Brewery records

The history of brewing in London is well-represented at The London Archives, and we hold the records of over 20 major breweries including Courage, Truman, Watney Mann, Whitbread, and Fuller, Smith and Turner.

Records date from 1621 and occupy about 400 linear metres of shelving.

These rich and diverse collections can include:

• corporate and financial records
• sales and production records
• extensive property records including deeds of breweries and public houses, plans and photographs
• staff records
• house magazines
• family and personal and family papers
• publicity and advertising material

Information about breweries and the brewing industry in London can be found in other archive collections, including Sessions records (for licensing), insurance records, trade directories, and local authority Building Act case files (effectively planning permission files).

We also care for the records of City livery companies associated with the brewing and distilling trades, and the London Brewers’ Council. The Jones-Jones collection contains over 14,000 photographs of pub exteriors and pub signs, taken by amateur enthusiasts between 1970 and 1992. Supporting use of the archive collections is our reference library, containing industry and company histories as well as the research publications of the Brewery History Society.