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Reid & Co.

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Tiles referencing Reid's Stout on the Crown and Anchor, Covent Garden

Reid & Co was a large British brewery based in London.

History

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The business was established in 1757 when Richard Meux and Mungo Murray acquired Jackson's Brewery on Mercer Street. Following a major fire, the Griffin Brewery at Clerkenwell was built in 1763.[1] Andrew Reid, a wealthy merchant and distiller, became a partner in 1793, and the firm began to trade as Meux Reid & Co.[1] Production amounted to over 100,000 barrels for the first time in 1795.[2] The firm was the largest of the London porter breweries in 1807/8.[3] It began to trade as Reid's Brewery from 1816.[4]

Reid's was the fourth largest brewer in London in 1853, as measured by the amount of malt used.[5] The Griffin Brewery was reckoned to be the largest brewery under a single roof in London in 1862.[5] While Richmond and Turton state that the Reid family's involvement with the firm ended with the death of William Reid in 1867, his son Cecil Frederick Reid was a large shareholder and director.[6][7]

In 1888 the firm became a limited liability company with a registered capital of £2 million.[8] Reid merged with rival London brewers Watney and Combe in 1898.[9] The Griffin Brewery in Clerkenwell was closed.[9]

The Reid brand name continued to be applied to stout until the 1950s.[10]

References

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  1. ^ a b Lesley Richmond; Alison Turton (1990). The Brewing Industry: A Guide to Historical Records. Manchester University Press. p. 274. ISBN 978-0-7190-3032-1.
  2. ^ Wilson, R. G. "Meux family (per. 1757–1910)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/97889. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  3. ^ "Shut up about Barclay Perkins: Let's Brew Wednesday - 1837 Reid P". 19 July 2017.
  4. ^ Janes, Hurford (1963). The Red Barrel, A History of Watney Mann. John Murray.
  5. ^ a b The Engineer, 18 April 1862, p233
  6. ^ International Brewers' Journal. W. Reed. 1898. p. 808.
  7. ^ Welch, Reginald Courtenay (1894). The Harrow School Register, 1801-1893. Longmans, Green. p. 225.
  8. ^ "Reid's Brewery Company, Limited." Financial Times [London, England] 26 July 1888: 2. Financial Times. Web. 19 July 2017.
  9. ^ a b "Goodbye to the last of London's million-barrel breweries". 3 December 2015.
  10. ^ "Shut up about Barclay Perkins: Watney, Combe Reid (part one)". 8 May 2015.