Courage, Barclay, Simonds & Co. Ltd Brass Menu Holder

Courage, Barclay, Simonds & Co. Ltd brass menu holder dating from the 1960s.

Courage & Co. Ltd

The Anchor Brewery business was founded by John Courage in Horsleydown, Bermondsey, in 1787.
In 1888 the firm was registered as Courage & Co. Ltd.
Between 1903 and 1955, the Company acquired many breweries and became one of the largest brewers in London.

Barclay, Perkins & Co. Ltd

In 1781 Robert Barclay and John Perkins purchased the Anchor Brewery in Southwark, which has been founded in 1616.
The Company traded as Barclay Perkens & Co. becoming the largest brewery in the world by 1809.
It exclusively brewed porter until 1834 when it began to brew pale ale.
The Anchor Brewery was rebuilt after a serious fire in 1832.
The Company was registered as Barclay, Perkins & Co. Ltd in 1896.
Like Courage, it acquired numerous breweries partcularly during the 1920s.

H. & G.Simonds Ltd

The firm was established by William Simonds, a maltster from Reading, in 1774.
William's son, William Blackall Simonds, acquired an extensive site on Bridge Street in Reading, in 1782.
He built an opulent brewery and house where he brewed quality beers and soon owned the largest brewery in Reading.
William Blackall retired in 1845 leaving his brothers, Henry and George, in charge.
The business traded as H. & G.Simonds.
In 1885 the Company was registered as H. & G.Simonds Ltd.
Between 1919 and 1939 Simonds acquired nine brewing companies and their tied estates.

Two Major Mergers

Courage & Co. Ltd merged with Barclay, Perkins & Co. Ltd in 1955, to form Courage & Barclay Ltd. Brewing, other than lager, ceased at Barclay's Anchor Brewery in 1958.
Whilst trading as Courage & Barclay Ltd, the business purchased Nicholson & Sons Ltd of Maidenhead, with 22 properties, in 1958, and Reffell's Bexley Brewery Ltd,, with 19 public houses, in 1959.
Courage & Barclay Ltd merged with H. & G.Simonds Ltd in 1960, becoming Courage, Barclay, Simonds & Co. Ltd.
Lager brewing ceased at Barclay's Anchor Brewery in 1963, and the brewery closed in the early 1970s.
The name of Courage, Barclay, Simonds & Co Ltd was simplified to Courage Ltd, in 1970
The Anchor Brewery, based in Bermondsey, was acquired by the Imperial Tobacco Group Ltd in 1972.
When all brewing was transferred to a vast newly built Berkshire Brewery based at Worton Grange, in 1978, this resulted in the eventual closure of Simonds' Bridge Street Brewery in 1979, and Courage's old Anchor Brewery in 1981.