William Bass (brewer)

William Bass (1717 – 2 March 1787) was the founder of the Bass Brewery.

Career

William Bass junior was the second of three sons of William Bass senior (died 1732) and his wife Hannah Fish.[1] His father, a plumber and glazier, died when William junior was 15, after which he carried on a carrier business with his older brother John in Hinckley, Leicestershire.[2] In 1756 William married Mary Gibbons, daughter of a London publican who ran the Red Lion Inn close to the London depot. They chose Burton-upon-Trent as their home because it was midway between Manchester and London, was a growing industrial-commercial centre, and was ideally positioned on the new Trunk canal, continuing his business there as a carrier of beer, his chief client being Benjamin Printon,[3] a local brewer.

By 1777, aged 60, he had saved some money, and, seeing the growing demand for Burton beer, he entered the brewing business. He bought a town house in the High Street, which contained a brewery and malthouse on adjoining land. Burton was already a thriving brewing town with several breweries exploiting the growing export beer trade via the Trent Navigation and Hull to the Baltic ports in Russia, mainly Saint Petersburg.[3] He established the Bass Brewery and catered mainly for the domestic market, but in 1784 he started to export ale directly to Russia.[4]

After his death, he was succeeded in the business by his sons William and Michael, and in 1795 Michael took sole control.

Bass is buried in Burton.[1]

Family

Bass married Mary Gibbons[1] and their children included William and Michael.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 the Peerage.com
  2. ↑ "William Bass (1717 – 1787)". Burton on Trent. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  3. 1 2  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Bass (brewers)". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  4. ↑ Burton-upon-Trent: Economic history, A History of the County of Stafford: Volume 9: Burton-upon-Trent (2003), pp. 53-84 Date accessed: 30 May 2009
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