Catalogue description FLOWER AND SONS LTD, BREWERS, OF STRATFORD-UPON-AVON

This record is held by Shakespeare Birthplace Trust

Details of DR 227
Reference: DR 227
Title: FLOWER AND SONS LTD, BREWERS, OF STRATFORD-UPON-AVON
Date: 1616-1966
Arrangement:

The main divisions of the collections are:

 

DR 227/1-43: Ledgers, 1831-1965 DR 227/44-55: Export and purchasing records, 1843-1951

 

DR 227/56-81: Cash books, 1864-1959

 

DR 227/82-102: Salaries and wages, 1867- 1959 DR 227/103-105: Minute books, 1891-1957

 

DR 227/106-110: Correspondence books, 1867-1927

 

DR 227/111-116: Staff welfare, 1872-1927

 

DR 227/117-168: Company documents, 1832-1966

 

DR 227/169-186: Property documents, 1828-1969

 

DR 227/187/1-120: Deeds, 1616-1958

 

DR 227/187/121-133: Business papers, 1888-1962

 

DR 227/188-197: Stock and Debentures, 1880-1950

 

DR 227/198-200: Brewery stocks, 1869-1955

 

DR 227/201-217: Brewing and bottling, 1836-1963

 

DR 227/218-221: Flower family, 1761-1917

 

DR 227/222-228: Printed material, 1865-1945

 

DR 227/229-231: Miscellanea, 1863-20th century

Related material:

For a detailed study of the firm see Jonathan Reinaez, 'A Social History of a Midland Brewery: Flower and Sons Brewery, 1870-1914' (Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Warwick, 1998)

 

DR 325/900-1177: Business and personal papers of the firm and family, as clients of Slatter Son and More, solicitors of Stratford-upon-Avon, 19th and 20th centuries

 

DR 608: Papers from the effects of Albert F. Cobbold, cooper at Flowers' Brewery, Stratford-upon-Avon, 1901-1959

 

DR 935: Photographs and miscellaneous printed ephemera relating to Flowers Brewery and the Flower family, 1948-c1970

Held by: Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, not available at The National Archives
Language: English
Creator:

Flower and Sons Ltd of Stratford-Upon-Avon, brewers

Physical description: 116 volumes & 455 items
Subjects:
  • Alcoholic beverages
Administrative / biographical background:

Records of the firm of Flower and Sons Ltd., brewers of Stratford-upon-Avon, 1828-1966, with related deeds and papers, 1616-1958 The business was founded in Stratford in 1831 by Edward Flower (1805-1883), who had family connections with the Fordham brewing family in Hertfordshire. A brewery was built on land between Birmingham and Clopton roads, with a canal frontage for delivery and distribution. The business flourished, his sons Charles and Edgar were taken into partnership and in 1870 larger premises were opened on the Birmingham Road, the original brewery maintaining an administrative function with reduced production. The first 'tied' public house was linked to the firm in 1836 and their inn holdings increased gradually, expanding rapidly after incorporation as a Limited Liability Co. in 1888, with the taking over of smaller breweries to acquire their property stock. The export trade always formed a large sector of the business, the 'India Pale Ale' being of especial note. Members of the Flower family continued to control the brewery until its takeover and subsequent closure by Whitbreads in the 1970s Allied to their business interests, the Flowers, particularly Charles Edward (d. 1892) and his successors, played a prominent role in the development of the Shakespeare Memorial (later Royal Shakespeare) Theatre in Stratford.

Link to NRA Record:

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