Blandy, Hawkins & Co. Round Enamel

Blandy, Hawkins & Co. enamel tray dating from around 1909.

The Castle Brewery - The Hawkins Connection

At the end of the 17th century the Noakes family of Reading, owned a brewery on Castle Street, and a malting house.
Ownership of the Castle Brewery passed to various families and individuals between 1691 to 1847.
When Thomas Noakes died in 1732 the firm was sold to Dr. Robert Burd and his wife Elizabeth.
The Burd family ran the business until 1753 when the Castle Brewery was sold to Matthias Matthews, who created a partnership with his son-in-law, John Deane and John's brother, Henry Austin Deane.
John Deane became the sole owner of the brewery in 1765 which he ran until 1791.
In 1797 John sold the Company to Jonathan Tanner who, in 1797, entered into a partnership with Thomas Dreweatt and Thomas Sowden.
From 1802 the business traded as Tanner & Dreweatt. Dreweatt died in 1824 and Tanner became the sole owner.
Tanner quickly brought Thomas Rickford and Adolphus William Hume into the business.
In 1834 Charles Curry Bickham took over from Tanner and Hume left the business.
When Bickham left in 1847, Thomas Rickford was eventually joined in the partnership by brewer Thomas Hawkins.
The Company traded as Rickford & Hawkins until 1855.

The Mill Brewery - The Blandy Connection

The Mill Lane Brewery was probably founded as far back as 1750.
In 1831 William and Charles Blandy joined forces with John Yard Willats, purchasing all of William Stephens' share of Willats & Stephens' Mill Lane Brewery in Reading.
The new firm traded as Willats, Blandy & Blandy.
William Blandy's son, Henry Bilson Blandy, joined the brewing business and soon became its senior partner, a position he held for 42 years.
By 1852 the Company was trading as Blandy & Blandy Brewers, when it merged with Rickford & Hawkins' Castle Brewery in 1855.

Blandy, Hawkins & Co. Castle Brewery

Thomas Rickford died in 1855 and when the the two firms merged the new Company traded as Blandy & Hawkins.
The Mill Lane Brewery ceased brewing and the buildings were largely demolished.
By the 1870s, the Company was trading as Blandy, Hawkins & Co., and was brewing Pale Ale and Porter beers, and also traded as wine & spirit merchants.
When Thomas Hawkins died in 1893 he was succeeded in the brewery by his son, Hugh.
Henry Bilson Blandy and Hugh Hawkins were joined there by Blandy's nephew, John Cecil Blandy, and it became the second most prominent brewery in Reading, with tied houses in Reading, and much of Berkshire.
The partners sold the Company, with its 33 tied houses, to Hugh's cousin, Edwin Black Hawkins of the Newbury based brewer Hawkins & Parfitt, South Berkshire Brewery Co Ltd, in 1910.
When Henry Bilson Blandy retired in 1896, J.C.Blandy became the last family member connected to the business. He served as Managing Director until 1913.
In 1920 H. & G.Simonds purchased the brewery and closed the Castle Street Brewery site.

The manufacturer's mark states - C.E.Wilkins, Birmingham.