Walkerville Brewery

Walkerville Brewery was a brewer of beer in Adelaide, South Australia. The company became a Co-operative, and grew by admitting hotel owners as shareholders, and absorbed smaller breweries. After several amalgamations it moved its operations to Southwark (now part of Thebarton) and by 1920 it was South Australia's largest brewing company. It was bought out by the South Australian Brewing Company in 1939[1] and its facilities became the company's Southwark brewery, which still operates.

History
Walkerville Tce is highlighted yellow. The section beyond Fuller Street is not seen on early maps.
1
Walkerville Brewery Lots 66, 67
2
Lot 41 Walkerville

The first brewery in Walkerville was founded by William Colyer and William Williams, South Australia's first licensed publican.[2] The partnership was dissolved late the same year, Colyer returned to England.,[3] Williams embarked on a program of expansion. He commissioned architect Thomas Price[4] to erect new buildings on Fuller Street in 1846,[5] identified as Lots 66 and 67,[6] although Lots 64 and 65 on the other side of Walkerville Terrace (also known as Richmond Road) closer to the Torrens would seem more likely. A series of tunnels running down to the Torrens from Fuller Street and Warwick Street served as cellars (filled in c. 1970 preparatory to erecting the Highways Department building).[7] The "tunnel" story has elsewhere been debunked, and identified as nothing but drains.[6] Williams was found insolvent 1851, but had his certificate annulled in 1853. At some stage there was another brewery on Lot 41, Walkerville, on land purchased by N. P. Levi in October 1842,[6] but whether part of this history is as yet not determined.

  • William Williams (c. 1803 – 26 April 1858),[8] arrived 1836 aboard Africaine[9] and was "the first (colonist) to drink Torrens water".[10] He married Jane Catchlove (c. 1811 – 20 April 1885) on 2 July 1837. Jane arrived in South Australia in November 1836 aboard Tam O'Shanter with her father Edward William Catchlove and three brothers and sisters. Henry Catchlove of Hindmarsh Brewery was an uncle. William and Jane had seven children, among them William Huey Williams MD was educated at AEI and SPC, appointed Resident House Physician, Royal infirmary Liverpool; and Mary Laura Williams (1845 – 13 November 1880) married Thomas Moseley, son of Henry Moseley of Glenelg, on 25 October 1877.
Williams gained notoriety in 1851 for his obstruction to the formation of the Walkerville Anglican Church committee.[11]
He died destitute and a subscription organised to benefit his widow and seven children[12] was well patronised.[13]

Edmund Levi, brother of Philip, the property's owner, took over management of Walkerville Brewery in 1853,[14] leasing it to one James Thomson. In January 1860 fire destroyed the malthouse, which had been leased to Richard Goss (died 1869), who sold malt to Simms as well as to Thomson. In 1854 Thomson relinquished his share of the business[15] and in October left the partnership to White & Phillips[16] who shortly went bankrupt.[17] Thomson was found insolvent in 1864 and jailed for two months.[18] He was not clearly related to James Turnbull Thomson, brewer and founder of Balhannnah, who had more than his share of financial failures.

  • William Hardyman Colyer (17 January 1816 – 15 August 1891 in Rondebosch) arrived in South Australia aboard Winchester September 1838, and acted as brewer for a company in Launceston[19] before in 1844 founding a brewery in Walkerville, South Australia[20] He later settled in South Africa.[21]
  • Edmund Levi (1827 – 30 July 1895) arrived in Adelaide in 1842, joined brother Philip's P. Levi & Co. in 1854. He married Gertrude Goldsmid in 1862.[22]
  • Charles White (–) was chairman of the first Council of the District of Walkerville, with councillors J. H. Swann, John Campbell, J. D. Woods, and Thomas Beadle.[23]
  • Samuel Vincent Price Phillips (– c. 1896) left for the goldfields c. 1858, died in England.[24]
  • James Thomson was perhaps James Thomson "the elder" who arrived aboard Moffat December 1839 with wife Mary (c. 1791 – 5 April 1875), with children Emma and Thomas, founded Sussex Arms Hotel 1843, died before 1875. In 1847 his daughter Betsy Thomson (c. 1816 – 12 February 1893) married James Maskall Nottage (1821 – 17 December 1879),[25] to whom Thomson transferred the "Sussex Arms"' licence in 1853, and for whom Nottage Terrace was named.[26]

