Samuel Webster & Sons Ltd Square Tin

Samuel Webster & Sons Ltd tin tray dating from the late 1960s.

The Fountain Head Brewery Early Years

The Fountain Head Brewery was founded in Ovenden Wood, Halifax, by John Mitchell in 1820.
The brewery was being operated by Samuel Webster in 1838 and he opened an office in Union Cross Yard soon afterwards.
The Company purchased its first public house in 1845.
In 1860 Samuel was joined in partnership by his three sons Isaac, George Henry, and Samuel Green and the firm began trading as Samuel Webster & Sons.
Samuel Webster died in 1872, leaving his sons to continue the business.
By 1880 the Company owned 100 tied houses.

Samuel Webster & Sons Ltd Registration & Expansion

In 1890 the business was registered as Samuel Webster & Sons Ltd.
The Company continued to grow and in 1896 it acquired the Bridgate Brewery of H & T.T.Ormerod of Brighouse.
In 1900 the Company's office was moved to Northgate in Halifax and a new French Chateau-influenced maltings was built in the same year.
Although trading proved difficult before and during the First World War, the introduction of new beers, including Webster's Green Label, steaded the finances.
In 1933 the Company acquired local competitor Joseph Stocks & Co. Ltd with 79 public houses.
Websters purchased John Ainley & Son Ltd, with its Wapping Spring Brewery and 19 public houses in 1957, and Daniel Fielding's White Castle Brewery, with 19 public houses, in 1961.

The Watney Mann Ltd Takeover

A sought after reciprocal partnership with Watney Mann Ltd in 1962 led to a friendly take over of Samuel Webster & Sons Ltd with its 288 public houses in 1972, but not before Websters itself had acquired the Northbrook Brewery of J.Hey & Co. Ltd with 75 public houses, in 1966.
Watney Mann Ltd was itself acquired by Grand Metropolitan Hotels Ltd in 1972 which invested in a new brewhouse in 1973 and a new lager plant in 1979.
Samuel Webster & Sons Ltd and Wilson's Brewery Ltd were merged to form Samuel Webster & Wilsons Ltd in 1985.
Wilson's Brewery was closed down in 1986 and both its mild and bitter beers were transferred to Webster's Fountain Head Brewery.
By 1988 Webster's was a huge concern supplying 1,000 Northern pubs.
The brewery was expanded in 1988 and in 1989 the derelict former maltings, which had been closed in 1960, were converted into new offices. Also, a new distribution centre was constructed in Elland.
Moving out of the brewing industry, Grand Metropolitan sold Webster's to the Courage Group, owned by Fosters, in 1990.
The Webster's brand suffered under Courage's ownership and deteriorated further when Scottish & Newcastle Breweries Ltd acquired Courage from Foster's Brewing Group to form Scottish Courage Ltd in 1995.
Scottish Courage Ltd owned John Smith's Tadcaster Brewery Co. Ltd which outsold Webster's threefold, resulting in the inevitable closure of the Fountain Head Brewery in 1996.
In 2004, Fountainhead Village was built on the former brewery site and the Old Maltings reopened as a children's nursery in 2007.
During the 2000s and 2010s the Webster's brand survived but its owner Silvan Brands Ltd ceased using it in 2015.