William McEwan , the son of John McEwan , shipowner of Alloa, Scotland , was born in 1827 . He served his apprenticeship with John Jeffrey , an Edinburgh brewer, and in 1856 he established his own business, the Fountain Brewery , in Fountainbridge in Edinburgh . He quickly established a large Scottish market and in the 1860s built up a successful colonial export trade. His sister married James Younger , an Alloa brewer, and one of their sons, William, joined his uncle's business. When William McEwan entered politics in 1886 , William Younger became the firm's manager. William McEwan & Co Ltd was registered in July 1889 as a limited liability company to acquire the business at a purchase price of GBP 408,000. The company acquired the trade and goodwill of Alexander Melvin & Co of the Boroughloch Brewery , Buccleuch Street, Edinburgh , in 1907 . It merged with William Younger & Co Ltd , Abbey Brewery, Holyrood Road, Edinburgh , to form Scottish Brewers Ltd in 1931 , and that company merged with Newcastle Breweries Ltd in 1960 to form Scottish & Newcastle Breweries Ltd . The Fountain Brewery was closed by S & N at the end of 2004 .
From the guide to the Records of William McEwan & Co Ltd, brewers, Edinburgh, Scotland, 1741-1991, (Glasgow University Archive Services)
