John Aitchison & Co. Ltd Small Round Enamel

John Aitchison & Co. Ltd enamel tray dating from the 1930s.

John Aitchison

John Aitchison had been involved in his father William Aitchison's business, Aitchison & Co, from the 1820s.
When the Company's brewing operations were moved from the Kerfield Brewery in Peebles, to the Canongate Brewery in Edinburgh in 1828, he became a partner in John Aitchison & Co.
After William died in 1835 control of the business passed to John who was joined in partnership with John's second son, William Ker Aitchison.
Under John's direction, the Company expanded into markets outside Scotland including Newcastle, Sunderland, Liverpool, London and Southampton.
By 1851 the firm employed 51 men at the Canongate Brewery.
When John died in 1857 his sons, William Ker Aitchison and Thomas Stodart Aitchison, succeeded him running the brewery.
The Company gained a reputation for high quality ales and was rewarded with numerous brewing awards including silver medals for its beers at Brewers' Exhibitions in Paris in 1867, Amsterdam in 1869, and London in 1873.
Aitchison's trade mark was a shield with 'JA' inscribed on it. The Company also registered the 'Chariot Brand'.
Amongst the beers it brewed were Strong Edinburgh Ale, Pale Edinburgh Ale, Table Ale, Superior Ale, Pale India Ale, and Porter.

John Aitchison & Co. Ltd Registration & Expansion

The Company was registered as John Aitchison & Co. Ltd to acquire the business of John Aitchison & Co. in 1895.
Thomas Stodart Aitchison became its first chairman and managing director.
The Victoria Bottling Co. Ltd of South Shields, with a number of public houses in Tyneside, was acquired in 1900.
Other purchases included a large part of the Edinburgh & Leith Brewing Co. owned by Edinburgh United Breweries Ltd, in 1925, and McLennon & Urquhart Ltd's Dalkeith Brewery, with 6 tied houses, in 1955. Brewing ceased but bottling continued in Dalkeith until 1961.
In 1930 the Company adopted a new trade mark of a 'well-fed cellarman holding a tankard of ale'.

Hammond's United Breweries Ltd Takeover

The Canongate Brewery, with 68 public houses, was acquired by Hammond's United Breweries in 1959.
When Hammond's inspectors visited the Canongate Brewery they found it to be 'infected' with no sign of any quality control. Another inspector, Jim Collinson, found the Aitchson's public houses in the North East to be 'in an horrific state', but these were surpassed by the filth he found in its Scottish establishments.
A priority for Hammonds was to improve the quality of Aitchison's estate.
Hammond's United Breweries Ltd merged with Hope & Anchor Breweries Ltd and John Jeffrey & Co. Ltd in 1960 to form Northern Breweries Ltd, later named Northern Breweries of Great Britain Ltd.
When the Company changed its name again to United Breweries Ltd in October 1960, the businesses of John Aitchison & Co. Ltd and John Jeffrey & Co. Ltd were merged as a subsidiary named Aitchison Jeffrey Ltd.
Production was concentrated at Jeffrey's Heriot Brewery and brewing ceased at the Canongate Brewery in 1961.

The manufacturer's mark states - "Hancor", Mitcham