Records of George Younger & Son Ltd, brewers, Alloa, Scotland

• Memorandum and articles of association 1897-1961;
• Minutes of directors' meetings 1960-1969;
• Records relating to directors' meetings 1943-1965;
• Records relating to members' meetings 1959-1960;
• Directors' annual reports and accounts to shareholders 1947-1968;
• Shareholding records 1952-1969;
• Financial records 1959-1965;
• Trademarks 1935;
• Production records 1935;
• Salaries and wages records 1961-1962;
• Pensions and life assurance records 1948-1961;
• Licensed premises records 1961-1965;
• Property records 1875-1965;
• Public relations 1898-1982;
• Promotional material 1929-1980s;
• Family papers 1997;
• Photographs 1878-1994;
• Historical notes 1889.

George Younger (1722-88), a member of a family of saltpan owners in Culross, Fife, Scotland, was brewing in Alloa, Scotland from 1745. He established his first brewery, later known as Meadow Brewery, in Bank Street, Alloa, in about 1764. After his death the business was passed on from father to son, trading as George Younger & Son. Additional premises adjacent to the brewery were acquired in 1832 and 1850. The Candleriggs Brewery, Alloa, owned by Robert Meiklejohn & Co, was leased in 1852 and bought outright for GBP 1,500 in 1871. The Meadow Brewery ceased brewing in 1877 and was turned into offices for the business. Craigward Maltings, Alloa, were built in 1869 and a new bottling department was established at Kelliebank, Alloa, in 1889. The Candleriggs Brewery was badly damaged by fire in 1889 and rebuilt on a larger scale to cover nearly 2 acres, becoming the largest brewery in Scotland outside Edinburgh.

George Younger & Son Ltd was registered in February 1897 as a limited liability company to acquire the business at a purchase price of GBP 500,000. The company traded extensively to the North of England, West Indies, Australia and North America and from the 1880s to India, the Far East and South Africa. It took over R Fenwick & Co Ltd, Sunderland Brewery, Low Street, Sunderland, Tyne & Wear, England, and Robert Fenwick & Co, Chester Brewery, Chester-le-Street, Durham, England (closed 1934), in 1898. The first chilling and carbonating plant in Scotland was installed at Kelliebank Bottling Stores in 1903. The company's own bottling works was established there in 1908 and a new export bottling plant opened in 1912. The company built up large supply contracts with the armed forces at home and abroad and by 1914 had a lucrative regimental canteen business at Aldershot, Hampshire, England. It acquired the Craigward Cooperage of Charles Pearson & Co, Alloa; Geo White & Co, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear ; and the Bass Crest Brewery Co, Alloa, in 1919. During the same year the Kelliebank bottle manufacturing plant was floated as a separate company and eventually became known as the Scottish Central Glass Works. The Grange Brewery closed in 1941 and the Sunderland Brewery was rebuilt, being sold in 1922 to Flower & Sons Ltd, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company took over Blair & Co (Alloa) Ltd, Townhead Brewery, Alloa, in 1959. It was acquired by Northern Breweries of Great Britain Ltd in April 1960 and became part of the combined Scottish interests of that company, Caledonian Breweries Ltd, later United Caledonian Breweries Ltd, which merged with J & R Tennent Ltd, Glasgow, Strathclyde, in 1966 to form Tennent Caledonian Breweries Ltd. The Candleriggs Brewery ceased to brew in December 1963.

Source: Richmond, Lesley and Turton, Alison (eds). "The Brewing Industry. A Guide to Historical Records" (Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press, 1990)

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

Tennent Caledonian Breweries Ltd, collectors and former employees

See also University of Glasgow Collections

File level list available in searchroom

No known copies of this material

Applications for permission to quote should be sent to the Archivist Reproduction subject to usual conditions: educational use and condition of documents

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.

Possible

• GB 248 BA: Records of Blair & Co (Alloa) Ltd;
• GB 248 CBL: Records of Caledonian Breweries Ltd;
• GB 248 JF: Records of John Fowler & Co Ltd;
• GB 248 T: Records of Tennent Caledonian Breweries Ltd;
• GB 248 UCB: Records of United Caledonian Breweries Ltd;

This material is original