Records of Tennent Caledonian Breweries Ltd, brewers, Glasgow, Scotland

This material is held atUniversity of Glasgow Archive Services

Reference
- GB 248 T
Dates of Creation
- 1776-2006
Name of Creator
- Tennent Caledonian Breweries Ltd
Language of Material
- English
Physical Description
- 23.6 linear metres

Scope and Content

Memorandum and articles of association, 1901-1965;
Certificates of incorporation, 1901;
Partnership agreements, 1861-1972;
Amalgamation/liquidation papers, 1960-1967;
Directors' minutes, 1867-1959;
Board papers, 1916-1958;
Minutes of AGMs, 1901-1959;
Records relating to members' meetings, 1954-1963;
Directors' annual reports and accounts to shareholders, 1902-1978;
Committee meetings, 1978-1982;
Miscellaneous corporate records, 1904-1977;
Shareholding records, 1898-1966;
Letterbooks, 1785-1895;
Financial records, 1776-1984;
Patents and trademarks, 1878-1995;
Production records, 1830-1992;
Sales records, 1812-1964;
Staff, 1846-2001;
Licensed premises, 1852-1971;
Property records, 1806-1989;
Promotional material, c1850s-2005;
Public relations, 1885-2006;
Family papers, 1821-c2000;
Family tree, 1500-1985;
Illustrations and photographs, 1869-2000s;
Historical notes, 1886-c2000;
Equipment, c20th century.

Administrative / Biographical History

Hugh Tennent and Robert Tennent continued the Tennent family Private brewing business, founding the Public brewing partnership, in the same place, trading as H & R Tennent in 1740, at Drygate Bridge (also known as The Drygate, Drygate Foot, and Drygate Wellpark), Drygate, Glasgow, Scotland. The Tennent family had been brewing in Glasgow since 1556 as recorded in the "Chronicles of the Maltmen Craft in Glasgow, 1605-1879". Hugh Tennent 's sons, John Tennent and Robert Tennent, continued the family business, trading as the partners of J & R Tennent from at least 1769. The business expanded in the 1790s, absorbing the adjacent brewhouse of William McLehose, until the Drygate Brewery, renamed Wellpark Brewery, covered 5 acres. Wellpark was named after the "Ladywell" well found in the area, and is commemorated today by a monument outside the brewery.

On the deaths of Robert Tennent in 1826 and John Tennent in 1827, Hugh Tennent, the eldest son of Robert, assumed control of the business. Hugh Tennent acquired a reputation as a philanthropist, holding titles such as Town Councillor, Justice of Peace and Poor Law Commissioner. He retired in 1855 and his fifth son, Charles Stewart Parker Tennent, took control. Under his leadership the company became the biggest beer exporters in the world, selling to markets as far apart as Melbourne, San Francisco, Mauritius and Calcutta. Charles died in 1864, some months before his father, and the business was operated by trustees on behalf of his sons, Archibald Tennent and Hugh Tennent.

In 1884 Hugh Tennent acquired his brother's share in the business and assumed sole control. He started brewing Tennent's lager for export in 1885 after a tour of Bavaria in 1881/2, commencing a new purpose-built German Lager Brewery at Wellpark between 1889 and 1891. On Hugh Tennent 's death in 1890, the capital was left in shares to his five half brothers and sisters, the Campbells of Craigie in Ayr, to his sister Annie, to his uncle James Archibald Hay and to his physician Dr Wyllie Clark. Dr Clark was one of two trustees who were in control of the company until, in 1901, J & R Tennent Ltd was registered as a limited liability company to acquire the business. The company was one of the first businesses in the United Kingdom to can beer. It became a public company in 1953 and formed a subsidiary company, West of Scotland Taverns Ltd, to acquire and operate its licensed premises. In 1960 it acquired Maclachlans Ltd, Castle Brewery, Craigmillar, Edinburgh, Scotland, and over 100 tied houses; Turner's (Ayr) Ltd, bottlers and distributors; and Westcon Ltd, caterers of Ayr, Scotland. J & R Tennent, along with 240 licensed houses, was taken over by Charrington United Breweries Ltd, London, England, in 1963. In 1966, it formally merged with United Caledonian Breweries Ltd, Charrington United Breweries Ltd's other Scottish holding, to form Tennent Caledonian Breweries Ltd. The new company's brewing was concentrated at Wellpark Brewery, Glasgow, and Heriot Brewery, Edinburgh.

Wellpark Brewery was redeveloped between 1965 and 1968 while Heriot Brewery was demolished in the 1990s. In 1967, Charringtons merged with Bass to form the Bass Charrington Group, which continued ownership of Tennent Caledonian Breweries Ltd. Bass Charrington was acquired by the Belgian brewer Interbrew in June 2000. In 2004, Interbrew and AmBev merged to create the company InBev. InBev acquired Anheuser-Bush in 2009, becoming known as AB InBev. In the same year, Tennent's was acquired by C&C Plc of Ireland. Tennent's continues to brew at Wellpark Brewery, and still claims to have the largest sales of all beers sold in Scotland. In 2010, the company celebrated the 125th anniversary of Tennent's Lager.

McMaster, Charles and Rutherford, Tom "The Tennent Caledonian Breweries, official history" (Scottish Brewing Archive, 1985) T12/5/4 Douie, Robert "Chronicles of the Maltmen Craft in Glasgow, 1605-1879" (The Incorporation of Maltmen, 1879) Richmond, Lesley and Turton, Alison (eds). "The Brewing Industry. A Guide to Historical Records" (Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press, 1990); "The Brewer", Vol.71, September 1985, No.851; and information from the Family Open Day at Wellpark Brewery To Celebrate 100 years of Tennent's Lager Sunday, 12th May 1985, Souvenir Programme T12/10/14.

A number of senior staff at Tennent's were responsible for collecting and depositing all the Tennent's archives. Also, Angus Meldrum and the late David Johnstone compiled and commissiong extensive research about Tennent's history:

Angus Meldrum, ex Managing Director
Douglas MacLeod, ex Finance Director
Donald Smith, ex Distribution Director
David Johnstone, ex Head Brewer
Jimmy Simpson, ex Brewery Director
Bill Nolan, ex Head of Public Relations and Sponsorship
Simon MacQuarrie, ex Senior Brand Manager

N.B. Contact Tennent's Wellpark Brewery or Angus Meldrum to interview some of the above if required.

Arrangement

The material is arranged according to the Scottish Brewing Archive classification scheme.

Access Information

Access to certain records within this collection is restricted in accordance with data protection legislation as they contain information about potentially living individuals. Please email Archives and Special Collections for advice: library-asc@glasgow.ac.uk

Acquisition Information

Tennent Caledonian Breweries

Other Finding Aids

Alternative Form Available

No known copies of this material

Conditions Governing Use

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

Appraisal Information

This material has been appraised in line with standard Scottish Brewing Archive and GB 248 procedures

Custodial History

The collection was previously stored at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh. It moved to the University of Glasgow in 1991. Further deposits have been received since 1991.