W. H. Clark (brewer)

William Henry Clark (approx. 1815–1870) was a brewer in South Australia, the founder of the Halifax Street brewery, an antecedent of the West End Brewery.

History

William Henry Clark was born in Newry, Ireland,[1] and arrived in SA in June 1839 aboard Sir Charles Forbes from Liverpool; the following year he married fellow-passenger Sarah Ann Blakely.

He founded the Halifax Street brewery around 1844,[2] and by May 1848 was described as an "enterprising brewer" when he founded a copper mine on land he owned near Strathalbyn.[3]

Further examples of "enterprise" were his subdivision of land at North Adelaide and 650 acres (260 ha) at Gilles Plains,[4] his property on Hindley Street,[5] and the office building he erected on King William Street between Currie and Waymouth streets, later owned by the Bank of Adelaide.[6]
In 1854 he formed a partnership "W. H. Clark & Co." with Spence, Parr and Logue, to purchase the Crawford brothers' Hindmarsh Brewery assets[7] in an attempt to reduce competition and increase their client base.

The brewery was unpopular with nearby residents due to the stench of the waste liquid discharged into the Gilles Street gutters.[8] He built a mill and malthouse on the same side of Halifax Street, with just the Rob Roy Tavern between them.[9]

This was a time of economic recession: Clark sold the Halifax Street brewery to Henry Noltenius in February 1858, and continued to work as manager. In July Noltenius took on W. K. Simms as partner, then sold him his share of the business.[10] Both Clark and Noltenius were in debt to the bank. Clark's house at Walkerville on the banks of the Torrens was advertised for sale in May 1858. Clark and Simms had around this time commenced on a second brewery, at the west end of Hindley Street, which would become the West End Brewery. Clark left South Australia for Melbourne around January 1860, a few months before his insolvency hearing and out of reach of his creditors, leaving W. K. Simms and G. P. Gardner to run the business.[11]

Clark died sometime between 1862[12] and 1873,[13] but not mentioned in the newspapers of either colony. His death is not registered in South Australia. Nor has his date of birth been established, but it could be assumed he would have been between 20 and 30 years of age when he emigrated and married.

Postscript

Clark's Halifax Street brewery, after sixteen years laying idle, was revived by W. J. Disher in 1875 as the Imperial brewery,[14] and by 1909 was the site of the Enterprise Boot Factory.[15]

The West End Brewery proved profitable and Simms and Chapman became wealthy men. They joined with Edwin Smith, who in 1876 built a large brewery complete with malting facilities at Kent Town, William Rounsevell and Alfred Simms, as the South Australian Brewing, Malting & Wine & Spirit Co. Ltd., enlarging the brewing facilities at West End, and centering the malting work at Kent Town. The company began a campaign of purchasing hotels freehold or leasehold, and by the end of the 1880s had a stranglehold on the Adelaide market. In 1893 they sold off their wine and spirit business, and the name was changed to South Australian Brewing Company, Limited.[16]

For a list of other Adelaide breweries of the period see Hindmarsh Brewery

Family

William Henry Clark (died before 1873) was the second son of Edward Clark of Liverpool; he married Sarah Ann Blakely (1825 – 18 December 1894) on 19 February 1840. They arrived in South Australia aboard Sir Charles Forbes in June 1839. She died in Glenelg, South Australia.[17] Their children included:

  • Jessie Clark (1842 – 8 January 1906) married Judge William Alfred Wearing (12 November 1816 – 24 February 1875) on 4 October 1860. He died with the wreck of SS Gothenburg; she and their five children left for London shortly after.
  • Anne Glenn "Annie" Clark (4 November 1843 – 4 December 1921) married Clement Sabine ( – 27 November 1903) on 6 March 1862. By this time W. H. Clark had moved to Melbourne.[18]
  • Edward Clark (1846 – 4 April 1900) married Elizabeth Jones? Wolfe? (died 1874). He married again, to (Harriett Frances) Jane Long (c. 1857 – 11 October 1938) on 11 May 1876. Jane married again, to Oscar John Herbert on 23 July 1914. His large family included:
  • Mary Glenn Clark (10 December 1868 – 6 October 1954) married Joseph Conigrave (c. 1841 – 3 April 1905) in 1898, his second wife. He died by cutting his own throat.
  • Elinor Joy Clark (1870 – 14 November 1943) married Richard Fordham (c. 1870 – 22 March 1935) in 1895; he died after falling down flight of stairs
  • Stella Ethel Clark (1877– )
  • Edward Blakely Clark (1879–1947)
  • Elsie Muriel Clark (1880– not 1937)
  • Rita Beatrice Clark (27 November 1881 – )
  • George Oscar Murray Clark (27 May 1883 – 1959)
  • Harold Hamilton Clark (1886– ) married Lucy Amelia May Devonshire in 1912
  • Stanley Roy Clark (1889– )
  • Eric Gordon Tarcoola Clark (1893–1915)
  • Gwendolyn Gladys Blakely Clark (1896– )