Around 1862 Ball & Huntley took over Thomson's defunct brewery, named it the "Black Horse Brewery".[27][28] and began brewing there again, purchasing the property in 1870.[29] Their malthouse was destroyed by fire on 5 June 1871. Ball died in 1882 and Huntley continued operating the brewery until 1890[30] when he retired.

  • George Ball (c. 1831 – 1 November 1882) and his wife Anna Jane Ball (c. 1834 – 4 June 1924) arrived in Adelaide aboard emigrant ship China in November 1852.[31]
  • George Huntley (5 February 1832 – 9 August 1917) arrived in Adelaide around 1851,[32] worked as a builder, then for White & Phillips, brewers. In September 1855 he married Mary Ann Clarke, widow of Joseph Clarke of Walkerville.[33]

In 1889 the brewery was taken over and run as a co-operative by a consortium of four "free" hotel owners: Robert Hyman, John Selby Cocker, Samuel Harris, and Vincent Henry Simpson.[28]

  • Robert Hyman (1851 – December 1903), a Finnish-born hotelkeeper, was a founder of Walkerville Brewery Co-operative in 1889 and remained one of the largest shareholders m that business and on board of directors from 1886 to 1903.[34] He married Sarah North in 1876; a granddaughter Gwendoline Kathleen Hyman (1903–1992) on 16 February 1926) married Louis Alfred von Doussa in 1926
  • John Selby Cocker (c. 1844 – 14 April 1901) arrived with his father aboard Hooghly in October 1846, worked on the Overland Telegraph Line, then as a baker before taking over his father's Kentish Arms Hotel on Stanley Street, North Adelaide. He was one of the four original members of the Co-operative. He married Joan Agnes Dineen in 1878.[35]
  • Samuel Harris (c. 1844 – 23 February 1904) arrived in South Australia with his parents aboard John Bunyan in 1854. After many years with the coachmaking firm of Barlow & Sons he became landlord, then publican of the Gasworks Hotel in Brompton. He was chairman of directors of the Walkerville Co-operative for ten years.[36]
  • Vincent Henry Simpson (1860 – 12 July 1926) was born in Norwood a son of Frederick John Simpson (died 1883), and educated at Unwin's school in North Adelaide. He was publican of the Buckingham Arms, Gilberton at an early age, and married Emily Chittleborough ( –1952) in 1885. He was chairman of directors of the Co-operative.[37]

The Walkerville Brewing Company was founded with 19 other shareholders, all publicans or hotel owners, whose share of the profits depended on the amount of trade they did with the company.

The company merged with Clark and Ware's company and its operations moved to Southwark, but the Walkerville Brewery had one last spasm when it was resurrected by Charles Williams in 1901 and operated for five more years before closing for the last time; see below for more information.

Amalgamations
Torrenside Brewery

Frequently spelled "Torrensside", the brewery was founded by the Port Road Southwark, now Thebarton, on the banks of the Torrens in 1886 by A. W. & T. L. Ware. Their first customer was the Exchange Hotel, operated by their brothers George and Boxer.[38]

The Ware brothers were sons of Charles James Ware (c. 1824 – 19 December 1891) who arrived in SA aboard Augustus in November 1846 and married Fanny Crawford (1829 – 7 April 1898) on 22 August 1859. Fanny arrived with her parents aboard D'Auvergne in March 1839. Fanny was the daughter of William Crawford, Builder. Charles ran the Burra Hotel, then in 1868 took over the Exchange Hotel, owned by Sir Henry Ayers.

