Notes on Abingdon’s malting industry - Brewery...

39Brewery History Number 124/5

Notes on Abingdon’s malting industry

Bruce Hedge

Abingdon-on-Thames

Abingdon-on-Thames, the administrativecentre of the Vale of White Horse, isseven miles by road south of Oxford.More importantly for this story, it is 102miles from London by river. To quote theUniversal Directory of 1796:

‘There are great quantities of malt madehere and sent down the Thames inbarges to the London markets.’

Evidence for the wealth created in the18th century by those barges of malt canbe seen in the elegant town houses builtby Abingdon's most successful maltsters,the Tomkins family. In East St. HelenStreet, Twickenham House, built forJoseph Tomkins, mid-Georgian, noted forits white Chinese-Chippendale staircaseand late 18th century Gothic bookcases;in Bath Street, Stratton House built 1722by Benjamin Tomkins and the earlyGeorgian Clock House in Ock Street, alsobuilt by Benjamin. Pevsner describes it asthe grandest house in Abingdon, earlyGeorgian, nine bays, three full storeys,panelled parapet and good interior fea-tures. To the left, stables with a deep opencourtyard with, in the middle of the endrange, an archway, Venetian window andcupola. Remarkably, opinions differ on its

status. It has been described as, ‘an officeand home for a manager rather than theabode of a Tomkins.’ All these residenceswere within a stone's throw of the malt-houses that paid for their creation.

The Vineyard

The Brewers Journal of 15th December1903 reported on the opening of newmaltings at Abingdon for Messrs. Thomas& Co. of Abingdon, Leamington andWolverhampton.

The new premises consisted of two 100-quarter maltings to the design of Messrs.J.D. Wood of Birmingham, malting andbrewing engineers. Since two housesalready existed on the site the new oneswere referred to as No. 3 and No. 4. TheBrewers Journal stated that, ‘The presentmaltings are connected to the new prem-ises by bridges to facilitate the workingarrangements.’

No. 3 had three growing floors, ‘of angu-lar shape arranged specially to suit thesite.’ No. 4 with two growing floors had itsmain front alongside the railway siding.Messrs. Nalder & Nalder Ltd. of Wantagesupplied the whole of the machinery forboth houses.

40 Journal of the Brewery History Society

Figure 1. Former Tham

es-side malthouses, E

ast St. Helen’s Street.

The two new maltings were sited in theVineyard because of the convenience ofthe rail connection, but the area had beenthe location of others in the 18th centuryand probably much earlier. Two, AbbeyMaltings, had belonged by 1790 to JohnFrancis Spenlove of the Abbey Breweryand a third is mentioned in an indentureconcerning Elizabeth Stratton, NeeTomkins, dated 1760.

On the site of Thomas's maltings, thenoperated by Samuel Thompson & Sons,Ltd., part of Associated British Maltsters,new premises were opened on the 11th

March 1964.1 These new drum maltings,described as being more nearly automaticthan any other plant yet built by the com-pany, replaced the previous floor maltingsthe main part of which had been destroyedby fire in 1961. Their annual productivecapacity was 30,000 quarters and thethree-man operating team capable of pro-ducing 3½ times as much as the eight-man team in the old floor maltings. TheBrewers Journal described the equipmentas 'orthodox Boby maltings modified.’

In the early 1980's ABM sold theirAbingdon and Pontefract maltings toWatney's enabling Watney's to shut theirown floor maltings.2 The closure of thesefacilities in Abingdon in the late 1980'smarked the end of the malting in the town.

The Hordeum Co.

Undated plans3 produced by Wilson &Co. of Frome for Thomas Skurray, then

managing director of Morland & Co., werefor a Malt Extract Plan on the site of twomalthouses shown on an O.S. map of1875. The site became known as theAbbey Works and is probably the locationof two of John Francis Spenlove's malt-houses acquired by Morland's from theexecutors of his daughter Mary in 1866.

The Hordeum was a malt extract plant;featuring decoction mashing, mash filtra-tion pressure boiling and wort filtration. Afuller understanding of its role in the brew-ery's operation is provided in correspon-dence dating from the 1940s and 1950s.