Edward was also a brewer,[19] owner of East Adelaide Brewing Company, which merged with Walkerville Brewing Cooperative and A. W. & T. L. Ware & Co., owners of Torrenside Brewery, to form Southwark Brewing Company.

  • William Henry Clark (1846 – 18 December 1875) born in Newry, Armagh, Ireland; married Jeannie Wilson on 3 March 1871;[20] and died at Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, Victoria[21] His wife had a son six days later.[22]
  • George Clark (11 September 1857 – ) was manager of Blanchwater Station.

References

  1. ↑ Dymphna Lonergan. "Irish Place Names in Australia". Flinders University of South Australia. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  2. ↑ "Advertising". South Australian Register. XX, (2946). South Australia. 12 March 1856. p. 1. Retrieved 20 May 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ↑ "Copper Mines". The South Australian. XI, (941). South Australia. 16 May 1848. p. 3. Retrieved 22 May 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ↑ "Advertising". South Australian Gazette And Mining Journal. IV, (186). South Australia. 13 January 1849. p. 1. Retrieved 16 December 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ↑ "Advertising". South Australian Gazette And Mining Journal. IV, (186). South Australia. 13 January 1849. p. 1. Retrieved 22 May 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ↑ "Bank of Adelaide's New Premises". Evening Journal (Adelaide). VII, (1838). South Australia. 18 January 1875. p. 2. Retrieved 20 May 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ↑ "Advertising". South Australian Register. XVIII, (2446). South Australia. 24 July 1854. p. 1. Retrieved 3 March 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ↑ "Health of the City". The South Australian. XIII, (1204). South Australia. 16 December 1850. p. 2. Retrieved 24 September 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. ↑ "Advertising". Adelaide Times. X, (1619). South Australia. 13 February 1856. p. 4. Retrieved 24 September 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. ↑ "Insolvency Court". South Australian Register. XXIV, (4272). South Australia. 23 June 1860. p. 3. Retrieved 23 May 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. ↑ "The Late Mr. Gardner". South Australian Weekly Chronicle. II, (90). South Australia. 7 April 1860. p. 3. Retrieved 23 May 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. ↑ "Family Notices". South Australian Register. XXVI, (2523). South Australia. 7 March 1862. p. 2. Retrieved 23 May 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  13. ↑ "Adelaide in the Olden Time". South Australian Register. XXXVIII, (8210). South Australia. 11 March 1873. p. 4. Retrieved 23 May 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  14. ↑ "The Imperial Brewery". South Australian Register. XL, (8818). South Australia. 18 February 1875. p. 5. Retrieved 23 May 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  15. ↑ "A Veteran's Decease". Evening Journal (Adelaide). XLIII, (12037). South Australia. 26 October 1909. p. 2. Retrieved 27 September 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  16. ↑ Alison Painter. "South Australian Brewing Co. Ltd". Retrieved 20 May 2017.
  17. ↑ "Family Notices". Evening Journal (Adelaide). XXVI, (7538). South Australia. 19 December 1894. p. 2. Retrieved 23 May 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  18. ↑ "Family Notices". South Australian Register. XXVI, (2523). South Australia. 7 March 1862. p. 2. Retrieved 20 May 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  19. ↑ "Personal". The Advertiser (Adelaide). XLII, (12937). South Australia. 5 April 1900. p. 5. Retrieved 20 May 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  20. ↑ "Family Notices". The Leader (Melbourne). XIX, (796). Victoria, Australia. 1 April 1871. p. 26. Retrieved 23 May 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  21. ↑ "Family Notices". The Age (6512). Victoria, Australia. 20 December 1875. p. 2. Retrieved 20 May 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  22. ↑ "Family Notices". Illustrated Australian News. Victoria, Australia. 19 January 1876. p. 14. Retrieved 20 May 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.