W.J.Rogers Ltd Round Black Backed Steel

W.J.Rogers Ltd black backed steel tray dating from 1927.

Origins of the Jacob Street Brewery

The brewery was founded on Jacob Street in Bristol in 1845.
John Rogers, a wine merchant in Bristol, purchased the Jacob Street Brewery in 1852.
From 1865 the business was run by John Roger's son, William John Rogers, who rebuilt an impressive and ornate Jacob Street Brewery.
In 1874 the 'AK' in a diamond trade mark was registered by William Rogers.

Registration & Expansion

The business was registered as W.J.Rogers Ltd in 1894 with 25 tied houses.
The Company continued to expand and in 1898 it acquired the Maesteg Brewery Co. Ltd with 42 public houses. It immediately closed the brewery.
William John Rogers died in 1908.
In 1912, Rogers was one of the first firms to use motorised drays and also won its first brewing honour.
During the First World War the brewery supplied beers to the troops on Salisbury Plain.
In the 1920s the brewery was under the leadership of Tracy Percival Rogers, grandson of William Rogers. Tracy Rogers continued the Company's expansion.
In 1922 Rogers acquired J. & T.Usher Ltd of Bristol, with 40 tied houses, and closed the brewery.
By 1927 it had won twenty brewing medals including the 'Fifty Guinea Challenge Cup' for its best bottled beer at the Brewers' Exhibition in London.

The Rogers Family Lose Control

By the 1930s many of the houses on Jacob Street were owned by the brewery and many of the workers lived there.
In 1935 the Rogers family lost control of the brewery when H. & G.Simonds Ltd of Reading purchased the Company.
In 1938 W.Rogers Ltd was liquidated and became known as H. & G.Simonds Ltd.
Brewing ceased at the Jacob Street Brewery in 1952.
H. & G.Simonds Ltd had a presence in Jacob Street until 1966.
During the early 1970s, part of the brewery was used by a second hand furniture business and a camping firm.
Some of the buildings still remain after being converted into offices.

The manufacturer's mark states - B.A.T.Co. Ltd Smethwick