Britain was subject to as much austerity inthe immediate post-war years as duringthe Second World War itself. Fuel andsugar shortages were two of the manyways maltsters and brewers were trou-bled. Maltsters were required to dry grainon behalf of the Ministry of Food whilst atthe same time the Ministry of Fuel andPower was cutting coal supplies and urg-ing savings on those supplies that wereallowed.

Neither Ministry understood the functionof the Hordeum and the brewery hadstrenuous arguments with the Ministry ofFuel and Power over supplies of coal tokeep the works operating. The works fre-quently had to resort to using coke, coalwas strictly allocated to industry whilstcoke was not rationed but in still in shortsupply.

Their difficulty with sugar supplies doesthrow light on the exact role of the



Figure 2. Thomas’M

altings


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Hordeum. This extract from a letter fromMorland & Co. to the Ministry of Food,Sugar Division, is dated 5th November1948. ‘We appreciate that other MaltExtract manufacturers do not use sugarfor this purpose, but in our case the objectof the production is unusual. Our extract isproduced with the object of enabling us tobrew a particular style of bottled beer, forwhich the sugar is a necessary adjunct toproduce this result. Malt Extract is usuallymanufactured for use in the form of ablend, in small quantities. Our Extract isused in a very large quantity at a laterstage in the brewing, and the bottled beeris produced mainly from Malt Extract.’ Theimmediate outcome to this plea isunknown.

Back in 1948 Hordeum products seemonly to have been used in the productionof bottled beers but later it was also usedin the production of the mild and bitterbeers. In 1959 considerable concern wasexpressed by the Board over the continu-ing decline in sales of mild ale, due itappears to the dryness and thinness ofthe beer produced. Messrs. Briant &Harman, Consulting and AnalyticalChemists were called in to investigate.Their report of 23rd March 1959 suggest-ed that a good quality No. 2 Invert shouldbe used to improve the palette and full-ness of the mild ale.

Extract from the report by Dr J.H. Oliver ofBriant & Harman to Morland & Co.: ‘It hasbeen your practice for many years to pre-pare a malt extract made from your ownmalt and bring this to the brewery for hop-ping and fermentation. The writer thinks at

the moment that one matter which aggra-vates your present thinness is the use ofC.M.E.

To the best of our knowledge, C.M.E. ismerely a coloured starch syrup obtainedby hydrolysing maize starch with acidwhich is subsequently neutralised. It isoften suggested that Dextrin gives full-ness, but the complete fermentation ofC.M.E. by itself only gives a thin, veryhard, dry solution, and there is no doubtthat it is the nitrogen compounds whichcome from the malt which are the biggestfoundation of the flavour in a beer. Theonly alternative sugar which has flavouris a well-made invert, which does pos-sess a soft residual character of flavour.’

Nothing remains of the Hordeum today.The site was cleared for redevelopmentin the 1970s.

Malthouses on Morland's Ock StreetBrewery Site

When Edward Morland purchased theEagle Brewery in 1861 it had its own 10-quarter maltings. The location of this isuncertain. An undated map of the area,post 1912 and probably pre-1928 showsbehind number 48 Ock Street a, ‘disusedmalthouse pulled down.’ However, theland it stood upon, although part of thebrewery site later, may not have been in1861.

The Brewers Journal of 5th September1905 refers to a Morland malthouse dat-ing from 1716 as being still in use. Again



Figu

re 4

. Mal

t ext

ract

pla

nt.


Figure 5. Malt extract plant section BB.


Figure 6. Malt extract plant section CC.


this may not be the 10-quarter malthousereferred to as it formed part of the pur-chase of, ‘malthouses, cottage yard, out-buildings, and premises situate inWindsmore Lane, now in the occupationof Alexander William Hall.’ John ThornhillMorland and Edward Morland made thepurchase of this property, adjacent to theEagle Brewery, from the trustees of thewill of Charles Tawney of Oxford on 16th

April 1886 for the sum of £550.

