Thornley Kelsey Ltd tin tray dating from the 1950s.<\/p>\n
Background<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n The Company was formed as a result of a merger between Benjamin Kelsey Ltd and H.E.Thornley Ltd in 1933 becoming Thornley Kelsey Ltd.<\/p>\n Benjamin Kelsey Ltd<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Benjamin Kelsey Ltd was founded on the corner Henry Street and Ashted Row in Birmingham in 1859. H.E.Thornley Ltd<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Henry Edward Thornley was originally a farmer, however by 1898 he had broadened his business interests and commenced brewing at his home, Radford Hall, in Leamington Spa. Thornley Kelsey Ltd<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n After the Company was registered as H.E.Thornley Ltd in 1933, it merged with Benjamin Kelsey Ltd of Birmingham, to form Thornley Kelsey Ltd. The manufacturer’s mark states – Reginald Corfield Ltd Lombard Road London S.W.19. 56 10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Thornley Kelsey Ltd tin tray dating from the 1950s.
\nThe firm also owned maltings on Windsor Street in Birmingham. The more dominant business, however, was that of H.E.Thornley Ltd.<\/p>\n
\nIn 1902 he built the four storey Gothic, baronial style, Radford Hall Brewery, at Radford Semele, and employed an agent, H.Bradshaw, in Leamington Spa.
\nThe business traded as Thornley & Co., and was described as ‘Brewers and Wine & Spirit Merchants’.
\nAn impressive malt kiln was added to the brewery in 1911.
\nThornley & Co.’s range of beers included, ‘Diamond Pale Ale AK’ and ‘Mild Ale’ in casks, and ‘Special Dinner Ale’, ‘Special Pale Ale’, and ‘Nourishing Stout’, in bottles.
\nThese ales and stouts quickly gained a strong reputation, and with increasing sales the Company was able to acquire its first public houses.
\nLiked by the community, and well respected by his workforce, Henry died at Radford Hall, in 1916.
\nOwnership of the business was retained by the Thornley family.
\nIn 1920 when trading as H.E.Thornley, one of its ales was awarded ‘Champion Beer’ at the Brewing & Allied Trades Exhibition.
\nIn 1933 the Company was registered as H.E.Thornley Ltd.<\/p>\n
\nMost of Thornley Kelsey Ltd’s brewing was concentrated at Leamington Spa.
\nThe Company continued to produce quality beers and was awarded a Silver Medal at the Brewing Bottling and Allied Trades Exhibition held in London in 1960.
\nKelsey’s Henry Street Brewery closed in the early 1960s, whilst the Radford Hall Brewery continued to brew until 1968.
\nMost of the Company’s 68 tied houses were sold to John Davenport & Sons Ltd.
\nThe Radford Hall Brewery was demolished.<\/p>\n
\nThe Radford Hall Brewery was based in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":10502,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[378],"product_tag":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4767","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"product_cat-england-1950s","8":"first","9":"instock","10":"shipping-taxable","11":"purchasable","12":"product-type-simple"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brewerytrays.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/4767","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=4767"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brewerytrays.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brewerytrays.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brewerytrays.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=4767"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brewerytrays.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=4767"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brewerytrays.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=4767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}