Scottish Brewing Archive

• Revised by Wiebke Redlich, Archive Assistant (Hub), 16 January 2002
• 8 June 2005 Catalogue record converted to EAD2002, May 2005

Administrative/Biographical History

Andrew Drybrough, brewer and baxter (baker), was brewing in Edinburgh, Scotland, prior to 1750. He was succeeded by James Drybrough who brewed in Tolbooth Wynd, moving to the south side of the North Back of Canongate (now Calton Road), in 1782 and traded as Andrew Drybrough & Co. The firm expanded into Craigend Brewery, on the north side of the North Back of Canongate, in 1874 and moved to a green–field site at Craigmillar, to the south east of Edinburgh, in 1892.

Drybrough & Co Ltd was registered in December 1895 as a limited liability company to acquire the business. The company sold its beer locally in the south and west of Scotland and the north–east of England. It also supplied beer to Alnwick Brewery Co Ltd, Alnwick, Northumberland, England, from 1963 and Ballingall & Co Ltd, Dundee, Tayside, from 1964.

The company was acquired by Watney Mann Ltd, brewers, London, England, in 1965 and took over the licensed houses of Ballingall & Co Ltd, Dundee, Tayside, Scotland, in 1968; A H Higginbottom & Co, Newcastle–upon–Tyne, Tyne & Wear, England, and Neesham & Co, Ushaw Moor, Durham, England, in 1969; Beverley & Co Ltd, Halifax, West Yorkshire, England, in 1969; and Alnwick Brewery Co Ltd, Alnwick, Northumberland, England, in 1978.

The company, along with 187 licensed houses, was sold by Watney, Mann & Truman Breweries Ltd to Allied–Lyons plc, on behalf of Alloa Brewery Co Ltd, Alloa, Scotland, for GBP 40.5 million on 8 January 1987. The Craigmillar Brewery ceased brewing on 23 January 1987.

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

• Memorandum and articles of association, 1951
• Certificate of incorporation, 1895
• Annual reports and accounts to shareholders, 1896–1944
• Shareholding records, 1895–1936
• Letterbooks, 1895–1936
• Financial records, 1781–1966
• Production records, 1796–1985
• Sales records, 1883–1970
• Salaries and wages records, 1912–1961.
• Pensions and life assurance records, 1965
• Staff housing records, 1893–1901
• Appointment letter, 1954
• Licensed premises records, 1885–1965
• Promotional material, 1919–1986
• Public Relations records, 1960–1975
• Family papers, 1795–1797
• Photographs, 1880s–1970s
• Historical notes, 1975–1987

Fonds–Level Description Compilation Details