The comment from the Brewers Journalreferred to above, was made in relation tothe opening in 1905 of a new 100-quarterfloor maltings. Joseph D. Wood, Architect,Brewers & Maltsters Engineer, ColmoreChambers, 3 Newhall Street, Birminghamdesigned the new maltings. This con-tained three kilns: one barley kiln and twomalt kilns, although the barley kiln wasalso to be used as a malt kiln for thegrowing floor in the earlier house to whichit was connected by a bridge. The oldhouse was only 13 feet away andreferred to as the, ‘present No. 2 house’ -see illustrations. The machinery wasdesigned and supplied by Nalder &Nalder Ltd. of Wantage.

Sometime after 1905 (?) another, smaller,single-kilned malthouse, probably of 30quarters, was built 20 feet east of the No.2 house. No drawings for this survive butfrom the style of the kiln, which stillremains, it must have been another J.D.Wood design. This building appears tohave been incorporated into the otherstructures that had been purchased in1886.

When the No. 2 maltings ceased to beused as such is not known, evidencesuggests before 1931. A site plan ofNovember 1960 shows the building inuse as a carpenters shop and stores. Itwas demolished within the following 12months.

In contrast with the 30 quarter, single-kilnhouse, the 1905 house is well document-ed. The original J.D. Wood drawings existalong with others recording variousreplacements and modifications over theyears.

1946 saw the two malt kilns in the 1905maltings converted to oil firing (the barleykiln continued to be fired by anthracite),and new malt elevating and screeningequipment (20 qtr./hr.), again supplied byNalder & Nalder Ltd. of Wantage.

New silos and barley handling equipmentwere proposed in 1947, the plans drawnup by Sir Alexander Gibb & Partners withNalder & Nalders. The Ministry of Foodissued a licence for their construction butthe proposal was dropped. A letter fromthe chairman of Morland's to the ministrydated 20th June 1949 explains, ‘When weoriginally considered the question ofgrain storage in 1946, you will no doubtrecollect that the demand for beer was farexceeding the supply. In addition, all bar-ley users were being encouraged by theMinistry of Agriculture to prepare plans tocope with the quick influx of barley whichwas likely to arise from the introduction ofcombine harvesters.’ It goes on to saythat, ‘Since the beginning of this year


Figu

re 7

. 190

5 m

alt h

ouse

.


(1949), the trade situation has undoubt-edly worsened, and … my directorstherefore decided that it would not bepolitic to continue the scheme.’

In 1948 Robert Boby Ltd. of Bury St.Edmunds, produced drawings for a sug-gested drum maltings conversion. Twoproposals were considered, one for eight50-quarter drums and two 50-quarter boxkilns, the other for four 50-quarter drumsand one 50-quarter box kiln. With aneight-day germination period and two daykilning the annual output would be16,500 quarters and 8,250 quartersrespectively. This compares withMorland's production of 7,166 quarters in1952 and 5,842 quarters in 1951. Again,that proposal was not proceeded with.

In March 1960 the Board were examiningthe economics of making their own malt.A report had been produced which sug-gested that their costs of producing maltwere £6/16/0 (£6.80) per quarter, for5,000 quarters. This compared with theaverage price of buying over the previous12 months of £7/15/0 (£7.75). Althoughsome of Morland's costs had not beenincluded in their calculations, it was a bigenough differential for a decision to con-tinue malting.

Despite that decision, a proposal wasmade to convert the 1905 maltings to abottling hall. On the advice of Whitbread,who by then had a significant holding ofMorland shares, it was rejected at aBoard meeting in July 1960. The bottlinghall was to be built on former allotments

adjacent to the malthouse with the malt-house itself converted to storage.

Obviously no action on converting themalthouse had been taken for at theSeptember 1961 Board meeting it wasreported that, ‘following a fire in Abingdonof one of the malthouses belonging toAssociated British Maltsters, he (Mr.Pudsey-Dawson) had offered them theuse of the Company's Malthouse.Following a meeting with the directors ofthat Company, it had been agreed that afair rent to pay was 10/- (50p) per quarterfor all barley steeped by them, and 3d(0.0125p) per quarter water charges.They had also agreed to pay the ForemanMaltster's salary; all electricity charges,and to take over the stocks of coal andfuel oil as from 1st July 1961.’

