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 INDUSTRIES Malt. Per Quarter. Per Bushel. >. d. .. a. And for 10 years since from 1746 to 1756 .... i 5 4 32 Malt at the highest price A.D. 1659 288 62 Malt at the lowest price A.D. 1691 o 17 4 22 The difference between the two extremes. I II 4 4 o If the century be divided into 2 halves of 50 years each, then the common price or mean rate of the first 50 years is ... I 8 4^ 3 6J And the common or mean rate of the last 50 years is 1 7 lot 3 51 And the common or mean rate of the whole cen- tury I 8 36 N.B. A.D. 1756 the com- mon or mean rate was .160 33 A.D. 1757 The common or mean rate was I 16 o 4 6 The fame of Windsor ales was preserved during the early part of the nineteenth century by John Jennings & Co., whose liquor was dignified with the title of King's Ale, and Messrs. Ramsbottom & Legh, who held the breweries in Thames Street, and brewed the Queen's Ale, and the Twinch family had the brewery in Peascod Street. The Jennings also carried on the business of maltsters, and the Coopers and Mr. John Voules were engaged in the same trade. Since that period the trade has developed enormously, and four large breweries supply the wants of the neighbourhood and send their casks to London and elsewhere : the Royal Brewery in Peascod Street, owned by Mr. John Canning ; Messrs. John Lovibond & Sons ; Messrs. Burge & Co ; and Messrs. Nevill Reid & Co., who own the Windsor Brewery in Thames Street, having acquired the business of Messrs. Ramsbottom & Legh about the year 1835. * n ^37 they bought the old brewery at Cookham, a town famous for its brewing and malting, which trade was carried on there in the middle of the seven- teenth century. The Cookham brewery was acquired by the Ray family in the early part of the eighteenth century, and carried on by them until 1785, when the property was disposed of to Abraham Darby and the business conducted by him and afterwards by two of his sons. When Messrs. Neville Reid & Co. acquired the business they transferred the brewing to Windsor, and as they have recently erected malthouses near Windsor, the trade will soon disappear from Cookham. Hop cultivation at Cookham was introduced by the Rays, but was not con- tinued by their successors. Wallingford, being the centre of a rich barley-growing country, had always an abun- dant supply of grain suitable for malting at the numerous malthouses that formerly were at work, while the trade was greatly encouraged by the ready means of river traffic. During the eighteenth century the trade considerably declined, though there were still some considerable establishments, the leading malting houses being situated in High Street and Fish Street. The owners of these were in 1830 Edward Wells, Peter Spokes, James Bennett, Charles Morrell, Job Lovelock and William Hilliard in Wood Street. As late as 1835 the demand for malt annually from the town was 150,000 bushels. 1 Of late years the trade has much declined, and barley grown in the neighbourhood, which is of superior quality, is sent away in large quan- tities to undergo the steeping and drying process at distant kilns. The Wallingford Brewery Company, Limited, was founded in 1720 by Mr. Edward Wells. Dr. Mavor states that in 1809 the brewery was reckoned the largest in the county, about 130 quarters of malt being converted into beer and porter at the proper seasons. In 1896 it was formed into a company. The site of the brewery lies between Goldsmith Lane and the Kine Croft, and a mineral water manufactory is connected with and adjoining the brewery. In Wokingham at the beginning of the last century the brewery of Mr. James Webb was extensive, and Dr. Mavor states that it produced a ' wholesome and pleasant beverage, not inferior to any in the county.' Messrs. Headington & Son, and Messrs. F. J. Baker & Co. are now the chief brewers in the town. The process of the amalgamation of several breweries into one business has during recent years been evident in all parts of the country. At Abingdon Messrs. Morland & Co., Limited, in 1887 took over the business of John Thornhill Morland and Edward Morland of the Abbey and Eagle Breweries at Abingdon, and the business of Edward Henry Morland of the West Ilsley Brewery. They also acquired the breweries of Saxby & Co. of Abingdon and of Field & Sons of Shelling- ford. The Ilsley Brewery has been in the possession of the Morland family for many generations, John Morland having purchased the property from Benjamin Smith in 1711, and it is described as ' including the Malt 409 1 Doran, Hist, of Reading, p. 283. 52