's senior managers or Interestingly, not only business historians marketing department, the average com- have failed to describe the experiences pany history tends to be a sympathetic of brewery workers; few labour historians account of a firm's growth over a given have discussed the trade. As a result, number of years.9 Ignoring the experi- brewery workers rarely appear in the indices Brewery History Number 140 89 of labour histories, where brassworkers wages compared to the costs of licens- are more often, and quite conspicuously, ing, property and duties.15 Moreover, the followed by bricklayers. Generally, this poor organisation of brewery workers appears to be the result of a tendency determined that labour never delayed the among labour historians to concentrate introduction of new technology to firms, on institutions rather than individuals.12 though the diffusion of such innovations As most nineteenth- and early twentieth- certainly changed the nature of work in century brewery workers remained unor- breweries. Surprisingly, despite his ganised, few of their experiences are important work on the subject, Donnachie recorded in trade journals; any early also appears to justify the omission of unionisation in Britain appears to have labour from the majority of studies, as the been limited to Ireland. Branches of the industry was ‘no great employer of trade which witnessed some success in labour';16 nationally, in the late nineteenth establishing combinations were brew- century, their numbers totalled approxi- eries' cooperage departments. Coopers' mately 80,000. Even members of the unions, however, generally remained trade in the nineteenth century, however, regionally based and, despite regular argued this was not an excuse for neg- fluctuations, were strongest in London lect.17 There were certain districts where and Burton. Greater organisation for the the trade eventually concentrated and average brewery employee came only in brewery labourers consequently com- the middle of the present century.

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