The arrangement only lasted for threemonths. The October 1961 Board minutesrecord, ‘In view of the Foreman Maltster,Mr. J. Macfarlane being made redundanton the closure of the Malthouse premisesat 30th September 1961, it was agreed topay him compensation of £500 for theloss of office. Mr. Macfarlane would alsoreceive a pension of £110 per annum.’

Late in the 1960s the Malthouse becamea wine and spirit store on the groundfloor, storage on the first and offices anda Boardroom on the second. The officeswere refurbished in the 1980s and in the1990s the ground and first floors alsoconverted to offices. And so theyremained until the takeover of Morland'sin 1999 by Greene, King & Co. Ltd. The


Figure 8. The 1850 plan. The 1905 malthouse was built 13 feet to the west, and paral-lel to, the structure, roughly in the centre, marked, ‘cottages’ and ‘warehouse.’ It is thisstructure that is referred to as ‘No.2 House’ in 1905.


Figure 9. An extract from the 1886 sale document, theland and buildings purchased are on the shaded area inthe centre. The 1905 malthouse was built 13 feet insidethe land marked, ‘Wrigglesworth's Charity’ alongside theleft-hand building, the ‘No.2 House.’


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Figure 11. Elevation the north end of the m

altings showing the bridge over the cart road and the kiln of the new

maltings.


Abingdon brewery was closed, produc-tion transferred to Bury St. Edmunds, andthe Ock Street site sold for redevelop-ment.

Political, economic and social back-ground to Spenlove's Barley Book

For 23 of the 33 years covered by JohnSpenlove's Barley Book Britain was atwar. The French Revolutionary Warsfrom 1792 to 1802, and the NapoleonicWars from 1803 to 1815. Additionally,Britain was at war with the USA from1812 to 1814.

War presents many challenges and stim-uli to the economy and most of these canbe observed in the numbers and notesrecorded in the Barley Book. The numberof Enclosure Acts increased dramatically,higher grain prices encouraged farmersto put more land under the plough, totake up longer leases for higher rents.However, little of the benefit of higherproduction and prices was passed on tothe agricultural labourer and in the post-war years agricultural wage rates actual-ly fell. The domestic production of grainincreased at the same rate as the totalpopulation, 14% between the years 1793and 1815.

The government, during the war years,was borrowing heavily and spendingabroad leading to a fall in the exchangerate. It also lead to the Bank of Englandbeing relieved of the obligation of meet-ing notes in gold. This all lead to interestrates rising; however with no restraint on

the increase in money supply, inflationwas higher still. Money was cheaper inreal terms. It is during this period thatcheques, although dating from the 17th

century, became a common instrumentfor the satisfaction of debts.

The end of the series of wars in 1815 saw300,000 men thrown on to the labourmarket. A short-lived industrial boom fol-lowed as industry turned out the goodsthat people had been deprived of for solong. However, the 300,000 increase wasnothing compared to the overall rise inpopulation. From 1801 to 1831 itincreased by 50% meaning more labouravailable, much of it cheap juvenile. Theperiod following the war saw the openingof one of the grimmest periods in modernBritish history, years of distress and classhatred, periodic riots and savage repres-sion by the government.

By the 18th century Abingdon was thecentre of a network of turnpikes and viathose roads the barley could be easilycarried to the malthouses in the centre ofthe town. Spenlove purchased his barleywithin an area measuring 14 miles northto south and 25 miles east to west withthe furthest farms supplying him being 13miles from Abingdon.

The Universal Directory of 1796 said ofAbingdon, ‘There are great quantities ofmalt made here and sent down theThames in barges to the London mar-kets.’ The journey was hazardous andlengthy, taking five days downstream andten for the return. Coinciding withSpenlove starting out in business was the

opening of the Oxford and Coventrycanals. The Berks and Wilts canal didn'treach Abingdon until 1812. The formerwould have permitted coal from theMidlands to reach the town easily,although with the final stage of the jour-ney via the river, whilst the Berks andWilts would have made coal from theSomerset coalfield readily available.Neither canal seems to have had anyimpact on barley supplies to Abingdon;the only mention of barley purchasedfrom outside the locality is the purchaseof ‘London barley’ in May and June 1801.

