Which one is the odd one out?
- Phil Seaman 1926-1972 Jazz Drummer
- Stanley Clarke 1933-2004 Property Developer
- William Bass c.1717-1787 Brewer
- Joe Jackson 1954-date Musician
- Paddy Considine 1973-date Actor & Film maker
The answer is William Bass, as all the others are famous Burtonians. Bass was born around 1717 in Hinckley, Leics, 21 miles away from the town that his name would be forever linked to. He was the second son of John Bass, a Plumber and Glazier. The family also had a farm, which included a Brewhouse.
John Bass died when William was fifteen, his elder brother, also John, kept on the business and supplied cider locally which William would pick up Birmingham, he would also bring in supplies for brewing which presumably was done by his Mother.
In 1752 William and John set up carrying business between Manchester & London. They bought textiles in Manchester and travelled to London, stopping at Ashbourne before pressing on to Burton to load up on … hats! Although there was a brewing industry in Burton at that time, it was no more important than Hatting, the town was also famed for Alabaster carving.
Bass began to transport Burton Ale to London and Manchester. Burton Ale was a dark, very strong and sweet style that is not brewed today, the closest modern approximation is Marston’s Owd Roger. Despite its name Ind Coope’s Draught Burton Ale, was not a Burton Ale, but a Pale Ale.
William bought his brother out of the business in 1755 and married Mary Gibbons the following year, who was the daughter of Michael Gibbons who ran the Red Lion on Grey’s Lane in London. The couple settled at Nether Hall in Wetmore, Burton.
Bass bought increasing amounts of Burton Ale from brewers such as Leeson, Musgrave, Clay, Evans and Lovatt and may have even started to brew himself, which means that Bass was brewing in Burton before the accepted date of 1777. In 1765 Bass advertised in the Derby Mercury “a handsome new-built house” on the east side of High Street complete with a Brewhouse, unfortunately the actual location for this house has been lost to time, but it shows that Bass was brewing in Burton at least 12 years before 1777
At the age of around 60, when most of us are thinking of retirement, Bass paid £1,050 for brewery on the east side of High Street which had stood empty for two years. He didn’t choose Burton for the water as it would be 45 years before these unique properties for the production of Pale Ale were known, he picked Burton as it was central between London and Manchester, it was a growing town, it was linked via the Grand Trunk Canal to Liverpool and Hull. He also chose Burton because he lived in the town!
The business would provide a future for his two sons Michael Thomas and William jr and the premises stretched from High Street to the Hay, sandwiched between what would become his greatest rivals William Worthington and Benjamin Wilson. The breweries of Henry Evans and John Walker Wilson sat opposite. He also purchased additional land off William Yeomans and it is likely that he relied on Yeoman’s to run the brewing side.
Early on William Bass had three distinct markets; local innkeepers, innkeepers in London and Manchester and Merchants in the Baltic to whom many of the early Burton Brewers dealt with.
Ten years after establishing his brewery William Bass passed away leaving a growing business to Michael Thomas and William jr. The latter showed little interest in brewing and sold his half to his brother. Michael Thomas Bass was a businessman with ambition, he wanted to be more successful than Benjamin Wilson who was the biggest brewer in Burton.
He visited London and Manchester, successfully gaining more customers and then started to export to the Baltic directly, cutting out the Hull Merchants thereby making greater profit, but by 1790 his Baltic exports totalled just 211 barrels, Benjamin Wilson was sending ten times that amount, even John Walker Wilson, Benjamin’s brother was sending over 1,000 barrels.
After Wilson expanded his business by purchasing the Sketchley Brewery on Horninglow Street, his capacity increased to 4,500 barrels per annum. At this point Bass was only the 8th largest brewer in town, so he entered into a partnership with James Musgrave 1791.
Musgrave’s Brewery was on Bridge Street, and could trace its roots back to Benjamin Printon the twon’s first Common Brewer. Musgrave had added three Maltings on Anderstaff Lane (now Wetmore Road) and had been trying to sell his business for six yrs. He introduced Bass to new customers and in four years they were producing 3,000 barrels, with about two thirds for export.
Political unrest between Britain & France meant that ships to the Baltic had to travel in convoy, but despite this it was still possible to export. They also saw local sales increase, in Burton alone they had 81 customers, these were reached by wagon or for those out of town, canal.
The Bass Musgrave business was typical for brewers of their day and they were known as Common Brewers who also traded in such commodities as timber and linen. In 1792 John Ratcliff started working for the company as a Clerk, he would be taken on as a partner in 1796 and such was the trust this wasn’t legally finalised for another thirteen years!
The Bass Musgrave partnership ended abruptly, Musgrave entering into an agreement with John Greaves. Why this happened it not recorded, it could have been because Musgrave disagreed with making Ratcliff a partner.
John Ratcliff’s role changed to that of a Commercial Traveller for the new company that was called Bass & Ratcliff. The High Street brewery was expanded with a new Brewhouse in operation for the start of the 1797 brewing season.
The first years of Bass & Ratcliff were difficult, due to the Baltic conditions although in 1799 a new market opened up when five casks went to America via Liverpool. Bass & Ratcliff were excellent business men, chasing debts vigilantly and employing Agents in major cities, however despite their best efforts they were unable to break Wilsons hold on the Baltic.
In 1804 Bass & Ratcliff sent 900 barrels of their finest and strongest ale to the Baltic before receiving orders; the plan was it would to arrive before Wilson’s. However Wilson had undercut him, so they had to reduce the price even further and merchants exploited what was a flooded market.
If 1804 was a bad year, 1805 was worse still and it appeared that Wilson had won the battle of the Baltic, Bass & Ratcliff fell back on dealing in timber and making casks, some of which were exchanged for Porter, but then there was a political twist in 1806 when Napoleon blockaded the Baltic Ports and the elaborate trade that existed between Hull, London and Danzig came to an end within a few months.
Due to Wilson’s reliance on the Baltic trade he was harder hit than Bass & Ratcliff, he soon sold his brewery to his nephew Samuel Allsopp. Due to their larger local customer base Bass & Ratcliff were more resilient. They still tried to send ale to the Baltic but with limited success, they also exported to Ireland, N America, the W Indies and even Australia.
Over half their trade was to local pubs, suggesting that Bass & Ratcliff owned the inns, this was an early example of a tied estate that became more important later in the 19th century.
In real terms how big was Bass & Ratcliff? Although Burton had a reputation for ales enjoyed the world over, the entire output of the town was equal to a mere third of one of the large London brewers. Bass & Ratcliff employed just 25 men and the brewery was powered by men/horses. Like many other brewers, Bass & Ratcliff were unable to produce a consistent product due to a lack of understanding of the science behind brewing.
The 1810’s saw the business grow, with the Baltic Trade replaced by the North American, West Indian and Australian market, this was made possible by the good keeping qualities of Burton Ale. At home they enjoyed good sales in Lancashire and London and by 1820 a long held ambition was realised and they became the largest brewers in Burton, owning at least six local pubs.
Another market was soon to open up that would see Bass become the greatest brewery in the world; India! This would see Bass and other Burton brewers such as Allsopp, Salt, Marston, Ind Coope and Worthington become dominant forces in the world of brewing. Within a few decades Bass went from the biggest Brewer in Burton to the biggest Brewer in the world!
Talk originally presented at the Ratcliff Ale 150th Anniversary evening 16 December 2019.
