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 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE Abbey Mill. At the beginning of the last century Mr. Child had a large brewery for beer and porter, and there were several smaller establishments for beer only. Some of the names of the great Newbury brewers have been preserved. In the seven- teenth century John Edmands, gent., Thomas Martyn, gent., and Thomas Manning, are styled ' beere brewers ' in the presentments at the Court List of 1643, on which occasion they were amerced for taking excessive gains. The number of licensed houses in the town was considerable, and must have taxed the resources of the brewers in order to obtain supplies. In 1761 there were no less than forty-one within the borough. On account of the position of the town on the great western roads, and the good inland navigation system of which it was the centre, the large number of passengers travelling through the town entailed the increase of inns and the plentiful supply of liquors. At the beginning of the nineteenth century there were thirteen maltsters carrying on their trade in the town, and six brewers, of whom Samuel Slocock & Son, Satchell & Rowell, in Northbrook Street, and Mr. Gale of Speenhamland were the chief. Malting was carried on in Hungerford, where there were three establishments in 1830, also in Kintbury, where a malthouse was owned by Edward Giles. The Homers and Morlands were maltsters and brewers at West and East Ilsley. Five maltsters flourished at Faringdon. The Stephens family were brewers at Aldermaston, and John Kingston carried on malting both there and at Wool- hampton. Lamboum had two malt makers and a brewery. Nor was the eastern division of the county less amply provided. Cook- ham had a famous firm of brewers, Messrs. James and Stephen Darby, to which we shall refer later, besides the breweries of James Mickley and R. Partlo ; two of the old brew- houses in the town have recently been pulled down. Wokingham had a brewer and malt- ster, James Hayward, and a brewery in Broad Street owned by Thomas Lock. Bray had a malting house owned by John Barton, and there were small breweries at Twyford and at Hurst, both of which are now extinct. The most flourishing trade in Wantage a century ago was malting, the malt being chiefly used locally as most of the private householders brewed their own beer. The Days and Willoughbys were the chief malt- sters, and there was a brewery in Tanner Street owned by Robert Palmer. One of the old public-houses called ' Thatchells,' in Back Street, was the origin of the present Want- age Brewery Company. 1 Lewis' Rockwell Brewery also flourishes in the same town. Brewing and malting were amongst the chief industries of Windsor in former days. The muniments of the town record the names of many of the brewers who supplied ale and sack to the members of the corporation when they were assembled at their meetings. Nor- den's map of the castle and town shows that the brewing of beer was one of the chief indus- tries of the town. He depicts several casks lying on the ground near the present stables of the dean and canons. In a survey of the manor of Windsor Underoure in the reign of Edward VI., ' John Aldham beare brewer ' is described as the tenant of these premises, 2 when there were twenty-one inns in the town. The brewery shown by Norden still exists a few yards to the north of the site indicated by him, and is a striking example of the perman- ence and stability of trade in the borough. Windsor ale frequently was sent as a present by the Corporation to some noble lord as a reminder of favours required, or as a mark of gratitude for favours received. Hence under 1640 there are entries of payments to William Mills for ale sent to the Earl of Holland, and to Thomas Chapman for ale sent to Sir Thomas Roe. William Mills and Thomas Chapman were the chief brewers of the town. Other gifts of hogsheads of ale are recorded, and need not be mentioned here. Mr. Galland and Mr. Sweetzer were also purveyors of ale in 1645, and the names of George Pennington and Mr. Quartermaine appear in the records of 1666 as providers of beer and sack for Mr. Mayor and his guests when they met for the transaction of the business of the town. The following curious table shows the price of malt sold in Windsor market from 1646 to 1746 since continued twelve years further to I758. 3 N.B. The bushel contains 9 gallons and the duty on malt is not included. Malt. Per Quarter. Per Bushel ,. d. ,. d. For the 1st 20 years from 1646 to 1666. . . For the 2nd 20 years from 1666 to 1686. For the 3rd 20 years from 1686 to 1706. . . For the 4th 20 years from 1706 to 1726. . . For the 5th 20 years from , 1726 to 1746. . . i 12 oj 40 167 3 3j i 6 8 3 4 2* 3 408 1 Wantage, Past and Present, p. 93. 1 Annals of Windsor, ii., 25. o Add. MSS. No. 4391.