Mr. Spenlove's Barley Book

‘Every maltster shall keep a book, to bedelivered to him by the excise officer, forthe purpose of entering the severalaccounts of barley required by this act;and the total quantity shall be entered onthe day on which the account is to begiven, under a penalty of £50.’ - S.3. 24Geo 3.

John Francis Spenlove was twenty-oneyears old in 1790 when he started hisBarley Book and, given his age, one canassume he had only recently started outin business as brewer and maltster. TheExcise men in Abingdon appear to havebeen rather lax though, Mr Spenlove'sbarley book certainly was not 'deliveredto him', contains only the 'debtor account'- although the creditor side may be in adifferent volume - and whilst it containsthe essentials required by the 1784 act itis not quite in the form designated. The

book, quarto in size (33 x 20 cm), andhand ruled in pencil and red ink, is arecord of the barley he bought and malt-ed during the next 33 years. Meticulouslyrecorded is the date he bought it, thefarmer who sold it to him, the quantitybought in quarters and bushels and theprice he paid for it. Later, he added thedate he paid the farmer and the total pur-chase price. The record is ruled off andtotalled at the end of the season andoften the amount of malt produced bythose purchases recorded, sometimeswith a note of his thoughts on the efficien-cy of the malting process with regard tothe season's corn.

The date of the first entry is 12th

November 1790 when he bought 10quarters of barley at £1-4-6d (£1.22) aquarter and the first season's purchasesend on the 3rd June the following yearwhen he purchased 11 quarters at £1-4-8¼d (£1.23). Total purchased in thoseeight months was 705½ quarters of which15 quarters he used for other purposes orsold on. The 690½ quarters that he malt-ed had cost him £847-10-6d (£847.53).He notes, ‘The above quantity of Barleyproduced 808? quarters of Malt which is1 bushel, 1 peck, 3 quarts and 1 pintupon a quarter of Barley increase.’

Spenlove seems to have started out withonly one malthouse, then after two sea-sons a second house is recorded. Thefirst, possibly acquired with the business,was in use for 12 years, whilst the secondwas in use for 31 of the 33 years coveredby the book. Later still, the AbbeyMalthouse was used from 21st



Year

Bar

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- C

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Av

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1790

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1791

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4817

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1.67

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1s.

4.2

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l.17

93/4

1.87

Out

brea

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war

with

Fra

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1794

/51.

9017

95/6

1.97

Poo

r har

vest

; Spe

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m in

trodu

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1796

/71.

3517

97/8

1.33

Ban

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Eng

land

cea

ses

payi

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cas

h17

98/9

1.43

1799

/180

02.

02P

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st18

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3.73

Poo

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1801

/21.

92Te

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in 1

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1803

/41.

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1804

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41P

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of G

B.

1805

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79Tr

afal

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21/1

0/18

0518

06/7

1.84

1807

/82.

0618

08/9

2.51

1809

/10

2.32

Poo

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. Boo

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.18

10/1

11.

96P

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22.

66P

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12. O

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1812

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1813

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. War

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1814

/15

1.55

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1817

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2.24

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1820

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1.17

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.18

21/2

21.

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1822

/23

1.80

1.91

Aver

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179

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182

3

Tabl

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Spe

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179

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823:

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Barley - Average Price Each Year

0.00

0.50

1.00

1.50

2.00

2.50

3.00

3.50

4.001790/191/2

92/393/4

94/595/6

96/797/8

98/999/001800/01

01/020210303/0404/0505/0606/0707/0808/09

09/1010/11

11/1212/1313/1414/1515/1616/1717/1818/1919/2020/21

21/2222/23

Year - 1790 to 1823

Price per Quarter - £

September 1798, again until the end ofthe book in 1823. In all Spenlove appearsto have operated nine malthouses in theperiod, some owned or leased and someonly hired for a short period to cope withdemand. Two of the latter were operatedonly for 3 weeks each, one in 1797 andthe other in 1803.

