The Lion Brewing and Malting Company of Jerningham Street, Lower North Adelaide was one of the many breweries which proliferated in Australia in the nineteenth-century. Lion Brewing and Malting eventually confined itself to malting barley and manufacture of aerated waters and cordials.
The company was floated in 1888 in order to secure the brewing, hotel and property assets of Beaglehole and Johnston, issuing 75,000 shares of £1 each. [1] The company owned many hotels in South Australia including the Cross Keys Hotel at Dry Creek [2] (and subdivided around 20 acres adjacent in 1912), [3] the Flagstaff Hotel, Darlington, [4] the Oriental Hotel in Osmond Terrace, Norwood and the Bath Hotel at 91 King William Street in the city. Later in the 20th century it became a shareholder in another major hotel owner, Knapman and Sons, and bought out that company in 1973. [5]
Andrew Galbraith Johnston (1827 – 18 December 1886), James Johnston (1818 – 12 April 1891) and three other brothers, all of Campbeltown, Scotland, arrived in South Australia on the Buckinghamshire early in 1839 with their father, who soon built one of South Australia's first malthouses and founded the town of Oakbank. [6] [7] He served a ten-year apprenticeship as a draper, then opened a shop in Reedy Creek which he left for the goldfields. He was quite successful and with his brother James, after a brief stint as a miller in Bridgewater, joined his father's brewing business and together built it into a highly profitable business. [8]
Robert Cock, a "first settler" who accompanied Governor Hindmarsh on HMS Buffalo, and for whom Cox's Creek was named, has been reported as founder of the malting business. [9] and had a substantial farm in the area. [7]
James Johnston was one of the best-known men in the south, as his firm had business connections and valuable hotel property in all the principal centres of the district. He took an active interest in the politics of the Onkaparinga district and was generous in his support of the Woodside and Mount Barker Institutes. He was one of the founders of the Mount Barker Agricultural Society (missing only one of its first 44 annual shows) and with his brother Andrew was an active promoter of the Onkaparinga Racing Club (now Oakbank Racing Club), and its Great Eastern Steeplechase, first run in 1876. He was an enthusiastic proponent of "acclimatisation of useful species" and stocked the district about his home with Californian quail, and filled the Onkaparinga with perch. [6] He married Margaret "Minnie" Disher (died 11 April 1900), a sister of Eliza, Lady Milne. The Disher family arrived in Adelaide aboard Palmyra in October 1839.
James's son John Disher Johnston (1850–1916) was a partner in the brewery. [6] Another son, James Steele Johnston (1870 – 22? May 1892) was partner in the Broken Hill, New South Wales brewing firm of Simpson, Johnston and Co. [10]
William Henry Beaglehole (6 May 1834 – 1 June 1917) was born at Helston, Cornwall and came to South Australia at the age of 15. He worked as a builder, then joined rush to the goldfields of Victoria, where he had some success. He operated as a builder and developer in the copper-mining towns of Kadina, Wallaroo, and Moonta, where he was for eight years landlord of the Royal Hotel. He represented the district for six years in the South Australian House of Assembly.
He founded the firm Beaglehole and Johnston with James and Andrew Galbraith Johnston, owners of the Oakbank Brewery. In 1884 he founded the Lion Brewing and Malting Company and was elected chairman of directors. [11] He founded the Waverley Brewery at Broken Hill (later purchased by the South Australian Brewing Company). He started a distillery at Thebarton, which was subsequently acquired by Milne and Co. He was one of the first ≠members of the South Australian Licensed Victuallers' Association. He was one of the founders of the Grand Hotel in Melbourne. [12]
Frederick Arthur Chapman (10 March 1864 – 18 September 1925) was born in Stepney, South Australia, the son of Arthur Chapman, one of Adelaide's best-known hotel brokers. He was educated at Grote Street State School, J. L. Young's Adelaide Educational Institution and Prince Alfred College. He entered the brewing trade as an apprentice under Mr. G. Gray at the Lion Brewery and remained with the company all his life. At 18 be was sent out as a traveller, and became acquainted with most aspects of hotel management. He worked in every branch of the trade and at the age of 25 he was appointed company secretary. By then the company had ceased brewing to concentrate on production of malt, aerated beverages and cordials. His duties took him periodically to Sydney, Brisbane, and Perth, where the company had customers for its malt among the leading breweries.
He was for some time secretary of the South Australian Associated Brewers and the Brewers' Association. On many occasions he represented the brewing interest at conferences and in Arbitration Court cases. He was a director of the Cooperative Bottle Company, and was for a time chairman of the finance committee of the Chamber of Manufacturers.
For six years he was a member cf the Church of England Synod's financial board, and for many years a synodsman and lay reader of the Church.
