William Butler & Co. Ltd tin tray dating from the 1960s.<\/p>\n
Founder William Butler<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n William Butler founded the Priestfield Brewery on John Street in Bilston in 1833. The Springfield Brewery<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n A new site was purchased at Springfield in Wolverhampton, and a new brewery began production in 1874. The Springfield Brewery had a plentiful supply of good quality water which was required for brewing the increasing demand for Butler’s quality ales. William Butler & Co. Ltd Registration<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n As a consequence of Hodson’s death William Butler registered the Company as William Butler & Co. Ltd in 1891. Expansion Through Acquisitions<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n After the First World War acquisitions increased apace. Mitchells & Butlers Ltd Takeover<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n The Springfield Brewery, with 890 public houses, was acquired by Mitchells & Butlers Ltd of Smethwick in 1960. The manufacturer’s mark states – Printed in Great Britain by Reginald Corfield Ltd. 0240<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" William Butler & Co. Ltd tin tray dating from the 1960s.
\nThe business began as a small concern and it involved William delivering his beer to his customers in a wheelbarrow.
\nIn the 1860s, as the firm prospered and William moved closer to retirement, he employed a number of key people including Thomas Salt. Thomas was a brewer employed by Butler’s for over twenty years, and was finally promoted to the Company’s Managing Director.
\nThe brewery became known as the Ettingshall New Village Brewery.
\nIn the 1870s William could no longer run the business on his own and he formed a partnership with Thomas Russell, an energetic and resourceful leader.
\nThe business grew rapidly and the brewery was constantly brewing at its capacity.
\nThe supply of water became a problem which required a new solution.<\/p>\n
\nWhen the Springfield Brewery opened, most of the staff moved from the old brewery which ceased brewing, but it remained as a malting and storage facility.
\nThe old Priestfield Brewery was closed in 1920.
\nGrowth at the new brewery was rapid although William Butler and Thomas Russell became bitter rivals when Thomas left to start his own business at the Great Western Brewery.
\nWilliam formed a new partnership with George Parkes and William Hodson.
\nThree years after Hodson’s arrival the Company’s sales had doubled.
\nIn the late 1870s and the 1880s the Springfield Brewery was extended twice and new modern equipment was installed. In 1880 a siding was built adjacent to the Great Western railway into the brewery. This proved to be an invaluable asset for the smooth distribution of the Company’s beers.
\nThe business continued to grow from strength to strength but in 1890 William Hodson died.<\/p>\n
\nIn 1893 the founder William Butler died and Lawrence Hodson became its new Chairman.
\nBy the turn of the twentieth century the Company employed more than 300 people.
\nIn 1900 the Company entered a new era concentrating its expansion through numerous acquisitions.
\nIts first was H.Plant & Sons wine and spirit merchants with a few licensed houses.
\nIn 1907 the ‘Old Man and Glass’ trade mark was introduced.<\/p>\n
\nJames Cahill’s Swan Brewery in Wolverhampton was purchased in 1919 followed by four acquisitions in the 1920s.
\nJack Downing’s Black Horse Brewery in Dudley, with 20 public houses, was purchased in 1923, the Bloxwich Brewery Co. Ltd, with 42 tied houses, was acquired in 1925, along with a number of public houses owned by William Blencowe & Co. Ltd in Cannock, and Eley’s Stafford Brewery Ltd was taken over in 1928 with over 150 public houses.
\nButler’s Eagle trade mark was registered in 1924.
\nIn 1932 Butler’s took revenge on Thomas Russell when it acquired his Great Western Brewery which it immediately closed.
\nAll the public houses of the West Midlands Working Men’s Club Brewery Co. Ltd were acquired in 1932.
\nAfter the Second World War had ended Butler’s purchased William Bowen Ltd in West Bromwich, and Thomas Oliver Ltd in Sandwell in 1945, James Pritchard & Son in Darlaston in 1946, and Radcliffe & Co. Ltd’s Cross Brewery in Kidderminster with 40 public houses in 1947.<\/p>\n
\nMitchells & Butlers Ltd merged with Bass, Ratcliff & Gretton Ltd in 1961 to form Bass, Mitchells & Butlers Ltd.
\nA further merger with Charrington United Breweries Ltd resulted in the Springfield Brewery becoming part of Bass Charrington Ltd from 1967.
\nBottling ceased at the Springfield Brewery in 1971, but brewing continued until its closure in 1991.
\nThe site lay derelict for many years although the buildings were listed in 1977.
\nSadly the old brewery buildings were all but destroyed by a fire after an arson attack in 2004.<\/p>\n
\nThe Springfield Brewery was based in Wolverhampton, West Midlands.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":10263,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[379],"product_tag":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4541","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"product_cat-england-1960s","8":"first","9":"outofstock","10":"shipping-taxable","11":"purchasable","12":"product-type-simple"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brewerytrays.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/4541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brewerytrays.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brewerytrays.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brewerytrays.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4541"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brewerytrays.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brewerytrays.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brewerytrays.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=4541"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brewerytrays.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=4541"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brewerytrays.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=4541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}