At the end of his first season he makesno comment as to efficiency or to anyother conditions. On other occasions hemerely records a simple one or two wordcomment like, ‘Good’ or ‘Bad increase.’However, at other times we learn a littlemore. Thus in 1822 when 434? quarterswere malted we are informed that, ‘Theabove Barley was sweated & laid by andnot malted till the year after it was boughtit having been a wet harvest it wasimproved by the sweating. Quantity ofMalt it produced 447 Qtrs. Increase 4½bushels on 20 Qtrs. considering thesweating not bad.’ In that same year, per-haps because of the wet harvest, JohnSpenlove tried his hand at malting wheat,it is the only instance he records, and hehas the following to say, ‘The abovequantity of Wheat (46¼ quarters) maltedproduced 54½ Qtrs. which is an increaseof 1 bushel 1 peck 1 gallon in a Quarter -Great Increase but pays a very high duty- it was of the growth of 1821 damagedby a wet harvest & did not turn out partic-ularly well in the Mash Tun - We were ofopinion that the best Wheat malted wouldanswer very well.’

Overall the book must give a reliable pic-ture of the prices ruling in North Berkshire

during its 33 years coverage. Indeed theprices paid correlate closely with theaverage prices quoted for those years inMalt and Malting by Henry Stopes, pub-lished in 1885 (p 624). The average pricesfor the first and last years of Spenlove'sbook give a false picture of price stabilityshowing as they do £1.23 per quarter in1790/1 and £1.32 per quarter in 1822/3.In reality price swings were quite violent.

The highest price recorded is for purchas-es from the 1800 harvest and they aredouble the average for the 33-year periodat £3.73 per quarter. Three years later for1803/4 they were at their lowest, £1.16per quarter.

Perhaps, not surprisingly, the lowestquantity Spenlove purchased was fromthe 1800 harvest, the reverse howeverwas not always the case. In 1803/4 andagain in 1815/6, years with rock-bottomprices, are also years with some of thelowest volumes purchased.

Factors other than the weather seem tobe a determinant of prices. As can beseen from a quote above, the 1821 har-vest was damaged by wet, yet the price ofa quarter of barley at that time was one ofthe lowest both locally and nationally, eco-nomic depression and unemploymentplayed their part too.

Not all the yields from the malting processare recorded but enough are to be able tosay that the overall increase in volume ofmalt over barley was 14%. This is compa-rable with the figure for 1884 quoted by


Stopes of an increase in bulk of 15% forEnglish barley.

Only once in the 33 years does Spenloverecord having to buy any malt and that isin 1792/3, shortly after he started out inbusiness. Then he bought 247 quartersat £2.13 per quarter. In that season hewas buying barley at £1.67 per quarter,indicating a gross margin of 28% to coveroperating costs, rent, depreciation, malttax and profit.

It appears nothing was wasted. Malt dustwas one of the by-products he sold andfor the years where sales of that item arerecorded he was selling it for 8/- (40p) perquarter.

John Francis Spenlove died in 1841. Hiswife, Susanna Morland, whom he hadmarried in 1796, had predeceased him,as had their eldest son. In his will heplaced the brewery business in the handsof trustees who had full discretionary pow-ers to carry on the business for the bene-fit of his estate, or to grant a lease or leas-es on it. His two surviving daughters,Mary the eldest, who was unmarried, andAnne who was married to a Samuel Waiteof Gloucester, were the principal benefici-aries. Mary acquired and ran the businessuntil her death in 1862 when it was pur-chased by her cousin, George BowesMorland (see the notes on the Spenlovefamily). From then on the Abbey brewerywas run in conjunction with breweries atWest Ilsley, where Morland's was foundedin 1711, and with the Eagle Brewery inOck Street, Abingdon. The three togetherwere described as United Breweries, a

name that was used for many years afterthe West Ilsley and Abbey breweriesceased operating.

The Spenlove family

John Francis Spenlove, born 27 March1769 died Abingdon, 2nd January 1841.Married 6th September 1796, SusannaMorland, born 8th January 1764, died 30April 1830, daughter of William Morlandof West Ilsley, Berks. Children of the marriage:John Francis - 1802 to 1827Mary - died 1862Anne - married Samuel Waite ofGloucester.

