James Calder & Co (Brewers) Ltd (brewers : 1920-1960 : Alloa, Scotland)

The Shore Brewery , Alloa, Scotland , was built in 1816 by John McNellan . By 1860 , McNellan, Sons & Co had agencies in Glasgow, Scotland , Belfast, Northern Ireland , Liverpool, England and Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England , but during the next year it ran into financial difficulties and was put up for sale in 1862 .

The business was bought by James Calder who acquired, J & A Vannen, Bo'ness Distillery , Bo'ness, Scotland, in 1873 and Glenfoyle Distillery , near Gargunnock, Scotland , in 1880. James Calder's second son, John J Calder , became manager of Calder & Co in 1890 . In 1905 , James Calder & Co (Alloa) Ltd was registered as a limited liability company to acquire the business. In 1913 John J Calder was appointed manager, by the receiver, of Samuel Allsopp & Sons Ltd , Burton-on-Trent, England , which was then in severe difficulties and was appointed chairman of Archibald Arrol & Sons Ltd , Alloa , in 1918 .

The company was re-registered as James Calder & Co (Brewers) Ltd in 1920 and its whisky interests were sold to James Dewar & Sons . Brewing ceased at the Shore Brewery in 1921 , all the company's brewing requirements being contracted out to Archibald Arrol & Sons Ltd . The company acquired a brewery at Ostend, Belgium , for GBP12,718 in 1921 and, with C Vaux & Sons Ltd , Sunderland, England, also took over Robinson Brothers Ltd , Houghton-le-Spring, Sunderland , England, with 63 tied houses in 1925 , dividing the houses between themselves. It also acquired Arrol's Scottish tied houses in the late 1930s ; breweries in Marsa, Malta , and Nairobi, Kenya ; Robert Henderson & Co Ltd , The Mills Brewery, Alloa, Scotland , in 1944 ; Steel Coulson & Co Ltd 's Greenhead Brewery, Glasgow, in 1946 ; and Geo Thomson & Son Ltd , bottlers of Falkirk ; Blairgowrie, Perthshire and Kinross ; and Dysart, Fife , in 1950 .

From 1951 , Arrol ceased to brew ale, so, although that firm continued to supply the company's lager requirements, all its other beer was supplied by John Jeffrey & Co Ltd , Heriot Brewery, Roseburn, Edinburgh . The company opened a new bottling plant at Bankhead Medway, Sighthill, Edinburgh in 1956 . It was acquired in 1960 by Northern Breweries of Great Britain Ltd , later United Breweries Ltd , and ceased to brew.

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

From the guide to the Records of the James Calder & Co (Brewers) Ltd, Alloa, Scotland, 1905-1970, (Glasgow University Archive Services)