Scottish Brewing Archive

• Revised by Natalie Milne, Hub Archives Assistant, 1 October 2001
• Custodial history, immediate source of acquisition and index terms added by Wiebke Redlich, Archive Assistant (Hub), 16 January 2002
• 8 June 2005 Catalogue record converted to EAD2002, May 2005
• Administrative history revised by Iain Russell, April 2006

Administrative/Biographical History

The Argyle Brewery in the Cowgate, Edinburgh, was reputedly founded in 1710. By 1756 the brewery was operated by Archibald Campbell who specialised in brewing porter, some of which was sent by wagon to Glasgow. By 1799 the business was run by a partnership, Campbell & Young, and it became Archibald Campbell & Co some time in the early 19th century. The firm was recorded as "Purveyors of Ales to His Majesty the King" (ie; William IV) in 1837, and held Royal Warrants from each of William’s successors until 1963.

Archibald Campbell & Co’s reputation grew, and Louis Pasteur visited the brewery in 1871. The firm was exporting beer to Belgium by the late 19th century. Archibald Campbell, Hope & King Ltd was registered as a limited company in November 1896, to acquire the businesses of Archibald Campbell & Co and the Glasgow firm, Hope & King, which traded as wholesale wine and spirit merchants, exporters and whisky blenders. The authorised capital of the new company was GBP 220,000, and the cost of acquiring the two firms was set at GBP 214,000.

The new company acquired the Elgin wine and spirit merchants A W Skinner & Co that year. It became well known as a spirits merchant and particularly as a whisky bottler in the North East of Scotland, and in 1937 built a new bottling plant, for beers and spirits, in Elgin. The firm subsequently built a large bonded warehouse and had a duty–paid warehouse in the town, and established a wine its regional office above its wine and spirit shop there.

The company acquired the South Western Brewery Co Ltd of Newton Stewart, with its six tied houses, in 1925. In 1939 it acquired the business (but not the brewery) of William Whitelaw & Sons Ltd of Fisherrow in Musselburgh. Whitbread & Co took a stake in Archibald Campbell, Hope & King Ltd in 1965, and acquired the business two years later. The Argyle Brewery closed in 1970 and the tied houses were sold to Drybrough’s and Ushers. The brewery building was demolished in 1994.

Sources:
Donnachie, Ian, A History of the Brewing Industry in Scotland (Edinburgh: John Donald, 1982).
McMaster, Charles, "Archibald Campbell, Hope & King Ltd" (unpublished manuscript, 1982).
Richmond, Lesley and Turton, Alison (eds), The Brewing Industry. A Guide to Historical Records, (Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press, 1990).
The Manual of British and Foreign Brewery Companies 1924. A Compendium of Joint-Stock Brewery Enterprise, (London, 1924).

Scope and Content

• Agenda books, 1941-1956
• Agreement books, 1897-1937
• Diagram of company management hierarchy, 1967
• Directors’ minute books, 1896-1963
• Employee registers, 1960-1965
• Financial records, 1888-1969
• Historical notes, 1969-1996
• Licensed premises records, 1960s
• Memorandum and articles of association, 1964.
• Other minute books, 1905-1975
• Patents and trademarks, 1901-1969
• Photographs, 1940s-1994
• Production records, 1852-1970
• Promotional material, 1860s-1980s
• Property records, 1886-1980s
• Public records, 1964
• Recreation records, 1885
• Registers, 1902-1967
• Salaries books, 1918-1940
• Sales records, 1851-1967
• Shareholding records, 1896-1972

Fonds-Level Description Compilation Details

Fonds-Level Description Alterations