John Joule & Sons Ltd Deep Square Tin

John Joule & Sons Ltd tin tray dating from the 1950s.
In 1758 maltster, Francis Joule, acquired the White Horse Inn and a brewhouse in Stone. In 1780 he purchased another brewery which supplied Joule's own outlets and other local public houses. The Stone business flourished, and further land was acquired on the High Street to allow additional production. The Company traded as John Joule & Sons, named after Francis's son. In 1813 John became manager of the brewery leaving the Company in a strong financial position when he died in 1868. Before his death, John registered the famous Joules Red Cross trademark, making it the 6th oldest in the world. John's second son, John Smith Joule, took over running of the brewery. In 1873 the direct Joule family connection ended when the business was sold to Liverpool brewers, Harding & Partington.
Despite the majority shareholding being held by the Hardings and the Partingtons, the Company was registered as John Joule & Sons Ltd in 1898.
The high quality of its beers became internationally recognised and, in addition to the home market, they were distributed to the Antipodes, Europe and the USA. Joule's beer was notably recorded as stock on board HMS Titanic when it sank in 1912. Many awards were won for Joule's ales over many years between 1919 and 1957, both for draught and bottled beer.
Throughout the 20th century John Joules & Co Ltd and Bass, Ratcliff & Gretton Ltd had an acrimonious rivalry which, in terms of brewery industry awards, appeared to give Joules the upper hand. Sadly for Joules, Bass Charrington Ltd managed to acquire the business and its 214 public houses in 1968. The Stone brewery ceased production in 1972 and, apart from the bottling stores, the site was demolished in 1974. In 2009, Molson-Coors Brewing UK Ltd, granted a 'brand license' to a local craft brewer to once again brew Joules beer. A small Joules brewery was established in Market Drayton in 2010.