1. : Origins
Oddly, like Bullard's, this was originally called the
Anchor Brewery, and was owned by Charles Greeves,
until John Patteson bought it in 1793. Patteson was
probably connected with the brewery, as a partner,
in 1792.
He had been Mayor as recently as 1788.
He was expansion-minded from the outset, and a
couple of years later had acquired the Norwich
breweries of James Beevor (1794)
and Jehosophat Postle (1795).
In 1793/94 Fisher's North Quay brewery in
Great Yarmouth was also taken over; but was
sold-off to Paget & Co. in 1804 (reclaimed in
1845 - see below).
In 1794 and 1797, many pubs of the
St. Martin's Brewery
were offered for sale by auction. Patteson bought
only four from the 1794 list, all in the County.[1]
Most of the remainder of the St. Martin's tied-estate
ended up with S. & P. eventually, i.e. when
George Morse (see below) quit in 1831.
Apparently 29 of the pubs on offer in 1794 - 1797
were then included.[2]
The former Mayor also remained socially mobile,
even inviting HRH Prince William Frederick to lunch
at the Pockthorpe Brewery, in 1797; held in a large,
newly-manufactured vat.
He then became a Norwich MP between 1806 and 1812.
He retired in 1820; moved to Cringleford in 1831,
having just finished 50 years service on the
City Council, but died two years later.
[1] He had an aversion to leasehold acquisition
(especially short-term !!), so must have found these
up for freehold sale.
[2] Unless some (unrecorded) purchases
had been made in 1797.
2. : Enter Stewards
His successor, John Staniforth Patteson, lived opposite
the Cat & Fiddle in Magdalen Street. This was a house
formerly part of the Beevor properties, taken over in 1794.
He was joined, in 1820, by four members of the
Steward family from Great Yarmouth, namely :
William Steward and brothers Ambrose H. and Timothy.
There was also Timothy's son, Timothy Junr., around
at the time.
Patteson became Sheriff in 1811 and Mayor in 1823.
Timothy Snr. took charge in 1832, when Patteson
died - a year earlier than his father.
The Patteson interests were then primarily with his
fourth son, Henry Staniforth, then only 16 years old.
Steward, in turn, became Sheriff of Norwich in 1855.
By the time of the Licensing Act of 1830 the
brewery controlled (owned/leased) some 120 pubs,
80 in Norwich.
The name "Steward, Patteson & Stewards" did not
last long, owing to two important further acquisitions :
- George Morse in 1831 and
- Peter Finch in September 1837
- both in the St. Martin at Oak area.
The Morse takeover yielded 77 pubs,
62 of them in Norwich.
The brewery title was amended to :
"Steward, Patteson & Co."
The Finch takeover yielded some 55 pubs,
40 of them in Norwich.
Now the title was :
"Steward, Patteson, Finch & Co.".
In mid-century the name Pockthorpe Brewery
was adopted for the premises.
The 1845 Official List shows the brewery had a
whopping 44.6% of all major** tied houses
within the City, namely 183.
3. : More Expansions
Nevertheless, S. & P. pursued their ambitions to become
a regional brewer. Aquisitions proceeded steadily from
at least 1845.
The Coltishall Brewery was sold in September 1841 :
buyer unknown.
But some of the pubs may well have passed to S. & P.
In 1845 there were two acquisitions :-
- Samuel Paget & Son, Gt. Yarmouth -
with 25 or 27 pubs (re-purchased)
- Bell's Brewery, Gorleston - with 20 pubs,
leased until 1866.
In 1852 the important partners, George Morse and
Peter Finch both died : George in July and Peter in October.
Charles Morse inherited a large share of the business,
but Finch was succeeded by only a godson.
Interestingly, the godson was obliged to change
his name to Peter Finch, in order to benefit -
his original name being Peter Finch Steward.
Continued . . .
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3. : More Expansions (contd.)
Further expansions were :-
- 1866 : Bell's leases were converted to freeholds
- 1878 : Bircham & Sons, Reepham - with 52 pubs
A twenty-year Partnership Agreement expired in 1883,
at which time only two Directors had survived, namely :
Henry Staniforth Patteson and Donald Steward.
The re-named Peter Finch had died at the age of 41
in November 1881.
George Henry Morse and others joined the new Board.
Shortly afterwards (1884) a takeover was made of
Ferrier & Co., Great Yarmouth - with 27 pubs
It should be emphasised that all expansions since 1845
had involved breweries with little or - probably -
no tied-estate in Norwich itself.
4. : Consolidations
They were still listed in 1890 as
Steward, Patteson, Finch & Co. :-
- wine and spirits merchants,
- mineral water manufacturers,
- maltsters and brewers.
A Private company "S. & P." was formed in July 1895,
controlling 489 pubs; although a Public company
was not formed until 1936.
In November of 1895 Morse and Woods
Swaffham Brewery - with 51 pubs, and 2 maltings,
was taken over; which had prompted the change
of legal status.
In 1897 the Weybourne Brewery
of William Bolding was added to list.
Following the 1904 Compensation Act,
126 of the firm's pubs (overall) were closed. In 1905 they owned 12 malt-houses in Norwich.
They were also represented in Yarmouth, Lynn,
Ipswich, Colchester and London.
These forays into Norfolk and beyond resulted,
by 1914, in S. & P. being surpassed by Bullards
by 133 to 126 tied-houses within Norwich;
S. & P. having just 28% of the ties
(of the **major brewers only).
Nevertheless, in that very year, the Eye Brewery
(ex-Adnam's) - with 20 pubs, was taken over.
In 1934 the brewery received the Royal Appointment
to King George V.
In 1938 branches in Gt. Yarmouth, King's Lynn, Ipswich
and Eye testified to the regional scope of the business.
In that year an advertisement read :-
Beer from the bottle, and beer from the wood,
If it is S&P it is sure to be good.
5. : Post- World War I
The final list of acquisitions is :-
- 1923 : Crown Brewery Cooper Brown,
East Dereham
- Aug. 1929 : W. & T. Bagge's Brewery, King's Lynn -
with 74 or 75 pubs
- 1929 : Everard's Brewery - with 15 pubs
- 1949 : Soames & Co. Brewery, Spalding
- Jan. 1957 : Flowers Group in Lincolnshire -
with more than 66 pubs
- Aug. 1957 : E. Anglian Breweries Ltd.
of Ely and Huntingdon
The last of these mergers added 400 pubs
to a portfolio now totalling 1250.
The Ely brewery continued production until 1968.
In 1964 some 1200 properties were said to be
controlled by the brewery; stretching from Lincoln
to the Essex borders.
6. : The Downfall
Jointly with Bullards Brewery, S. & P. took over the
tied-houses of Morgan's Brewery in 1961.
See the Bullard's notes re the sharing
of the spoils : 400 - 450 tied houses.
Also see the Watney's notes re the Trading Agreement
also signed in 1961; along with the transfer of the actual
brewery to them.
By the time of the Watney takeover (November 1963)
632 pubs were owned, throughout East Anglia.
The final settlement with Watney's, in February 1967,
yielded 7,666,270 pounds.
Brewing at Pockthorpe ceased in January 1970.
Most of the 12 acre site has since been re-developed
for housing.
The chimney was finally demolished in 1974.
A fairly late photo, taken facing West, is on page 80 of
PLUNKETT, George : Commemorative Collection
Acknowledgement
Much of the material in this summary is taken from
a
publication of the Centre of East Anglian Studies. |