The family tree

The Weller brewery (1834-1909)

Amersham, Buckinghamshire, England (1834)

Both John and William [2] Weller died in 1834, and the brewery passed jointly to John’s son Edward (1791-1850) and William [2]’s son William [3] (1797-1859). There is evidence that the two cousins had been involved in the business prior to this date as they were both actively involved in the purchase of the ‘Wheatsheaf’ in 1842. This probably explains the continued expansion of the business into the tied trade market. Between 1845 and 1859 the various pieces of land which comprised the White Lion, Buckland Common, were acquired and the following public houses purchased prior to Edward’s death in 1850; the Four Horse Shoes, Stokenchurch (1845); the Royal Oak, Wallington, Oxfordshire (1848), the Red Lion, Amersham Common (1848) and the Boot And Slipper, Amersham (1849). The house that served for many years as the town’s police station was also purchased by the Wellers from Thomas Squire on 25 March 1850 (Conveyance, 23 March 1909).

Image by kind permission of Barry Warr. The second person from the left
looking out from behind the driver is his relative William Willis.
By the time of Edward’s death (when the brewery ceased to be a joint concern and fell into the sole ownership of William Weller [3]), it had become the most important industrial undertaking in the town. According to the 1851 census the brewery directly employed 45 men to brew beer and an additional 12 draymen to distribute it to the various tied properties. This made it the largest employer of labor after agriculture. Once the brewery had passed into his sole ownership, William [2] began to organise outings and entertainment for his employees. Each summer a brewery excursion was arranged. The first of these was to the Great Exhibition of 1851 and this was followed by others to the Crystal Palace, Earls Court, Windsor, Brighton, Eastbourne, Southampton, Southend and Margate (Bucks Herald, 7 September 1912, p.3). A dinner for each quarterly rent day was also arranged at the ‘Griffin’, as well as a Christmas meal for the employees of both the brewery and Woodside Farm.

However, the brewery did experience some local problems during the 1850s as a result of the passing of an extra duty on malt. It has been a tradition that the brewer should assume the responsibility for paying such duties but Mr. Weller apparently decided that it was time that the extra cost was passed onto the individual publicans. Image by kind permission of Barry Warr. Circulars were sent to all his tenants and customers informing them that henceforth he expected them all to pay 2s per barrel towards the cost of the duty which would have added a penny to a pot of beer. The innkeepers immediately responded to this by holding a meeting at the Swan on 29 May 1854 at which between 70 and 120 landlords attended. Under the chairman of Mr. Day it was resolved "to continue the price of beer to the public as it had hitherto been and offering Mr. Weller 1s a barrel towards the increase in duty" (Bucks Herald, 3 June 1854, p.3). Faced with such a united opposition, Mr. Weller reluctantly accepted the compromise.

It is around this time that a second brewery was established in the town. Known as the Bury End or Morten Brewery this was situated on the south side of London Road almost opposite the ‘Chequers’. Details of this undertaking are scant but it appears to have been begun by Thomas Allen Morten in either the late 1830s or early 1840s. According to ‘Pigot and Co’s Directory for 1830, Morten began business as a corn dealer in the High Street before moving to London Road as a "corn dealer and brewer" sometime prior to 1842 (‘Pigot and Co’s Directory, (1830) p.70 and (1842) p.3). Hereafter the business must have expanded rapidly because the 1851 census records 22 men being in his employment. Thomas Morten probably died in the late 1850s at which time his son John Hailey Morten inherited the brewery. The 1881 census records the latter living on the brewery premises along with his wife Eliza and their 6 daughters. John Morten is last recorded in Kelley’s (Kelley’s Directory (1883) p.275 and (1887) p.313) in 1883 and is absent in 1887, a fact which suggests that the brewery closed on his death.

House opposite the Weller Brewery (2001)

Meanwhile the Weller brewery continued its expansion despite the attentions of a growing temperance movement in the town. William Weller [3] died on 8 September 1859 having shortly before purchased Rumsey’s (now known as Badminton House) from Elisabeth Emma Rumsey on 27 April 1859. Under the terms of his will his estates were divided equally between his sons William [4] (1840-1908), Edward (1843-1890) and George (1844-1929). Once again the new generation of Wellers concentrated on extending the brewery’s tied estate. The Verney Arms, Great Marlow, was purchased in 1865, followed by the Magpies, Larkin’s Green, Coleshill (1871); the Bricklayer’s Arms, Bovingdon (1872), the Royal Oak, Cowley, Hillingdon, Middlesex (1875); the Pheasant, Hambledon (1875); the Red Lion, Burnham (1878); the King Edward VI, Berkhamsted (1879); the Red Lion, Kingshill (1883); Rose and Crown, Chorleywood (1889); the Jolly Farmers, Gold Hill, Chalfont St Peter (1890); and the Sir Charles Napier, Chinnor (1890). (Conveyance, 23 March 1909)

Other related content: The Weller brewery (1783-1929), The Weller brewery (1890-1930),

People related to this content: Edward Weller (Born:1790), William Weller (Born:1764), William Weller (Born:1797),

Published by Malcolm Weller.