John Primrose (brewer)

John Primrose (c. 1803 – 28 November 1876) was a Scottish distiller and brewer who had a substantial career in South Australia. He was the founder of the Union Brewery in Rundle Street, the colony's first successful brewery.

History

Primrose was the son of a distiller in Carsebridge, near Alloa, Scotland. He was educated at the High School in Edinburgh, and on leaving school he joined his father's establishment, where he remained for some time, gaining sound practical and scientific knowledge of the arts of brewing and distilling. He gained further experience managing a distillery for the Messrs. Shea, of Belfast, then that of Beamish, in Cork. He remained with them for several years, only leaving them to establish a brewery on his own account on the Isle of Man. He was then attracted to Australia, with the prospect of managing a large established distillery in Sydney.

Primrose arrived in Adelaide aboard Ariadne in August 1839 and decided to travel no further. Shortly after his arrival he set up a distillery[1] in partnership with John Richmond. After carrying it on for about two years he ceased operation because the Government demanded payment of duty upon all spirit manufactured in the colony at the same rate as if it had been imported.

Workers at Union Brewery, James Place c. 1890

Primrose then turned his attention to brewing, and in 1841 took over the Union Brewery in Rundle Street, which had been founded on Robert Cock's Town Acre 80, east corner Rundle Street and James Place, by Daniel Cudmore in 1838[2] and put up for sale in 1839.[3] He ran the business until November 1875, when he transferred the management to his nephew William Ross Sawers (c. 1839–1911) and his son-in-law Arthur Rait Malcom.[4] They were able to use the basement of the Academy of Music, Rundle Street, (opened 1879) for cellaring.[5] The brewery ceased operations around 1900.

Primrose's remains were interred in the West Terrace Cemetery.

Family

John Primrose married Elizabeth Paton Reid (c. 1822 – 30 August 1867) on 10 April 1845. A daughter, Elizabeth Margaret Adelaide Primrose (1849–1874) married Arthur Rait Malcom (c. 1847–1890) in 1872. Malcom married again on 29 June 1882, to Joanna Barry of South Melbourne. He was a prominent member of the Adelaide Hunt Club.

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References
  1. Keith M. Deutsher (2012). The Breweries of Australia: A History. Glebe, New South Wales: Beer & Brewer Media. p. 223. ISBN 9780987395214. John Primrose arrived in Adelaide in 1839, and started a distillery in Rundle Street. This was at the Union Brewery site
  2. "Advertising". Southern Australian. I (24). South Australia. 10 November 1838. p. 3. Retrieved 7 February 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. "Desirable Investment". South Australian Gazette And Colonial Register. South Australia. 6 April 1839. p. 5. Retrieved 7 February 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. "General News". The Express and Telegraph. XIV (3, 876). South Australia. 1 December 1876. p. 2. Retrieved 30 December 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. "New Academy of Music". The Adelaide Observer. XXXVI (1957). South Australia. 5 April 1879. p. 11. Retrieved 31 October 2018 – via National Library of Australia.

Further reading

A useful article depicting practical details of brewing in Adelaide (West End, Kent Town, Union, Pirie Street/Adelaide, Hindmarsh, Morphett Street, and Walkerville breweries) in the late 1860s may be read here.

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