  • Arthur Wellington Ware CMG (1861 – 29 January 1927) Mayor of Adelaide 1898–1901. He married Rosa Henrietta Haussen (2 November 1860 – 29 November 1915) of the Hindmarsh Brewery Haussen family, on 11 March 1884.
  • Thomas Lincoln "Tom" Ware (1864 – 22 December 1896) died while swimming near the Grange jetty.
  • George James Ware (15 February 1867 – 17 June 1948)
  • (Charles) Boxer Ware (26 December 1870 – 23 July 1932) was educated at Stanley Grammar School, Watervale, served as mayor of Thebarton for four years and for some time chairman of directors, Walkerville Co-operative Brewing.
East Adelaide Brewery

Edward Clark, son of W. H. Clark, was brewer for the Murray Brewery in Goolwa in the 1880s, formed E. Clark & Co. in Adelaide with one A. Wheelwright, was found insolvent in 1889 through lack of capital, then served as brewer for the Walkerville Co-operative Brewing Company. He left the Co-operative in 1895 to manage the East Adelaide Brewery, a two-storey establishment which the newly revived E. Clark & Co. built on the south side of the River Torrens, on Walkerville Road (now Stephen Terrace).[39] The probable location is about 1 km south of the Walkerville Brewery.

E. Clark & Co. was founded with twelve shareholders inc. William Warren, James Wells, and Eliza Dreyer[40] as Clark & Co., became Clark, Ware & Co. before absorbing the old Walkerville Brewing Company.

  • William Walter Warren (c. 1860 – 24 February 1938) may have had a hotel, but was better known as a racehorse breeder.[41]
  • James Samuel Wells (1872–1959), son of Michael Wells (– 14 August 1887) and Elizabeth Wells nΓ©e Davis (–), owners of Parkside Hotel.
  • Eliza Jane Dreyer (c. 1861 – 25 September 1926) had Prince Albert Hotel in Wright street for 30 years.[42]

The product proved so popular the factory's capacity had to be doubled a year later. In 1897 a bottling plant was installed and production capacity doubled again. By 1898 the East Adelaide Brewery was contracted to supply fifty "free houses", and once again a doubling of capacity was deemed necessary to keep up with demand.[43] It was decided instead to amalgamate with the Wares' Torrenside Brewery, which took place in April 1898, their owners combining as Clark, Ware & Co.[44] The East Adelaide premises were closed and the Torrenside brewery at Southwark expanded.[45]

Walkerville Co-operative

In 1899 the activities of the Walkerville Brewing Company and Clark, Ware & Co. combined as Walkerville Co-operative Brewing Company at Southwark. Additional buildings were erected at the site.[46] The old Walkerville Brewery was taken over by its erstwhile head brewer Charles Williams in 1901[47] and operated successfully as "Williams' Walkerville Brewery", with outlets at the Tea Tree Gully Hotel[48] and perhaps a few others not tied to either of the two combines, no doubt to the chagrin of the Co-operative, which bought out the company in 1906.[49]

  • Samuel Joshua Jacobs (1853 – 1937) was chairman of directors from the formation of the Company, succeeded by C. Boxer Ware. He was also president of Chamber of Commerce, and of United Chambers of Manufacture, chairman of Tattersalls Racing Club.
  • Charles Williams (c. 1850 – c. 12 April 1936) was born in Adelaide, educated at J. L. Young's Adelaide Educational Institution, worked at the brewery his father John Williams (c. 1806 – 29 June 1876) owned at Angas Park, then in Ballarat. He became head brewer at the Lion Brewing and Malting Company and for the Walkerville Brewing Company. When that company moved to Southwark he reopened the old facility and continued brewing for another five years. After ten years' inactivity he became brewer for the Waverley Brewery, Mitcham and retired at the age of 83.[50] Relationship, if any, to William Williams, Adelaide's first publican and founder of Walkerville Brewery has not been determined.

