Gales: A Study in Brewing, Business and Family History

by Barry Stapleton, James H. Thomas

Overview

This title was first published in 2000: This volume tells the fascinating story of the origins, development, growth and survival of a small country brewery in Hampshire. Employing and analyzing a wealth of original documentation, it examines the local environment both before establishment of the brewery and during the 150 years of its existence. While the performance of Gales Brewery is examined in the context of the British brewing industry as a whole, the thread of family involvement is woven throughout the volume. The contribution of contrasting individual entrepreneurs is examined in absorbing detail, from the half century of domination by George Alexander Gale to the subsequent century of contribution by the Bowyer family. Gales is exceptional in being one of the very few family breweries to survive the mania of mergers and takeovers in the brewing industry. This very readable book will be of considerable interest to business, economic, family and local historians.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781138713048
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	10/27/2017
Series:	Routledge Revivals
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Barry Stapleton, James H. Thomas

Table of Contents

Contents: Introduction; The British brewing industry over two centuries: an outline; Horndean and the Gale family, 1700-1847; Sorrow and success: the era of George Alexander Gale, 1847-96; The early years of H. F. Bowyer to the First World War; The company in war and peace: 1914-39; Problems and progress: 1939-84; Towards 2000: the company since 1984; Appendix 1: Family trees: Gale and Bowyer; Appendix 2: Company officers; Appendix 3: George Gale and Co.: house list as at 20 April 1998; Select bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

Historians from the University of Portsmith tell the story of the origins, development, growth, and survival of a small country brewery in Hampshire, England, one of the very few family breweries still standing after the mania of mergers and takeovers in the industry. They draw on company records and interviews to examine the local environment both before the establishment of the brewery and during the century and a half of its existence, analyze its performance in the context of the British brewing industry as a whole, and trace the thread of family involvement through the generations from the domination by George Alexander Gale to the subsequent century of contribution by the Bowyer family. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

'..a firm that is as attractive to the business historian as its beer doubtless is to its customers.' Business History '...a serious and sustained academic study in a field where good histories of firms are rare. That it records in detail the history of a small county brewery - of which there were hundreds in the late-nineteenth century - and one which remarkably still exists is especially valuable.' The Agricultural History Review

From the Publisher