Lonsdale & Adshead Ltd Round Tin

Lonsdale & Adshead Ltd tin tray dating from the 1950s. The Company was founded by William Paxton on Park Green, Macclesfield in 1790. Paxton passed on the business to his son-in-law, Thomas Airey, who was responsible for the brewery's early development. When Airey died in 1847 Robert Lonsdale continued the business trading under his own name. In 1870 Lonsdale was joined by Samuel Adshead and together they traded under the name of Lonsdale & Adshead. In 1871 Lonsdale died, leaving Adshead to carry on running the business alone. Adshead did not own any public houses and relied on private families and the free trade to survive. The Company was registered in 1899 as Lonsdale & Adshead Ltd. In the early 1900s expansion was slow and in 1911 Samuel Adshead died leaving the brewery to his sons John and Philip. Under their control the business began to flourish and the Company's estate grew at pace. In 1920 local competitor Stancliffe Brothers Ltd Sutton Brewery with its 40 tied houses were acquired. In 1928 the Company acquired a second Macclesfield firm, the North Cheshire Brewery Co. Ltd with 87 tied houses. By the end of the 1920s the Company was a sizeable independent brewer owning over 150 public houses. In the 1930s Lonsdale & Adshead Ltd won contracts to bottle both Guinness and Bass. A new modernised bottling department was established on the same site in 1938. John Adshead died in 1943 and, by the end of the 1940s, Philip and his fellow directors decided to sell the business. The Macclesfield Brewery with its 140 tied houses were purchased by Ind Coope & Allsopp Ltd in 1950 when brewing ceased immediately. The Macclesfield Brewery was used as distribution depot until it was sold to Whitbread & Co. Ltd in 1952. The buildings stood empty for many years until the site was sold and demolished in 1970. The manufacturer's mark states - Reginald Corfield Ltd Lombard Road, London, S.W.19.