John Francis senior was only 21 yearswhen he started in business at AbbeyBrewery. He was probably the son ofFrancis Spenlove of London (memorialtablet in St. Nicholas' church, Abingdon)who had died at the age of 46 in 1776.

Where he served any apprenticeship, ifany, is not known and initially he mayhave been in partnership with an EdwardCheer, a well-known local Abingdonbrewer. His last will and testament,together with a codicil, tell us a lot aboutthe man and his success in the maltingand brewing trades. The will, dated 7th

April 1835 with a codicil of 7th April 1836left to Mary all his household goods, fur-niture, plate (except for two silver wait-ers), books, linen, and china, and also hiscarriages, carriage horses with the har-ness and other things belonging to thesame, and also all his wines and other


liquor (except the stock of beer as abrewer). In lieu of any of the forgoing,Anne was to receive payment of £500from Mary. Anne also got the two silverwaiters, ‘upon which my arms quarteredwith those of my late wife are engraved.’Of the settlement made upon his mar-riage, he left £50 to his daughter Anneand £4,950 to Mary. He also left to Annethe interest, dividends, etc. on £4,900 ingovernment securities that were to beheld in trust for her. He made otherbequests to his appointed trustees andfamily members. The payments from themarriage settlement, the £4,900 and theother bequests were to made out of theproceeds of the sale of his propertieseither whole or in part.

His trustees were John Moses Carter,George Bowes Morland and Edward Tullwho were to hold all his messuages,lands, tenements, hereditaments andreal estate and the remainder of his per-sonal estate. The trustees had full dis-cretionary power and were not com-pelled to make immediate sale. As to therunning of the brewery, ‘I have giventhem (the trustees) power to carry on thesaid Brewery for any length of time theymay think fit or to grant a lease or leasesof the same … it being my desire thatthey shall have full discretionary powerand shall not be compelled to makeimmediate sale of the said trusts estatesbut only when and as from time to timethey shall think it advantageous to do so…’ The residue of his estate, after allsuch sales and bequests, was left to histwo daughters equally.

Mary was to be allowed to live in hishouse after his death for as long as shepleased upon payment of £50 per annumrent for the house and pleasure gardenand £10 per annum for the kitchen gar-den. If Anne chose she could occupy hishouse in East St. Helens Street on pay-ment of £30 per annum.

Mary bought the brewery business fromher father's estate, and the followingentries subsequently appear in variousdirectories:

Kelly's, 1847 - Miss Mary Spenlove, brew-er, Abbey BrewerySlater's, 1850 - Spenlove & Carter, brewers, Abbey BreweryBilling's, 1854 - Spenlove & Carter, brewers, Abbey Brewery

Mary's association with John MossesCarter, whatever form it took, does notappear to have been a happy one. TheBrewers Journal in 1866 reported a courtcase concerning the will of an ‘old ladycalled Morland.’ It related to a codicil, whichstated, ‘That my highly esteemed friendand cousin, George Bowes Morland, do onmy decease immediately purchase all myproperty, brewery, etc., at one fourth lessthan its value, with the proviso only thatfrom that time John Moses Carter receivesno profit from the business, and has noth-ing more to do with the property in any wayor form whatever, for uncivil and ungentle-manly behaviour to me.’

The court case was over whether thepublic houses were included in the ‘etc.’


Initially the court had ruled that not beinga necessary part of the business theywere not included, but this was over-turned in a higher court and GeorgeBowes Morland was allowed to purchaseat ¾ of their value.

This is not intended to be a complete his-tory of the malting industry of Abingdon,but a pulling together of informationgleaned from documents and plansremoved from Morland's Ock Streetbrewery after its closure.

For clarification, the information gatheredhas been supplemented by furtherresearch in the National Brewing Libraryat Oxford Brookes University, particularlyin volumes of the Brewers Journal.

References

1. Brewers Journal 15 April 19642. Clark, C. (1998) The British Malting

Industry since 1830. London: HambledonPress.

3. Sometimes later, the date ‘1910’ hasbeen pencilled on the drawing.


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