A popular drink produced by the Walkerville Co-op was KΓΆnig Lager, whose name was changed to Adelaide Lager in 1914 amid the anti-German sentiment that swept Australia and resulted in wholesale changing of German-sounding place names. The Walkerville Co-Operative Brewing Co. continued its growth and by the end of World War I was the largest brewery in South Australia.

In September 1925 Walkerville Co-operative Brewing Company, Limited, was first listed on the Adelaide Stock Exchange. Directors were Charles Boxer Ware, Frederick James Blades, Vincent Henry Simpson, and William Walter Warren.

The company absorbed Haussen's Brewery in 1926; Haussen & Co. retained ownership of its string of hotels.[51]

In November 1925 the Walkerville Co-operative Brewing Company Ltd signed an agreement with the Nathan Institute of ZΗ”rich for the installation of a "Nathan patent" plant at the company's brewery at Southwark, and has been claimed as the first Australian adopter of the system. It was a major project for the brewery, requiring the erection of additional buildings to accommodate the new equipment. Beer production commenced in the Nathan plant late in 1927, and a formal opening ceremony was held in January 1928. However Nathan's process was in operation at Peter Grant Hay's Richmond N.S. Brewery in 1927, so although they signed the contract earlier, Southwark brewery was the second in Australia to implement the system.

  • Leopold Nathan, born 30 July 1864 in WΓΌrttemberg, Germany, invented a closed brewing system in cylindro-conical vessels, which he began marketing in the 1920s. His system removed many of the uncertainties in the brewing process, ensuring a reliable, consistent, high quality product.

The company made substantial losses in the year 1928–29.[52]

South Australian Brewing Company

The Walkerville Co-operative Brewing Company Ltd. was bought out by the South Australian Brewing Company in 1939 and its facilities became the company's main brewery, which still operates at the same location, and in 1949 was renamed from Walkerville brewery to Southwark Brewery.

Walkerville Nathan beer was renamed Southwark beer in November 1951.[53][54]

Further reading

An article on the practicalities of beer brewing in Adelaide (West End, Kent Town, Union, Pirie Street, Hindmarsh, Morphett Street, and Walkerville breweries) in the late 1860s may be read here.

