Huggins & Co Ltd Ceramic Ashtray

Huggins & Co Ltd ashtray dating from the 1920s. Records show that in 1801, William Thomas Stretton started a small brewery, named the Lion Brewhouse, at Broad Street in Soho, Westminster. By 1811 the Company was trading as Stretton & Co. and was flourishing. By 1822 two new partners, James Goding and Henry Broadwood had joined the Company, which traded as Stretton, Goding & Broadwood. Stretton left the business in 1823 and the Company traded as Goding & Broadwood. After a falling out between Goding and Broadwood in 1835 Goding left the firm and set up a rival Lion Brewery in Lambeth. The Broad Street business struggled under a new trading name, Broadwood, Mundell & Co., however by 1850 the Huggins family had taken control and the business began to grow again. The Company was registered in 1894 as Huggins & Co. Ltd to acquire John Huggins & Co. In 1898 Huggins went into voluntary liquidation and a new Company was registered under the same name. In the early part of the 20th century its main business was through the export market, although the Company did own around 100 public houses, mainly in London, by the 1920s. The Lion Brewhouse was acquired by Watney, Combe, Reid & Co Ltd in 1928. The brewery was closed and the Huggins brand soon disappeared. The Lion Brewery was demolished in 1937. The site is now populated by housing and shops. The manufacturer's mark states - Furnivals (1913) England