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The Defunct Essex Brewery

brewery_tap_closeup.jpgThe Essex Brewery used to be on St James Street in Walthamstow, east London. It was demolished in 1975. But there are still signs of the brewery’s existence in the immediate area. A nearby pub — which seems now to be abandoned, having been a nightclub in recent years — bears the brewery’s name.

I’m keen to find out more about “Collier Brothers Essex Brewery”. For now, I’ve found this brief history, at the East London and City Beer Guide Online:

Only one takeover, apart from the Wenlock Brewery Co Ltd, has been made by a brewery outside London. This was when Tollemache Breweries Ltd of Ipswich acquired Collier Brothers, Essex Brewery, St Jamess Street, Walthamstow in 1920. Founded by Williams Hawes in 1859. Brewing ceased in 1972 and the brewery has been demolished.

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There’s also this interesting trade advert at the British Library website.

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And this from the amazing British History Online website:

A brewer was listed in 1848. (fn. 169) In 1859 there were two, one of them being William Hawes, who built the steam-powered Walthamstow Brewery in St. James Street. (fn. 170) The Essex Brewery Co. Ltd. was formed in 1871 to buy Hawes’s brewery, (fn. 171) but apparently failed to attract subscribers, for the brewery was acquired by Collier Bros., who operated it as the Essex Brewery, until 1922. It was then sold to Tollemache’s Breweries Ltd., to whom it still belonged in 1968. (fn. 172)

From: ‘Walthamstow: Economic history, marshes and forests’, A History of the County of Essex: Volume 6 (1973), pp. 263-75. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=42779. Date accessed: 26 July 2007.

3 replies on “The Defunct Essex Brewery”

Cannot offer much on this brewery save that the Collier brothers may form part of my family tree ; my GF, Father and I all have ‘Collier’ as our middle names and my GF made reference to the Collier Brothers , Brewers , in his writings reference our family relations.

cannot add that much either but my grandmother and her sisters worked there and i have a photo from the early 1920s of them among a group of brewery girls taken at Tolly’s as they called it. They all lived very close to the brewery.

I know it is a like looking for a needle in a Haystack, but My Mum and her Twin sister worked at The Brewery in Walthamstow would have been round about 1938-1941 ??? and she conceived me while working there. I have been trying to trace my Father after all these years and wondered if anyone still alive who may be able to throw light on this ??? I will give you some further details if anyone can recall!!!her name was Travers and her parents owned a Fish Shop in Gosport Road .

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