Lonsdale & Adshead Ltd Round Tin

Lonsdale & Adshead Ltd tin tray dating from the 1950s.

The Company's Origins

The Company was founded by William Paxton on Park Green, Macclesfield in 1790.
Paxton passed on the firm to his son-in-law, Thomas Airey, who was responsible for the brewery's early development.
When Airey died in 1847 Robert Lonsdale acquired the business which traded under his own name.
An advertisement in the 1860s described the business as 'The Macclesfield Brewery Park Green Macclesfield. Robert Lonsdale Wholesale Brewer of Mild & Bitter Ales, Stout & Porter'
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.

Lonsdale & Adshead Ltd's Expansion

The Company was registered in 1899, with 129 public houses, 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 quickly.
Local competitor Stancliffe Brothers Ltd, with its Sutton Brewery and 40 tied houses, was acquired in 1920.
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.

Ind Coope & Allsopp Ltd Takeover

The Macclesfield Brewery, with 140 tied houses, was purchased by Ind Coope & Allsopp Ltd in 1950 and brewing ceased immediately.
The Macclesfield Brewery was offered for sale in 1967 and was bought by Whitbread & Co. Ltd.
The site was demolished in 1970.

The manufacturer's mark states - Reginald Corfield Ltd Lombard Road, London, S.W.19.