Records of Hugh Baird & Sons Ltd, brewers and maltsters, Glasgow, Scotland

• Prospectus 1894;
• Invoice 1860;
• Diary 1979;
• Framed caricatures of Allied Brewery Trade Association annual banquet 1953;
• Photograph of Baird's Stout advertising jug dated 1890s;
• Family papers 1953;
• Historical notes 1869-2000.

Hugh Baird & Sons Ltd, brewers and maltsters in Glasgow, Scotland, derived from Hugh Baird & Co of Great Canal Brewery. Hugh Baird snr founded Great Canal Brewery in Possil Road (his first brewery), in 1823. He retired from the brewing side of the business in the late 1850s in order to concentrate on malting at his Springbank works, situated on the Forth and Clyde Canal, Garscube Road. It was not until 1863 that his eldest son Hugh Baird jnr joined the company, followed by Hugh jnr's brother Montague Baird, in 1870. When Hugh Baird snr finally retired from all aspects of the business in 1878 his two sons became sole partners. Various members of the family continued to rank amongst the company's Directors well into the 1940s and Montague Baird went on to become the president of the Institute of Brewing from 1906-1907.

By 1889 the company owned four works; the Great Canal Brewery and Maltings, Rock Villa Maltings, Petershill Maltings at Springburn, and a Roasting Works on top of Hundred Acre Hill.

In 1894 Hugh Baird & Sons became a limited liability company. In 1907 the company took over the well established firm of maltsters, Corder & Haycraft, based in Greenwich, London. This became the Company's English base for many years until they moved to a new mechanical plant at Witham in Essex in the 1960s. In 1939 the company consolidated with Charles & Co (Leith), the latter becoming a subsidiary company of the former. And by 1947 Thomas Bernard & Co became a subsidiary company by the same process of consolidation.

In 1946 Hugh Baird & Sons Ltd owned the Springbank County Malting and Newside Malting in Garscube Road, Glasgow, the Vulcan Malting at Vintner Street, Port Dundas, and the Electric Malting and Roasting House in Glasgow. The Roasting House was destroyed by fire in the 1950s, and was rebuilt, and fully modernized, operating up until 1966. In 1964 the company opened the Pencaitland plant in East Lothian. All floor maltings were subsequently closed, the Glasgow workings closing in 1966.

Hugh Baird & Sons merged with Moray Firth Maltings in 1999 to form Bairds Malt Ltd. The mechanical malting plants of Pencaitland and Witham remain operating to this day. For further information see https://www.bairds-malt.co.uk/heritage/

Source: Barnard, Alfred. "Noted Breweries of Great Britain and Ireland", Vol. 2 (London: Joseph Causton & Sons, c1889)

The material is arranged according to the Scottish Brewing Archive classification scheme used within all SBA collections.

Access to records within this collection is open, however an appointment may be required. Please email Archives and Special Collections for advice: library-asc@glasgow.ac.uk

Deposited principally by John Hutcheson

See also University of Glasgow Collections

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No known copies of this material

Reproduction subject to usual conditions: educational use and condition of documents. Applications for permission to quote should be sent to Archives and Special Collections, please email: library-asc@glasgow.ac.uk

This material has been appraised in line with standard GB 248 procedures

The collection was previously stored with the rest of the Scottish Brewing Archive at Heriot-Watt University. It moved to the University of Glasgow in 1991. Custody of the Scottish Brewing Archive was transferred to Glasgow University Archive Services in 2008.

None expected

• GB 248 RY: Records of Robert Younger Ltd;
• GB 248 TB: Records of Thomas Bernard & Co Ltd;
• GB 248 UGD 109: Records of Deloitte & Co, chartered accountants, Glasgow, Scotland; records UGD 109/6/1 and UGD 109/6/2 (Glasgow University Archive & Business Records Centre)

This material is original