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Wales (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Glamorganshire Lookup Requests => Glamorganshire => Wales => Glamorganshire Completed Lookups => Topic started by: Chasing-fireflies on Sunday 20 September 09 20:59 BST (UK)
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Hi,
I have not been around for a while but whilst searching through my attic I found an old stone demijohn/jug that has the name of a brewery on in Maesteg. I have googled all evening but found nothing! I wondered if anyone has heard of a brewery circa 1910 that may have closed a long time ago??
The inscription on the jug thingy says:
S. Greenhalgh
Botanical Brewer
Maesteg
1910
Any info would be welcomed as for some reason my family kept this dusty old piece of stoneware.
Thanks.
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Botanical brewers produced mainly non-alcoholic drinks like ginger beer or dandelion & burdock rather than ale/beer, so you will not find them under the conventional brewery lists.
A
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Ah I see! Any idea where I would find them?
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Local directories might help, in trades sections. Kelly's were prolific publishers, but many others produced them locally. Your county record office might be able to advise, if you are in Wales.
If you google "botanical brewers" in double quotes as here you will find people offering or looking for flagons of the sort you describe. I have not read more than the titles of those threads, but you may learn more.
A
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Doesn't appear to be any Greenhalgh's left in Maesteg - nearest I can find is Porthcawl, but a reasonable amount in Cardiff.
I don't recall seeing any of the old signs on the buildings with that name - there are still some buildings in Maesteg with the old signs painted onto the exterior (very faded) above the new plastic signage
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Other headings you might try in directories etc are: Aerated Water manufacturers, or Temperance drinks...
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hello just abit abt greenhalgh i live maesteg the factory was in church st maesteg i even tryd to get info on this but failed. it was bought by ridgeways brewers who came from cardiff this was 1921,but it was1926 b4 they began manufacturing mineral there is a web site of the factory in photo.itswww.bridgend.gov.uk then go to photographs tape in maesteg you will have to look 4 it sorry if i do come up with any think let you no?
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Hello :)
Bridgend Library and Information Service have an online catalogue of photos which can be viewed electronically:
http://www.rootschat.com/links/0ecw/
Kind Regards
Morgan
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Checked Kelly's Directories S Wales and Monmouthshire 1895, 1914 and 1920 for Greenhalgh, Maesteg/Bridgend. Couldn't find a mention.
He is On the 1911 Census - ref RG14 Piece 32536 RD 591 SD1 ED11 Sch 10
regards
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My aunt by marriage was a Greenhalgh from Maesteg. I believe that someone from her family married into the Ridgeway family. Their soft drink making factory was in Church St in Maesteg. I was at school with Peter Ridgeway. Sadly I believe that he died a few years ago. His father ran the business when we were at school. My aunt is dead but her son is still alive and he may know more about the fact that one of the Greenhalgh's married a Ridgeway.
Regards
Ricardian
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The company you are referring to I believe is Messers Greenhalgh and Griffiths, they were Botanical Brewers based at 15 Glancynon Terrace, Aberaman, Aberdare. They left Aberaman in February 1937 and I know that some of the family relocated to Pembrokeshire (Penparc / Trefin area) as I bought an old cottage from a descendant of the Griffiths side of the family and in amongst all the junk I have found old receipts for the purchase of Burdock Root, crushed Quillaia Bark, Kent hops, foam syrup etc etc. The invoices were posted to the above address.
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Thanks for that info (new profile), that explains why my family kept it then as it would be a relation of my grt grandmothers then!
I have since given the demijohn away to my mother in law who fell in love with it and fancied it for her kitchen :D It's still in the family though :D
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The enterprising Ridgeway family, I am told, have their origins in the Little Wenlock - Church Stretton areas of Shropshire. Besides agriculture they were engaged in brewing and the manufacture of stoneware jars, in which they were active in both Burton and Stoke on Trent. Attached is a photograph of a Peter Ridgeway taken at Fenton, a suburb of Stoke on Trent, with an interesting backdrop of ‘stone jar thingys’.
The Greenhalghs were farmers at a Glebe farm in Middleton, Lancashire. An area once described as a fertile and well cultivated valley. However the needs of the cotton industry were to convert the local farmland into terraced housing and Middleton became a suburb of Manchester. Although the original family farmhouse is said to still exist. The farmer John Greenhalgh had at least two sons Samuel and Harry.
