Benskin’s Watford Brewery Ltd Round Tin

Benskin's Watford Brewery Ltd tin tray dating from the 1950s.

Foundation & Early Years

The business was founded by John Pope, a local miller and baker in 1693. The brewery was based on Watford High Street.
The brewery was inherited by his second son, Daniel Pope, in 1722, and passed to Daniel's sister Sarah Pope and her husband William Dyson when he died in 1741.
John Dyson, son of Sarah and William, then ran the business which remained in the family until 1867.

Enter the Benskins

When the third John Dyson died in 1867, the brewery was sold at auction to a retired hotelier, Joseph Benskin, and Watford draper William Bradley. The firm was at that time a relatively small concern, with a modest 42 public houses.
Bradley left the partnership in 1870, leaving Joseph Benskin as the sole owner.
Joseph died in 1877 leaving the management of the Company to his widow, Maria, and their second son John Pusey Benskin.
His third son, Thomas Benskin, joined in partnership with brewer James Albert Panton in 1884.
Within four years the two men had tripled the output of the Cannon Brewery.

Significant Growth from the 1890s

The Company was registered as Benskin's Watford Brewery Ltd in 1894.
This was a catalyst for growth mainly through the acquisition of all other Watford breweries and numerous breweries in the surrounding counties.
In 1898 E.J & C. Healey Ltd, with 15 public houses was the first to be taken over.
Thomas's son, Eric Seagrave Benskin and Colonel William Briggs, who was married into the family, were both appointed directors of the Company, and by 1914 Briggs was its sole Managing Director.
During the Great War, Benskins developed a large export trade to Belgium to support the British Army.
In 1923 M.A.Sedgwick & Co. also based on Watford High Street, with 97 tied houses, was purchased and the buildings were converted into maltings in 1927.
During the Second World War Government restrictions forced Benskins to stop brewing its well known strong bottled beer, Colne Springs Ale. It had been the perfect tonic for the Company's sick dray horses which were each given a pint a day for medicinal purposes.

Post-War Trading

By the time its local competitor, Well's Watford Brewery Ltd, had been taken over in 1951, Benskin's had acquired sixteen breweries and had become the largest brewer in Hertfordshire.
By the mid-1950s Benskins estate totalled 636 public houses and hotels, and 16 off licences.
The Company remained a family business until its acquisition by Ind Coope & Allsopp Ltd in 1957.
The new business now owned over 4,000 public houses.
Ind Coope Ltd merged with Tetley Walker Ltd and Ansells Brewery Ltd in 1961, and this newly created Company was later renamed Allied Breweries Ltd in 1963.
The Benskins name slowly started to disappear during the 1960s, and brewing at the Cannon Brewery eventually ceased in 1972. The site was demolished in 1979.
The Benskins brand continued to survive until the 2010s.

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