He was a prominent Freemason and a member of the Commercial Travellers' Association for over 30 years.
Chapman died of a heart attack on the Melbourne Express on his way to Victoria where he was to holiday with his brother, L. Chapman of Western Australia. He left a widow Marian (née Kingsborough), two sons: Dr. A. Chapman (superintendent of the Adelaide Dental Hospital) and Mr. S. Chapman (secretary of the Lion Brewing Company) and a daughter, Elma Chapman. [13]
Stanley Irwin Chapman (1892 –29 September 1940), a son of F. A. Chapman, was educated at St. Peter's College, then worked for some years with Burns, Philp and Company Ltd. in New Guinea. When war broke out in 1914 he joined the navy, and on return to Sydney transferred to the army as staff sergeant. After the war he joined Lion Brewing and eventually succeeded his father as manager. He was an active member of the Returned Soldiers' League and of St. Peter's Old Collegians' Association.
Listed in Sands and MacDougalls Directory 1962 as company manager.
Tooth and Co was the major brewer of beer in New South Wales, Australia. The company owned a large brewery on Broadway in Sydney from 1835 until 1985, known as the Kent Brewery. It was historically one of Australia's oldest companies, having been established as a partnership in 1835 and listed on the then Sydney Stock Exchange in July 1961. The brand has undergone a revival in 2015.
Woodside is a town in the Adelaide Hills region of South Australia. The town is between Balhannah and Lobethal, 37 kilometres (23 mi) from the state capital, Adelaide. Mount Barker is also nearby.
Oakbank is a town in the Adelaide Hills, east of Adelaide in South Australia. It is in the Adelaide Hills Council area. At the 2006 census, Oakbank had a population of 473.
The South Australian Brewing Company, Limited was a brewery located in Thebarton, an inner-west suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is a subsidiary of Lion, which in turn is owned by Kirin, a Japan-based beverage company. It manufactures West End Draught beer.
Sir William Milne was an Australian entrepreneur and politician, serving as the member for Onkaparinga in the South Australian House of Assembly from 1857 to 1868. He was elected to the South Australian Legislative Council in 1869, and was President of the South Australian Legislative Council from 25 July 1873 to 1881.
Daniel Michael Paul Cudmore was a pastoralist in the early days of South Australia and the founder of a family highly influential in that and other states, especially Queensland.
William Knox Simms was a brewer, businessman and politician in the early days of South Australia.
William Bowman was a pioneer farmer, grazier, flour miller and merchant on the Finniss River near Middleton, South Australia.
William Knapman was a hotel owner, brewer and businessman in the young colony of South Australia. He founded the hotel owning firm of Knapman and Son which survived past the mid-20th century. His descendants included four of South Australia's most famous sportsmen, a well-known pianist and numerous publicans.
William Henry Beaglehole was born at Helston, Cornwall, and came to South Australia on the Prince Regent with his mother, the widow Elizabeth Beaglehole and brother John, arriving in July 1849.
Arthur Chapman was a businessman in Adelaide, South Australia, closely associated with the Theatre Royal, Adelaide.
Edgar Chapman was a brewer and businessman in Adelaide, South Australia, closely associated with the Theatre Royal.
The West End Brewery in Hindley Street, Adelaide, was a South Australian brewer of beer founded in the colony of South Australia in 1859 by a consortium of brewers. Its West End Ale was a popular brand and the enterprise was a successful one. The company merged with the Kent Town Brewery and Ben Rounsevell's wine and spirit business to create the South Australian Brewing, Malting, Wine and Spirit Company, in 1888, which continued to use the West End brand.
Oakbank Racing Club, formerly the Onkaparinga Racing Club, is a thoroughbred horse racing organization in South Australia. It is responsible for the Oakbank Racecourse and running the events of the Easter Racing Carnival on that course, culminating in the Great Eastern Steeplechase.
Charles Edward Mallen was a carpenter and brewer in the early days of the colony of South Australia.
Milne & Co. was a South Australian company of wine merchants, with premises on Grenfell Street, Adelaide, founded and for much of its history run by members of the Milne family.
Walkerville Brewery was a brewer of beer in Adelaide, South Australia, originally founded in the 1840s. The company became a co-operative, and grew by admitting hotel owners as shareholders, and absorbed smaller breweries. After several amalgamations it moved its operations to Southwark and by 1920 it was South Australia's largest brewing company.
James Turnbull Thomson was a publican and brewer, recognised as the founder of Balhannah, South Australia.
Kent Town Brewery was a brewery in Kent Town, a suburb adjacent to the city of Adelaide on its eastern side, in South Australia. Its original name was Logue's Brewery, after its first proprietor.
Charles Williams was head brewer for several notable Australian companies.