John Smith’s Tadcaster Brewery Co. Ltd Round Enamel

John Smith's Tadcaster Brewery Co. Ltd enamel tray dating from the 1920s.

John Smith

In 1758 innkeeper David Backhouse and postmaster John Hartley decided to build a brewhouse in Tadcaster.
In 1847 Samuel Smith, who was a butcher and cattle dealer, purchased the now dilapidated Backhouse & Hartley brewery, for his son John Smith.
Smith's timing was fortuitous as Pale Ales were displacing Porter as the public's most popular style of beer, and Tadcaster's hard water was perfect for brewing these ales. The prosperity of the 1850s and 1860s, together with the arrival of the railways, enabled John Smith to steadily expand his business.
In 1873 he purchased a piece of land on which he built a brewery of considerable grandeur.
Sadly John Smith died in 1879 and he did not see the completion of his magnificent brewery on the High Street, which opened in 1883.

William Smith

On his death, John Smith left his personal estate in equal shares to his brothers Samuel and William.
Samuel continued to run the Old Brewery, which was later named, Samuel Smith Old Brewery (Tadcaster) Ltd, whilst William built a new, larger brewery, next door.
Under the terms of John's will, the Old Brewery would pass to the heirs of his brothers, William was unmarried and had no descendants and had no desire to pass on his inheritance to Samuel's sons. Accordingly when his own brewery was complete, he transferred the stock, equipment and trade name from the the old brewery to the new one.
When William died in 1886, his nephew, also named Samuel Smith, inherited an almost empty building.
William preferred his sister's children, and passed the business with its new brewery to Henry Herbert Riley and Frank Riley.

John Smith's Tadcaster Brewery Co. Ltd Expansion

Such was the buoyancy of the brewing trade at that time, that Samuel was able to re-equip the Old Brewery and run it as a competitor to the established John Smith's.
Both continued to flourish. John Smith's increased its sales through an agency network of sixteen offices which offered a 20% discount to the free trade.
After John Smith's Tadcaster Brewery Co. Ltd was registered in 1892, Henry Herbert Riley-Smith, as he was now named, became the Chairman.
The Company began its takeover of a number of Yorkshire breweries and, before the turn of the century, acquisitions included Robert Budd & Co. Strong Arm Brewery of Sheffield in 1893, H W Robinson & Co. Scotland Brewery of Sheffield in 1895, Quintin Rhodes of Thirsk, Thomas Holby and John William Turner of Great Driffield in 1897, and Simpson & Co. of Market Weighton in 1899, which was used as maltings until the 1930s.
Almost 100 tied houses were added to John Smith's estate.
The famous Magnet trademark was registered in 1906.
In 1907 the Company began to bottle its own beer in Tadcaster and by 1912 it owned over 250 horses, 41 of which saw service during the First World War.
In 1913 John Smith's acquired J.L.Cockayne Ltd Owlerton Brewery of Sheffield with 27 public houses.

Between The Wars

Between the wars, acquisitions continued unabated including N.L.Fernades & Co. of Wakefield in 1919, Warwick & Co. Anchor Brewery of Boroughbridge in 1925, Bentley's Milnshaw Brewery Co. Ltd of Accrington in 1926, W.H.Thackwray & Co. March's Brewery of York in 1929, Haughton Road Brewery Co. South Durham Brewery of Darlington in 1934, and Henry Shaw Tame Valley Brewery of Dukenfield in 1939.
As a result of these acquisitions another 140 public houses were added to the estate.

Post-Second World War Trading

After the Second World War John Smith's started to export its beers to Belgium where it was bottled and distributed by Tilkens brewery.
In 1953 the business, its brewery, and 1,000 licensed houses, became a public company.
The Company acquired Whitworth, Son & Nephew Ltd of Wath-on-Dearne, with 166 tied houses, in 1958, the Barnsley Brewery Co. Ltd, with 250 tied houses, in 1961, and Warwicks & Richardsons Ltd of Newark-on-Trent, with 130 properties, in 1962.
This was John Smith's final acquisition as an independent firm.
Acquisitions diluted the Riley-Smith family stake to around 10% of the total shareholding, making it ripe for a takeover.

The Courage, Barclay, Simonds & Co. Ltd Takeover

The brewery, with 1,800 public houses, was acquired by Courage, Barclay, Simonds & Co. Ltd in 1970.
Courage Ltd, as the Company was renamed later in 1970, was taken over by the Imperial Tobacco Group Ltd in 1972, and the Tadcaster brewery was substantially redeveloped and expanded during 1974.
The Imperial Tobacco Group Ltd built a massive new state-of-the-art Berkshire Brewery at Worton Grange, near Reading in 1978. Due to John Smith's strategic northern location it survived closure.
Other Southern breweries were not so lucky.
Cask beer production was ended in 1976, however it was reintroduced in 1984.
Investment in the brewery infrastructure continued, and in 1982 a new canning line and a new brewhouse were installed.
After two futher takeovers, John Smith's brewery was acquired by Scottish & Newcastle Breweries Ltd in 1995.
In 2007 Scottish & Newcastle moved production of its cask beers from Tadcaster to Burtonwood.
Scottish & Newcastle Breweries Ltd was acquired by Heineken in 2008.
All cask condition ales are now brewed under license by J.W.Cameron & Co. Ltd in Hartlepool.
Its famous Magnet Ales are no longer available on draught.

The manufacturer's mark states - C.E.Wilkins, Birmingham.
The tray featured is coloured dark blue, one of three colours produced, the others are green and red.