Hull Brewery Co. Ltd Ceramic Ashtray

Hull Brewery Co. Ltd ceramic ashtray dating from the 1930s. In the late 1700s Thomas Ward and John Firbank built a brewery on the corner of Posterngate and Dagger Lane in Hull. Ward's grandaughters Ann and Mary inherited the brewery. Mary married shipbuilder Robert Gleadow in 1796, and their son, Robert Ward Gleadow, continued the brewing business. In 1846 Gleadow was joined by another brewer, William Thomas Dibb, and their partnership traded as Gleadow, Dibb & Co. In 1866 Gleadow, Dibb & Co. started work on a new, purpose-built brewery in Silvester Street. In 1868 the business moved in to the new Anchor Brewery. In 1885 the Company was registered as Gleadow, Dibb & Co. Ltd. William Dibb died in 1886 and Frederic Gleadow replaced him. In 1887 Gleadow, Dibb & Co. Ltd was wound up, and a new Company, the Hull Brewery Co. Ltd, was formed. The Company embarked on a period of expansion acquiring other brewers and bottlers, purchasing licensed houses, and enlarging the Silvester Street site. Before WWI the business acquired four local breweries including Henry & William Thurlow of Cottingham in 1892, John Tate Kingston Brewery in 1896, Rawcliffe Old Brewery of Rawcliffe in 1896, and H. & J.G.Smithson Ltd Tower Brewery of Hull in 1901. Trade dropped off during the First World War, but the business continued to expand after the war. The Company purchased William Glossop & Bulay Ltd and its Globe Brewery, a local competitor, R.Stephenson & Son's Golden Ball Brewery of Beverley in 1920, and Sutton, Bean & Co. of Brigg in 1925. By the start of the Second World War the estate had accumulated about 200 public houses. In 1949 the Company began producing 'Anchor Export', a strong beer, designed to keep and travel well which sold in bottles and cans. In 1957 Hartley's Brewery Co. Ltd of West Cowick and its 27 public houses was the firm's last acquisition. The Company, and its 212 tied houses, were acquired by Northern Dairies Ltd in 1971, and the name was changed to North Country Breweries Ltd in 1974. North Country Breweries Ltd was purchased by Mansfield Brewery Co. Ltd in 1985 and brewing ceased at the Anchor Brewery that same year. The manufacturer's mark states - The Associated Potteries Co. Sole Proprietors Hancock Corfield & Waller Ltd Mitcham, London & the Potteries