Samuel Whitbread
Samuel Whitbread (1720-1796) established a brewery that in 1799 became Whitbread.
1720 August 30th. Born at Cardington in Bedfordshire, the seventh of eight children of Henry Whitbread and his wife Elizabeth Winch.
1734/6. He left for London aged 14 (16) to become an apprentice to a London brewer, John Witman.
1742. Whitbread went into partnership with Godfrey and Thomas Shewell, investing £2,600 (£2000) he had inherited, in two of Shewell's small breweries, the Goat Brewhouse (where porter was produced) and a brewery in Brick Lane (used to produce pale and amber beers).
1743 became free of the Brewers' Company
Godfrey Shewell withdrew from the partnership as Thomas Shewell and Samuel Whitbread borrowed more to buy the large site of the derelict King's Head brewery in Chiswell Street in 1750, specifically for porter.
1757 Married to Harriet Hayton
1761 Shewell withdrew from the partnership. Whitbread went on to became very rich
1764 Birth of son Samuel
1764 His wife died
1768 Whitbread was elected Member of Parliament for Bedford, and held the seat until 1790, when his son took over the seat.
1769 Married Lady Mary Cornwallis
He was an early supporter of the abolition of slavery and took part in some of the anti-slavery debates of 1788 in the House of Commons.
1792 Represented Steyning in Parliament from 1792 to 1796.
1795 Bought Lord Torrington's Southill Estate, Elstow Manor, adding to his other substantial property interests.
When he died on 11 June 1796, the Gentleman's Magazine claimed that he was "worth over a million pounds".
See Also
Sources of Information
- [1] Wikipedia
- Biography of Samuel Whitbread, ODNB