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William and George Weller
- Amersham Brewery
Previously operating as a
maltster in High Wycombe, William Weller signed the lease of an existing
brewery in Amersham around 1771. The business was owned by the Hunt
family who are thought to have acquired the premises from the Drake
family who had operated a brewery in Amersham during the early 18th
century. William Weller was successful and, soon after establishing the
business, acquired the Saracen's Head and Old Griffin public houses. He
died in 1802 and left the business to his sons John and William who
expanded the business and tied estate of public houses. Following their
acquisition of the freehold in 1818, the brothers expanded the brewery
further and improved the existing buildings on the site - this included
a new maltings at Barn Meadow. The acquisition of more public houses in
Buckinghamshire enabled successful increased production. Both John and
William Weller died in 1834 and the business passed to their respective
sons Edward and William. Edward died in 1850 and the brewery
subsequently became the sole property of William Weller. He later built
a second brewery in Amersham which became known as the Bury End Brewery.
Following William's death in 1859, the brewery passed to his sons
Edward, William and George. It was the latter who bought the shares of
Edward Weller when he died and it is their initials W & G that the
company used when trading as W.& G. Weller. Succeeding his brother,
George Weller eventually became sole proprietor in 1908. With a
considerable workforce, the brewery was now the most important employer
in Amersham. It was for this reason that there was considerable anxiety
in the town when, in 1929, George Weller announced that he was to sell
the brewery and tied estate at auction. At this time the company owned
132 freehold and 10 leasehold public houses. Outbidding the London-based
brewery of Hoare & Co.Ltd., Benskin's Watford Brewery Ltd. acquired the
brewery and tied estate. Their interest was the tied estate and they
sold the brewery during the following year. George Weller died shortly
after the sale of the business. |
