Thrale history

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ANCHOR BREWERY, SOUTHWARK, SURREY, ENGLAND

Tree: UK Thrale family

Notes:

The Anchor Brewery, Bankside, operated from 1616 to 1962 and then as a bottling plant until 1981. Owned by the Thrale family from 1729 to 1781, it continued trading under the Thrale name for a further 17 years after Thrale ownership ended.

Now, it is part of the popular riverside area, comprising:

• a river walk;
• shops, restaurants, pubs;
• Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre; and
• the Tate Modern.

Owned by the Bishops of Winchester, the area known as Bankside became the entertainment centre of London after the City of London sought to limit theatrical uses by licensing them in 1574, and this caused them to migrate south of the river beyond the City’s jurisdiction. With the theatres came bull and bear baiting, inns and brothels. There were four theatres in the area, of which the Rose was the first, but perhaps the best known is the Globe, which was built in 1599. In 1642, theatres were banned by the Puritans, but by then, the area had become a major centre for industry to service the expansion of London.

Bankside was described as …

London’s scrap heap, the refuge of its excluded occupations and its rejected residents.

Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor , 1851

Location

The first Anchor Brewery on the site was established in 1710 by James Child to serve his public house on Bankside and is still called The Anchor. Situated at Deadmans Place, Bankside, adjacent to:

• Bandyleg Walk;
• Maid Lane;
• Dirty Lane;
• Clink Street;
• Frying Pan Alley; and
• St. Mary Overy’s Dock.

Maid Lane, which joined Deadmans Place at the river end, in 1751 was …

A long straggling place with ditches on either side; the passages to the houses being over little bridges.

Robert Dodsley, London and Its Environs Described, 1751.

The extent of the brewery is shown on the First Edition Ordnance Survey plan of 1873.

Neighbours included:

• a noisy and dusty stonecutter’s yard;
• an old burial ground;
• an open sewer;
• several tanneries;
• Messrs Potts’s vinegar factory;
• The Naked Boy;
• patches of open space locals used as tenter ground for stretching cloth; and
• Clink Prison.

Clink Prison, was described as…

a very dismal hole.

John Snow, Survey of London, 1598.

The 9-acre compound - vulnerable to flooding from the River Thames - encompassed:

• clerks’ quarters;
• storehouses;
• vaults;
• vats; and
• stabling and dung pits for nearly 100 horses.

Critical to the success of north Southwark's industries was the improvement of its road connections. Blackfriars Bridge opened in 1769, and Southwark Bridge was completed in 1819. The latter was constructed of cast-iron arches on granite piers and, at 240 ft, the central span was the largest ever achieved in cast iron. It was replaced in 1921.

John Rocque's map of 1746 indicates significant development in the Southwark area. Thrale Street was then known as Castle Street and ran northwest to southeast, intersecting with Redcross Street. The road is lined with buildings on either side, to the north are gardens or allotments and beyond these a Tenter Ground.

Throughout the ownership of Ralph Thrale, Henry Thrale and Barclay Perkins, neighbouring land was acquired to expand production. By 1810, the brewery site had grown to almost 14 acres.

In 1862, Stanford’s Map depicts that the gardens and Tenter Ground to the north of Thrale Street (still known as Castle Street) had been replaced by the Anchor Brewery.

Buildings at the southern end of Thrale Street had suffered significant damage during the Second World War. The area to the north of Thrale Street had lost many buildings.

The post-Second World War maps indicate a number of the streets had been renamed: Castle Street had become Thrale Street, Winchester Street had become O'Meara Street and Redcross Street, Redcross Way.

Anchor Terrace, on Southwark Bridge Road, is a set-piece design built as eight houses in 1834 of yellow stock brick with stucco embellishments. It has three storeys, rising to four for the central five bays, which also break forward. Windows are arched to the ground floor and 12-pane sashes above. There is a balcony on the first floor and a full set of spearhead railings to the basement areas and entrances. In the mid-20th century, the whole terrace was converted into offices for Courage’s Brewery and later then to flats.

In the 1980s the buildings of the Anchor Brewery site were replaced by housing.

Chronology

Brewery House

Now known as 21 and 23 Park Street Southwark, London. The dilapidated building, which at one point was used as council housing was sold by Southwark Council in 2013 for £2.96 million - making it the:

most expensive council house in the UK.

Further information about the use of Brewery House during Henry Thrale's ownership is given on this page.

Production

We shall brew but Sixty Thousand Barrels of Beer this Year! pretty Times indeed; and Mr Smelt saying he wishes we had more Taxes, & the King more power: I wish the King would put an End to this destructive War I’m sure; the Year before last we brew’d 96,000 Barrels—last Year only 76,000, & this Winter we shall scarece turn 60,000. So horribly is the Consumption lessened by the War.

Hester Thrale, Thraliana, 21 January 1780

A fuller account of the ownership and history for during period of ownership of the brewery is given here.

