Hunt, Edmunds & Co. Ltd Small Round Tin

Hunt, Edmunds & Co. Ltd tin tray dating from the 1960s.

Foundation of the Hunt Family Businesses

The business was founded by Thomas Hunt in 1807 when he purchased the Unicorn pub and its brewhouse in Market Place, Banbury.
Thomas bequeathed the business to his son, John Hunt, who was succeeded at the Unicorn in turn, by his son John Hunt.
John held three roles in Banbury, as owner of the Unicorn and its brewhouse, from 1832 to 1841, as a maltster in Market Place from 1835 to 1839, and as a maltster and brewer on Bridge Street.
John and his brother Thomas traded as T. & J.Hunt both at the Unicorn and at Bridge Street from 1842 to 1847.
Thomas Hunt purchased the Unicorn from John Hunt in 1848 and the partnership was dissolved.
In 1850 Thomas Hunt went into partnership with William Edmunds. Edmund's son, Charles Fletcher Edmunds, became a partner in 1886 when the Company owned two breweries and 64 tied houses. The firm traded as Hunt Edmunds.
In 1879 the partnership purchased its local rival the Banbury Brewery Co., and in 1884 it acquired another local business, William Barett's Britannia Brewery, on Newland Road.
Hunt Edmunds famous Banbury Cross trade mark was registered in 1894.

Hunt, Edmunds & Co. Ltd

Charles succeeded his father in 1896, and in that year the Company was registered as Hunt, Edmunds & Co. Ltd.
By the turn of the century the Bridge Street Brewery had become the Company's main site, and its estate totalled 64 public houses.
In 1918 the Company acquired its last local competitor, Dunnell & Sons Old Brewery, with 35 tied houses, and in the same year it purchased Hudson's of Witney and Hunt's of Burford.
In 1924, the Borough Brewery of Hitchman & Co. Ltd, with 36 public houses, based in Chipping Norton, was taken over by Hunt Edmunds.
Both companies continued to operate independently through a holding company, Hunt Edmunds Hitchman Co. Ltd.
Hunt Edmunds indirectly acquired Harper's Hitchman's Ltd Loweswater Brewery of Worcester, which was owned by Hitchman & Co. Ltd.
Brewing ceased at the Loweswater Brewery in 1929, and at Chipping Norton in 1933.
The Borough Brewery site was used as a mineral water factory until 1968, and it was demolished in 1970.

The Bass, Mitchells & Butlers Ltd Takeover

By 1951, Hunt Edmunds & Co. Ltd was suppling its beers to seven different counties.
Folllowing almost three decades of steady trading and sound finances, the business became a target for a takeover.
The Company, with its 187 public houses, was acquired by Bass, Mitchells & Butlers Ltd in 1965, and brewing ceased in 1967.
The Bridge Street Brewery and its landmark chimney were demolished in 1974.

The manufacturer's mark states - Printed in Great Britain by Reginald Corfield Ltd. 0307