William Younger & Co Ltd (brewers : 1887-1986 : Edinburgh, Scotland)

Tradition has it that William Younger I , aged 16, set up a brewery in Kirkgate, Leith, Scotland , in 1749. In 1853 he married Grizel Syme and became an exciseman, leaving the brewery to be run by Grizel. However, this account is flawed and inaccurate and cannot be substantiated. Grizel actually ran her deceased second husband's brewery and it was this brewery and those of her sons that developed into the firm of William Younger & Co .

After William Younger I, Grizel Syme's first husband, had died in 1770, Grizel married Alexander Anderson , a Leith brewer, in 1772, who had been brewing since at least 1758. He took one of her sons, Archibald Campbell Younger as an apprentice, and probably also trained her other sons Richard and William II. Alexander Anderson died in 1781 and Grizel took over the brewery, trading as Grizel Anderson , assisted by William II, until she retired in 1794.

Archibald Campbell Younger set up on his own business in 1777, establishing a brewery in the grounds of Holyrood Abbey, Edinburgh, Scotland , and acquired a new brewery, Croft-an-Righ Brewery, Holyrood, in 1786. He opened a new larger brewery in the North Back of Canongate (now Calton Road) in 1793. Richard was brewing at Gentle's Close, Canongate in 1788, but by 1796 was in London, England.

William Younger II opened his own brewhouse within Holyrood Abbey precinct in 1796. William Younger II extended this brewery and acquired James Blair's Abbey Brewhouse, Horse Wynd, Holyrood in 1803. (The company founding date of 1749 probably derives from James Blair's Abbey Brewery.) In 1806 he commenced brewing porter with his brother, Archibald Campbell Younger, and in 1808 took his brother-in-law, Robert Hunter , into partnership under the name of Younger and Hunter . In 1818, after the death of Robert Hunter, he took Alexander Smith , Brewer and Superintendent of the brewery, into partnership, the firm to be called William Younger & Company .

In 1819 Archibald Campbell Younger died and his brewery was disposed of to George Hastie . William Younger II's mother and brother-in-law died in 1821 and he was able to consolidate all the family interests under the title William Younger & Co . He expanded further into the Canongate and in 1836 Alexander Smith , brewer, and his son, Andrew, and William Younger III became William II's partners. By the 1840s the partnership was trading all over Scotland and exporting to North and South America , India and Australia . After the death of William Younger II and Alexander Smith in 1842 their sons carried on the business. William Younger IV joined the partnership in 1849 followed by his brother, Henry Johnston Younger , in 1852. The latter left the firm in 1855 but returned as a partner in 1861. William Younger III retired in 1851 (died 1854) leaving Andrew Smith to manage the business.

In 1858 Andrew Smith and William Younger IV purchased the adjacent premises of brewer Alexander Berwick , and built the Holyrood Brewery which ran between Canongate and its South Back (now Holyrood Road). The firm's first London office opened in 1861. William Younger IV (died 1886) and Andrew Smith retired in 1869, leaving the day-to-day control to Henry J Younger, his brother David Younger (retired 1880) and Alexander Smith (died 1885), Andrew Smith's son. Alexander Low Bruce (died 1893) became a partner in 1876. The breweries continued to expand and William Younger & Co Ltd was registered in August 1887 as a limited liability company to acquire the business, becoming a public company in 1889. By 1891 the company was producing 400,000 barrels of beer per year and by 1907 the brewery covered 27 acres and brewed a quarter of all the ale produced in Scotland.

In January 1931 the company merged with William McEwan & Co Ltd , Edinburgh, through Scottish Brewers Ltd . It acquired Collin Croft Brewery Co Ltd , Kendal, Cumbria, England , in 1933 and in 1946 employed 1,350 people. The Abbey Brewery closed in 1956 and the premises were remodelled to form the headquarters buildings of Scottish & Newcastle Breweries plc , with whom Scottish Brewers Ltd merged in 1960. The site is to be the new Scottish Parliament buildings. The Holyrood Brewery complex closed in 1986.

Sources: Richmond, Lesley and Turton, Alison (eds). The Brewing Industry. A Guide to Historical Records ( Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press, 1990 )

Topen, Alma . Unpublished draft of article on the history of William Younger & Co Ltd (Glasgow, 2002)

From the guide to the Records of William Younger & Co Ltd, brewers, Edinburgh, Scotland, 1658-1970s, (Glasgow University Archive Services)