Media

Photos » Slide Show		Anchor brewery circa 1785
		Anchor Brewery by G Yates in 1826
		Borough or Brewery House in 1833
		Anchor brewery plaque Park Street, Southwark
		Anchor brewery fire in 1832 by William Clarkson Stanfield A painting of a disastrous fire in 1832 at the Anchor Brewery on Bankside by William Clarkson Stanfield. Purchased by Guildhall Art Gallery on 22 July 2009 for £4,375.
		Park Street plaque of attack on Genral Haynau at Anchor Brewery AN INTERNATIONAL INCIDENT OCCURED HERE 1850 GENERAL HAYNAU "THE AUSTRIAN BUTCHER" WAS RECOGNISED AND ATTACKED BY BARCLAY & PERKINS DRAYMEN
		Russian Imperial Stout. Manufactured at Anchor Brewery, 1962.
		Anchor Brewery, Park Street entrance, c.1820. By John Thomas Smith.
		'Brewery House', 2024. 21-23 Park Street Southwark, London.
		'Brewery House', 2024. 21-23 Park Street Southwark, London.
		John Perkins. By Lemuel Francis Abbott, 1809.
		1881 centenary commemorative coin.
		Anchor Brewery c.1826.
		Former Anchor Brewery Offices in Anchor Terrace. Now used for housing.
		Barclay Perkins Russian Imperial Stout. Bottle labelling.
		Barclays Russian Imperial Stout advert, 1936. Tatler Magazine 11 November 1936.
		Barclays Russian Imperial Stout label, 1950.
		Barclays Russian Imperial Stout label, 1975.
		Barclay Perkins Russian Imperial Stout bottle poster.
		Barclay Perkins Russian Imperial Stout label.
		Barclay Perkins Russian Imperial Stout label.
		Anchor Volunteers drawing.
		Anchor Volunteers postcard.
		Anchor Volunteers uniform jacket.
		Anchor Volunteers uniform shako.

Documents » Slide Show		Anchor Brewery, 1781 sale. Deed of sale of Anchor Brewery on 31 May 1781.
		Anchor brewery seventeenth century accounts Domestic accounts kept by Edmund Halsey in the 17th century.
		Anchor brewery, Southwark, plan 1875 Plan of Bankside (based on the 1875 Ordnance Survey). Note the Borough Waterworks Company (in pink) which supplied water to the brewery.
		Map of Harrow Corner, Southwark
		Map of Bankside, 1775. Bowles plan of London.

Histories » Slide Show		Henry Thrale's will Henry Thrale died on 4 April 1781 between 5 am and 6 am. The will, dated 17 March 1781, was read by the male executors on 5 April 1781. his wife, Hester, was later informed of its provisions by Samuel Johnson. Executors Dr. Samuel Johnson; Henry Smith; Jeremiah Crutchley; John Cator M.P.1; and Hester Lynch Thrale.
		Dr. Samuel Johnson's close friendship with the Thrale family. Samuel Johnson’s close friendship with Henry and Hester Thrale began in 1765, declined in 1781 after Henry’s death and mostly ended 1784 just before Hester married Gabriel Piozzi.
		Anchor Brewery, Bankside, London (1616-1986). The history of Anchor brewery from 1616 until 1986, including the 52 years between 1729 & 1781 in which it was owned by Ralph and Henry Thrale.

Videos

BBC TV Arena: According to Beryl (2001). On 6 October 2001, BBC Television broadcast 'According to Beryl'. Their hour-long account of the family arrangement enjoyed by Samuel Johnson and the Thrale family of Streatham seen through the eyes of Beryl Bainbridge, author of the book on the same subject, According to Queeney. We also have an account of the Bery Bainbridge book According to Queeney, upon which this TV programme about Queeney, Johnson and the Thrale family is based.

Birth

Matches 1 to 5 of 5

	Last Name, Given Name(s)	Birth		Person ID	Tree
1	THRALE, (miscarried)	10 Aug 1779	Anchor Brewery, Southwark, Surrey, England	I2168	UK Thrale family
2	THRALE, Frances	27 Sep 1765	Anchor Brewery, Southwark, Surrey, England	I216	UK Thrale family
3	THRALE, Henry Salusbury	15 Feb 1767	Anchor Brewery, Southwark, Surrey, England	I670	UK Thrale family
4	THRALE, Hester Maria	17 Sep 1764	Anchor Brewery, Southwark, Surrey, England	I94	UK Thrale family
5	THRALE, Susannah Arabella	23 May 1770	Anchor Brewery, Southwark, Surrey, England	I93	UK Thrale family

Death

Matches 1 to 3 of 3

	Last Name, Given Name(s)	Death		Person ID	Tree
1	THRALE, (miscarried)	10 Aug 1779	Anchor Brewery, Southwark, Surrey, England	I2168	UK Thrale family
2	THRALE, Frances	6 Oct 1765	Anchor Brewery, Southwark, Surrey, England	I216	UK Thrale family
3	THRALE, Henry Salusbury	23 Mar 1776	Anchor Brewery, Southwark, Surrey, England	I670	UK Thrale family

Occupation

Matches 1 to 1 of 1

	Last Name, Given Name(s)	Occupation		Person ID	Tree
1	THRALE, Ralph M.P.	Between 1711 and 1731	Anchor Brewery, Southwark, Surrey, England	I69	UK Thrale family

Property

Matches 1 to 5 of 5

	Last Name, Given Name(s)	Property		Person ID	Tree
1	HALSEY, Edmund MP	Between 1693 and 1729	Anchor Brewery, Southwark, Surrey, England	I746	UK Thrale family
2	SALUSBURY, Hester Lynch	Between 11 Apr 1781 and 31 May 1781	Anchor Brewery, Southwark, Surrey, England	I87	UK Thrale family
3	THRALE, Anna	Between Aug 1729 and 1731	Anchor Brewery, Southwark, Surrey, England	I70	UK Thrale family
4	THRALE, Henry M.P.	10 Apr 1758	Anchor Brewery, Southwark, Surrey, England	I83	UK Thrale family
5	THRALE, Ralph M.P.	1731	Anchor Brewery, Southwark, Surrey, England	I69	UK Thrale family