Records of the James Calder & Co (Brewers) Ltd, Alloa, Scotland

Scope and Content

  • Certificates of incorporation 1938;
  • Memorandum and articles of association 1947 and 1961;
  • Partnership agreements 1951;
  • Minutes of directors 1959-1970;
  • Records relating to members' meetings 1960-1966;
  • Directors annual report and accounts to shareholders 1947-1968;
  • Investment records 1946-1962;
  • Shareholding records 1948-1969;
  • Financial records 1921-1963;
  • Sales records c1966;
  • Pensions and life assurance 1951-1960;
  • Licensed premises records 1955-1963;
  • Property records 1962-1965;
  • Promotional material c1905-1960.

Administrative / Biographical History

The Shore Brewery , Alloa, Scotland , was built in 1816  by John McNellan . By 1860  , McNellan, Sons & Co had agencies in Glasgow, Scotland , Belfast, Northern Ireland , Liverpool, England and Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England , but during the next year it ran into financial difficulties and was put up for sale in 1862  .

The business was bought by James Calder who acquired , J & A Vannen, Bo'ness Distillery , Bo'ness, Scotland, in 1873  and Glenfoyle Distillery , near Gargunnock, Scotland , in 1880. James Calder's second son, John J Calder , became manager of Calder & Co in 1890  . In 1905  , James Calder & Co (Alloa) Ltd was registered as a limited liability company to acquire the business. In 1913 John J Calder was appointed manager, by the receiver, of Samuel Allsopp & Sons Ltd , Burton-on-Trent, England , which was then in severe difficulties and was appointed chairman of Archibald Arrol & Sons Ltd , Alloa , in 1918  .

The company was re-registered as James Calder & Co (Brewers) Ltd in 1920  and its whisky interests were sold to James Dewar & Sons . Brewing ceased at the Shore Brewery in 1921  , all the company's brewing requirements being contracted out to Archibald Arrol & Sons Ltd . The company acquired a brewery at Ostend, Belgium , for GBP12,718 in 1921  and, with C Vaux & Sons Ltd , Sunderland, England, also took over Robinson Brothers Ltd , Houghton-le-Spring, Sunderland , England, with 63 tied houses in 1925  , dividing the houses between themselves. It also acquired Arrol's Scottish tied houses in the late 1930s  ; breweries in Marsa, Malta , and Nairobi, Kenya ; Robert Henderson & Co Ltd , The Mills Brewery, Alloa, Scotland , in 1944  ; Steel Coulson & Co Ltd 's Greenhead Brewery, Glasgow, in 1946  ; and Geo Thomson & Son Ltd , bottlers of Falkirk ; Blairgowrie, Perthshire and Kinross ; and Dysart, Fife , in 1950  .

From 1951  , Arrol ceased to brew ale, so, although that firm continued to supply the company's lager requirements, all its other beer was supplied by John Jeffrey & Co Ltd , Heriot Brewery, Roseburn, Edinburgh . The company opened a new bottling plant at Bankhead Medway, Sighthill, Edinburgh in 1956  . It was acquired in 1960  by Northern Breweries of Great Britain Ltd , later United Breweries Ltd , and ceased to brew.

Source: Richmond, Lesley and Turton, Alison (eds). The Brewing Industry. A Guide to Historical Records ( Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press, 1990 )

Arrangement

The material is arranged according to the Scottish Brewing Archive classification scheme used within all SBA collections.

Access Information

Open

Acquisition Information

Tennent Caledonian Breweries Ltd

Other Finding Aids

File level list available in searchroom

Alternative Form Available

No known copies

Conditions Governing Use

Applications for permission to quote should be sent to the Scottish Brewing Archivist

Reproduction subject to usual conditions: educational use & condition of documents

Appraisal Information

This material has been appraised in line with standard GB 0248 procedures

Custodial History

The collection was previously housed with the rest of the Scottish Brewing Archive at Heriot-Watt University. It moved to the University of Glasgow in 1991. Custody of the Scottish Brewing Archive was transferred to Glasgow University Archive Services in 2008.

Accruals

None expected

Related Material

GB 0248 AA: Records of Archibald Arrol & Sons Ltd

Bibliography

Richmond, Lesley and Turton, Alison (eds). The Brewing Industry. A Guide to Historical Records (Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press, 1990)

McMaster, Charles . Alloa Ale. A History of the Brewing Industry in Alloa ( Edinburgh: Alloa Brewery Co Ltd, 1984 )

Additional Information

This material is original

Fonds level description compiled by Amanda Jackson, Scottish Brewing Archive Assistant, 3 February 2000. Catalogue converted to Encoded Archival Description, 8 June 2005. Catalogue revised by Wiebke Redlich, Archive Assistant (Hub), 12 February 2002; Emma Yan, Assistant Archivist, 19 December 2008; and Michelle Kaye, Archives Assistant, 09 May 2012.