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References
  1. "Big Brewery Deal". The Advertiser (Adelaide). South Australia. 25 June 1938. p. 26. Retrieved 9 February 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. "Licensed Victuallers' Society". Adelaide Observer. VIII (351). South Australia. 16 March 1850. p. 2 (Supplement to the "Adelaide Observer"). Retrieved 25 February 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. "Advertising". Adelaide Observer (74). South Australia. 23 November 1844. p. 2. Retrieved 24 February 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. Price was active in Adelaide 1845–50; laid out the suburb Knightsbridge (became part of Leabrook), designed New Queen's Theatre for George Coppin, a housing estate for George Bean, grandstand at the Old Adelaide Racecourse and did much dealing in real estate.
  5. "Advertising". The South Australian. IX (792). South Australia. 11 December 1846. p. 3. Retrieved 11 February 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. John Lewis (1988). The Walkerville Story: 140 years. The Corporation of the Town of Walkerville. ISBN 073163067X.
  7. Marjorie Scales (1974). John Walker's Village. Rigby Ltd, Adelaide. ISBN 0851798292.
  8. "Family Notices". Adelaide Times. XII (2297). South Australia. 28 April 1858. p. 2. Retrieved 25 February 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. Not to be confused with William Williams (c. 1817 – 17 August 1859), also on the "First Fleet of South Australia" aboard Cygnet, married Maria Wickham (1820 – 17 February 1872), https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/92270959 with parents aboard Africaine, on 12 August 1839
  10. "The Old Colonists' Festival". South Australian Register. XV (1360). South Australia. 22 February 1851. p. 3. Retrieved 1 March 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. "Walkerville Church Case". Adelaide Times. II (360). South Australia. 20 January 1851. p. 3. Retrieved 10 February 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
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  14. "Insolvency Court". South Australian Register. XXXIX (8607). South Australia. 17 June 1874. p. 3. Retrieved 10 February 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
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  17. "Advertising". South Australian Register. XXI (3289). South Australia. 21 April 1857. p. 1. Retrieved 10 February 2018 – via National Library of Australia. Samuel Vincent Price Phillips,
  18. "Law and Criminal Courts - Insolvency Court". Adelaide Observer. XXII (1209). South Australia. 3 December 1864. p. 3. Retrieved 10 February 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
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  20. "Advertising". South Australian Register. South Australia. 28 February 1844. p. 2. Retrieved 25 February 2018 – via National Library of Australia.It is likely he acted as consultant, setting up a brewery, training a successor and moving on.
  21. "South African Settlers: William Hardyman Colyer". Retrieved 25 February 2018.
  22. "Death of Mr. Edmund Levi". The Advertiser (Adelaide). XXXVIII (11478). South Australia. 1 August 1895. p. 6. Retrieved 12 February 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  23. "Municipal Fathers". The News (Adelaide). VII (958). South Australia. 9 August 1926. p. 6. Retrieved 24 February 2018 – via National Library of Australia.List of Walkerville Council chairmen
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  26. "Walkerville, Medindie and District". The Register (Adelaide). LXXXVIII (25, 774). South Australia. 6 August 1923. p. 12. Retrieved 14 February 2018 – via National Library of Australia. Daughter Louisa Thomson married Benjamin Boyce (– 1 December 1847), subject of ADB article, on 26 September 1843
  27. Hallett Shuehard and David Tuckwell (1992). Brewers and aerated Water Manufacturers in South Australia 1836–1936. ISBN 0-646-14678-5.
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  33. "Mr. George Huntley". The Observer (Adelaide). LXXIV (5, 661). South Australia. 1 September 1917. p. 14. Retrieved 14 February 2018 – via National Library of Australia. Joseph and Mary Ann Clarke arrived aboard Harpley, perhaps refugees from France, in September 1848. Joseph's death was not reported in newspapers or in BMD lists, perhaps interstate.
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  41. "Mr. W. Warren Dead: Saw 54 Melbourne Cups". The News (Adelaide). XXX (4, 553). South Australia. 25 February 1938. p. 5. Retrieved 28 February 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  42. "Obituary". The Register (Adelaide). XCI (26, 555). South Australia. 27 September 1926. p. 11. Retrieved 28 February 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  43. "Amalgamation of Two Breweries". South Australian Register. LXIII (16, 039). South Australia. 9 April 1898. p. 7. Retrieved 12 February 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  44. "Advertising". The Express and Telegraph. XXXV (10, 336). South Australia. 9 April 1898. p. 4. Retrieved 28 February 2018 – via National Library of Australia..
  45. "Enterprising Brewers". The Advertiser (Adelaide). South Australia. 9 April 1898. p. 6. Retrieved 10 February 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
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  47. "Advertising". The Advertiser (Adelaide). XLIV (13, 340). South Australia. 20 July 1901. p. 2. Retrieved 28 February 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  48. "Advertising". Quiz (Adelaide newspaper). XVII (870). South Australia. 1 June 1906. p. 9. Retrieved 28 February 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  49. "A Brewery Combine". The Advertiser. XLVIII (14, 881). South Australia. 28 June 1906. p. 8. Retrieved 28 February 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  50. "Obituary". The Advertiser (Adelaide). South Australia. 18 April 1936. p. 21. Retrieved 28 February 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  51. "Walkerville Brewery Development". The Register (Adelaide). XCI (26, 598). South Australia. 16 November 1926. p. 6. Retrieved 9 February 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  52. "The Liquor Trades and Licensed Victuallers' World". The Sport (Adelaide newspaper). XIX (998). South Australia. 7 November 1929. p. 4. Retrieved 9 February 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  53. "Nathan Beer Renamed: "Same Brew"". The News (Adelaide). 57 (8, 818). South Australia. 12 November 1951. p. 2. Retrieved 28 February 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  54. "Beer Adelaide: Southwark Bitter". Retrieved 9 February 2018.
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