In 1899, at age thirty, Samuel Greenhalgh married Sarah Anne Ridgeway, a skilled cotton weaver, aged twenty seven, living in Middleton. She was the daughter of George Ridgeway. The Peter Ridgeway in the picture is said to be her grandfather. About 1906 Samuel and his family moved to Maesteg and started up the brewing business. Given her background Sarah Ridgeway may well have been the driving force behind this. The second photograph is of Samuel Greenhalgh, his wife Sarah Anne (Ridgeway) and their two oldest children John and Annie. They would subsequently have another daughter Mary and a son Harry (not to be confused with Samuels brother).There are two different types of ‘Greenhalgh jar’, the first belonged to the brewery run by Samuel and Sarah and are marked “S. Greenhalgh – Maesteg”.
Samuel’s brother, Harry also moved to South Wales and took up the botanical brewing business in Aberaman. The third photo is of Harry and of his wife Mamie surname as yet unknown, but is thought to have been a local girl. Theirs were the second type of Greenhalgh jar marked “H Greenhagh – Aberaman”. It is said Harry was a well-known for driving about the valleys in a six cylinder Wolseley and that he owned a house and fields in Trefin. They have no known children.
An important customer of the botanical brews of the Greenhalghs, were the temperance movement of the local chapels. However the brews were not strictly soft drinks, as they were at that time permitted a legal alcohol limit of 3%, although this was not strictly enforced and higher specific gravities were not uncommon. It is said that Samuel would concoct some rather special cordials with a little extra kick, which were very popular with the good chapel folk at certain holiday times such as Christmas and Easter. Samuel’s brewing business came to an end through a combination of factors. His antiquated equipment could not meet new government legislation and his two sons John and Harry had little inclination to take over the firm or commit to the necessary financial re-investment needed. He is said to have sold the business to the Ridgeways.
As for Samuel and Sarah’s children; John was an intelligent man, he worked in insurance in the city of London and taught languages at night school. He married Joan from Bexhill and lived in Dulwich before retiring to Bournmouth, they had no children; Mary worked in the munitions plant in Bridgend and married a Bryn Bowen from Blaengwynfi, they moved to London after the war but had no children. Harry married a Gladys Keeling from London; he did military service and had twin boys Barry and David. Following the early death of Gladys the twins were brought up by his wife’s family. Harry emigrated to New Zealand were he would spend many years living on a house boat in Auckland harbour. Of his twin sons Barry would join the merchant navy and eventually settle in Australia but had no known children. David lived in Greenwich and had a son and a daughter, but I believe the family has now relocated to East Anglia. The elder daughter Annie married a George Rickards from Castleton; they had one son * and lived in Turberville Street. After the war the family relocated to London. * married and had four children, he now lives in Kent and still has fond memories of both Samuel and Harry and of times spent at the house in Trefin
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Annie Rickards (nee Greenhalgh) was my aunt. I also met Mary Greenhalgh when I was a teenager. They were both living in London then. Very happy memories of the times that I stayed with my Aunt Annie and Uncle George. Robert Rickards is my cousin.
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Hello Route159 :)
Welcome to Rootschat!
Just for information, Rootschat rules prevent mention of living persons to protect against identity theft. Therefore I have edited your interesting post to remove mention of someone who is likely to be still alive.
Kind Regards
Morgan
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Hi, Just by chance I come across a jar like yours in Maesteg today the 6th of February, that one is dated 1919, I was interested in buying it as I know the owner, but I don't think it is for sale.
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Further to my earlier posting, there is a greenhaulgh family in Coytrahen, nr Maesteg.
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How interesting! My family used to own most of the houses on railway terrace in Coytrahen so that's another possibility as to where it came from.
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Hi again, just a query, there is not a railway terrace in Coytrahen anymore but I am curious to know where it was?
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It's on the main road of Coytrahen. A row of terraced cottaged with a pub across the road a little further up. I am not even sure if the pub is still there now to be honest but I have looked on google maps and it appears to be called Victoria buildings going by the sign post at the end of the street.
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Is the pub you are referring to the Nichols Arms? Haven't been through Coytrahen for years so it might well have closed, though it was very popular back in my youth
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Yes, the pub is called the Nicholls Arms, named after the Nicholl family of Merthyr Mawr estate, big land owners, with links to the Margam estate.
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Hi, the pub is still there,(the Nicholls Arms), and yes, Victoria buildings is there Too.
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I only remember the pub as when we were selling the end cottage I got hungry so went and got a packet of crisps from there ;D Fond memories!