Scottish Brewing Archive

• Revised and administrative history added by Wiebke Redlich, Archive Assistant (Hub), 13 March 2002
• 8 June 2005 Catalogue record converted to EAD2002, May 2005
• Administrative history revised by Iain Russell, April 2006

Administrative/Biographical History

The Alloa Brewery Company was established in 1810 in Alloa by William Foote, Ebenezer Thompson and Andrew Roy, who was the manager of the concern. By 1825 Andrew Roy had bought out his partners and the company was trading under the name of Andrew Roy & Co. It acquired the neighbouring Hutton Park Brewery of John H Syme some time after 1837. In 1848 Andrew’s eldest son Robert M Roy became a partner with his father in the business, but after Andrew’s death in 1855 the Alloa Brewery and the Hutton Park Brewery were conveyed to trustees by way of Deed of Settlement. The trustees ran the business until 1860 when it was acquired by Robert Roy. In 1866 the Alloa Brewery was acquired by Archibald T Arrol of Glasgow.

Archibald Arrol was originally from the Buchlyvie area of West Stirlingshire, where his family were farmers. He moved to Glasgow as a young man. He became a merchant and eventually a burgess of the city, and joined the partnership of Taver & Arrol which held the Glasgow and West of Scotland agency for Roy’s Alloa Ales. Arrol acquired the Alloa Brewery in 1866 and, after his death in 1888, it passed to his younger sons Walter and Archibald.

In 1895 Archibald Arrol & Sons Ltd was registered as a limited liability company to acquire and amalgamate the business of Walter & Archibald Arrol with the brewery businesses of J Meikle and William Turnbull, both of Newcastle–upon–Tyne. In 1901 the company purchased Dove & Newsome Baxter Ltd of Newcastle-on-Tyne and Thornton–le–Moore, (established 1898). In 1910 the company acquired Arthur’s Hill Brewery Co Ltd of Newcastle–upon–Tyne (established 1865) and from 1921 the company produced lager for Samuel Allsopp & Sons Ltd of Burton–on–Trent.

Allsopp’s acquired a controlling interest in Archibald Arrol & Sons Ltd in 1930. In 1951 the company went into voluntary liquidation and the business, which included 29 licensed houses, was acquired by Ind Coope & Allsopp Ltd, Burton-on-Trent. Brewing continued on the site, operated from 1984 to 1998 by the Alloa Brewery Co Ltd. The brewery was taken over by Carlsberg–Tetley plc of Northampton in January 1990. Brewing was discontinued in 1998 and the brewery was demolished in 2001.

Sources:
McMaster, Charles, Alloa Ale. A History of the Brewing Industry in Alloa (Edinburgh: Alloa Brewery Co Ltd, 1984).
Richmond, Lesley and Turton, Alison (eds), The Brewing Industry. A Guide to Historical Records, (Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press, 1990).

Scope and Content

• Patents and trademarks, 1891-1894
• Photographs, c.1900-1980s
• Production records, 1916-1936
• Promotional material, 1953-1989
• Prospectus, 1895
• Sales records, undated
• Staff records, 1862

Fonds-Level Description Compilation Details