Springfield Brewery, Wolverhampton, September 2012

TranKmasT · Sep 14, 2012

It's been a couple months since I've been out and about galivanting due to a house move, still loads to do but I thought I'd take a break from it. So what if I haven't got hot running water yet and just 2 electric socket outlets to my name. At least I can 'borrow' my new neighbours broadband connection to be able to write this.

During the 1830s, William Butler worked as a shingler in the Thorneycroft Ironworks while running his own grocery business in John Street, Priestfield. In 1840 he started supplying his workmates with home-made brew which proved so popular that within two years he was able to quit the Ironworks and concentrate full-time on his shop and the small brewery he had built behind it. Within eight years he had built the first village brewery at Priestfield using local wells. He employed a manager to run the shop and took on the first drayman to deliver the larger casks of ale that customers were demanding. The Priestfield Brewery continued to expand and take on more staff until 1872 when the wells began to run dry. A new site was found at Springfield which benefitted from a plentiful water supply and the adjacent railway. The new brewery was in full operation by 1874. During the 1880s, two of William's sons, William junior and Edwin, joined him in the business. The young William died in 1886 causing his father to reject the idea of retirement who thereafter worked in the business until he died in 1893. William's second son, Edwin, took over the family business but only survived his father by five months. This only left William's youngest son, Samuel, in the business. He remained on the Board of Directors until 1950. During his lifetime the brewery continued to expand. In 1960 the company was taken over by Mitchells & Butlers of Cape Hill. A year later Mitchells & Butlers merged with Bass, Ratcliff & Gretton to from Bass, Mitchells & Butlers Ltd.

http://blackcountryhistory.org/collections/getrecord/GB149_P_2928/