Benjamin Greene

Benjamin Greene (5 April 1780 – 26 November 1860) was the founder of Greene King, one of the United Kingdom's largest brewing businesses.

For other people named Benjamin Greene, see Benjamin Greene (disambiguation).

Career

Born in Oundle and apprenticed at Whitbread, Benjamin Greene initially founded a brewing business in 1801 with John Clark in Bury St Edmunds.[1] Then in 1806 he dissolved that partnership and established a new venture with William Buck at the Westgate Brewery.[1] It was this venture that became Greene King.[1]

On the death of Sir Patrick Blake, 2nd Baronet he became the executor and, on the subsequent death of Sir Patrick's widow, the owner of some estates in the West Indies.[1]

He was a supporter of the arts and in 1819 lent £5,000 to William Wilkins to build the Theatre Royal in Bury St Edmunds.[2]

He acquired the Bury and Suffolk Herald in 1828 and as proprietor took an ultra-conservative position opposing both the Reform Bill and the Slavery Abolition Bill.[1] This position attracted much criticism and three libel actions.[1] He left Bury St Edmunds in 1836 and established with his son, Benjamin Greene & Son, West India merchants and shipowners, at 11 Mincing Lane, London.[1]

He made three claims under the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 and was awarded a total of £4,033 15s 7d compensation for the 231 slaves he had owned on his estates in Montserrat and St Kitts.[3][4][5] The Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slave-ownership at UCL describes him as an enthusiastic supporter of slavery, being particularly active between 1828-1833.[6] In June 2020 Greene King announced that it would be paying reparations to BAME charities in recognition that he and by extension the company had benefited from the slave trade.[7]

He died at Russell Square in London in 1860 and is buried at Highgate Cemetery.[1]

Family

He was married twice: first in 1803 to Mary Maling and then in 1805 to Catherine Smith with whom he went on to have seven sons and six daughters[1] including:

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References
  1. Benjamin Greene at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
  2. The Theatre Royal Archived July 15, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  3. "Details of Claim | Legacies of British Slave-ownership". www.ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  4. "Details of Claim | Legacies of British Slave-ownership". www.ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  5. "Details of Claim | Legacies of British Slave-ownership". www.ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  6. "Summary of Individual | Legacies of British Slave-ownership". www.ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  7. "Lloyd's of London and Greene King to make slave trade reparations". the Guardian. 2020-06-17. Retrieved 2020-06-18.


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