destinations as far away as Lisbon (Portugal), South Carolina (USA), New York (USA), Barbados (Caribbean) and Sierra Leone (Africa). Under Arthur Guinness II the recipe for yet another type of porter was written down. This brew was known as ‘Extra Superior Porter’. Extra Superior Porter was a slightly stronger porter designed for the British market. This beer is still brewed today and is known as GUINNESS

Extra Stout, or GUINNESS Original.

Arthur Guinness brewed different types of porter to suit different tastes, including a special export beer called ‘West India Porter’. This beer is still brewed today and is now known as GUINNESS Foreign Extra Stout. It accounts for 45% of all GUINNESS sales globally and is popular in Asia, Africa and the Caribbean. 

In terms of the Theory of Economic Imperialism, it seems that Arthur Guinness took advantage of imperial markets and developed a beer to suit different imperial tastes. 

Diary entries: 

Arthur Shand – Sydney Australia – October 1904: 

“Most of our Stout arrives by sailing vessels. ...When repacked, which can be done either on the docks or in the bonded warehouses, duty is paid on the actual quantity in good condition. The merchants here also are fully alive to the importance of cool storage for Stout. The consumption of Stout in general is, I think, greater than elsewhere in The Commmonwealth”

Arthur Shand – Boston, USA visited 8th – 10th May 1911: 

 “There is a great Irish element in Boston, ... and the general public there are destined to be I think, very large consumers of draught stout... There are at present over 70 places drawing Extra Stout in the City, and a great majority of these are all first-class, 13 of them being hotels. I am pleased to say that it was a treat to see the condition in which the Stout is drawn, all from ice-boxes at a temperature which made the article extremely palatable.”

JC Haines - Straits Settlements, Singapore, Penang and Malacca visited 1900: 

 
“Although well-known Brands of Spirits and Wines are forged wholesale for the native trade, no instance is known of forgery of our Label, or, I may say, that of any Bottled Beer. Advertising in Local British papers is almost useless. We strongly advise the circulation of an advertisement in Chinese and Malay languages, in native characters.”

Production was not economically feasible in Europe, where meat was expensive, but in Uruguay and New South Wales, meat was an inexpensive by-product of the leather industry. 
Relationship to the British Empire- offered a cheaper meat alternative to those in the lower classes across the Empire.

While working at Glasgow University, James Watt (1736 – 1819) was asked to repair a model Newcomen steam engine. Realising the engine was extremely inefficient, he developed a revolutionary new design that would help a steam engine run faster and use less fuel. The trick was to separate out the process of condensing the steam, so that the whole cylinder did not need to be cooled down which had wasted heat.

Having no money to turn his design into a working engine, James Watt gained support from local industrialist John Roebuck and he patented his design in 1769. When Roebuck went bankrupt in 1773, he introduced Watt to Birmingham entrepreneur Matthew Boulton, a successful businessman and manufacturer. Using Watt’s designs, they went into partnership in 1775 and began manufacturing the first Boulton & Watt steam engines. They were joined two years later by William Murdoch who played a pivotal role in supplying and installing the engines in mines and factories all over Britain and the wider world.

Watt went on to further refine his revolutionary design, so that Boulton & Watt steam engines could not only efficiently pump water, but drive machinery in paper, cotton, flour and iron mills, textile factories, distilleries, canals, waterworks and even drive an early steam locomotive.

The Boulton & Watt engine was built in 1786 to pump water for the Barclay & Perkins Brewery in Southwark, London. It was refined in 1796 so that it could also grind barley. At this time, Boulton & Watt were the only suppliers of engines capable of ‘double actions’ like this. (Age Of Revolution)
At that time, no one else could supply a steam engine that performed both these actions at once. With some minor modifications, it remained in service at the brewery until 1884. (National Museums Scotland,)

·       1826 – the sons William Day Wills and Henry O. Wills took charge, hence the company name

·       Tobacco products manufacture and sales

·       First shop – Castle Street 

·       1791 – moved to 112 Redcliff Street

·       Snuff and other tobacco products before cigarettes 

·       Made many improvements to working conditions, which affected the whole industry

·       1871 – entered cigarette market with ‘Bristol’ brand 

·       In 1860 a new factory was built but was followed by further expansion in 1886 and another one in early 1900s, showing the rapid expansion of cigarette market
·       Withdrawn by Imperial Tobacco with exceptions of some brands

·       Woodbine brand – popular with working class and army 
·       Capstan – sold in the UK and Germany, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Bangladesh and Chile

Benjamin Wright and Ralph Bagley founded Bagley and Wright a textile company in 1867 the company produced Sewing cotton, fishing net twine, crochet and tatting yarn.  In 1924 the company was dissolved

 

Bagley & Wright was a spinning, doubling and weaving company based in Oldham, Lancashire, England. The business, was said to be 'caught the wave' of the cotton-boom that existed following the end of the American Civil War in 1865 and experienced rapid growth in the United Kingdom and abroad. 

In 1897, the business split into two with the sewing cotton operation being subsumed into the newly formed English Sewing Cotton Company (ESCC). The remainder of the Bagley & Wright business remaining independent in the form of Bagley & Wright Manufacturing. Although the Wright and Bagley families lost influence on the ESCC part of the business following a scandal over the distribution of dividends in 1902, they remained in control of Bagley and Wright Manufacturing until it was dissolved.)

In 1897, the business split into two with the sewing cotton operation being subsumed into the newly formed English Sewing Cotton Company (ESCC). The remainder of the Bagley & Wright business remaining independent in the form of Bagley & Wright Manufacturing. Although the Wright and Bagley families lost influence on the ESCC part of the business following a scandal over the distribution of dividends in 1902. 

By the late 19th century the Company had established a large warehouse and office block on Cannon Street in central Manchester and a second warehouse at the junction of Union Street and Priory Street in Oldham. There were branch offices in Glasgow and Belfast and offices and warehouses in Melbourne, Bombay and Moscow. Around 1893, the Company bought a mill at Crooklands to secure the supply of bobbins that they needed. The bobbin mill at Crooklands lay between Milnthorpe and Kendal. The English Lake District was a major centre for the production of bobbins because of the availability of trees to use as the raw material and water courses to drive water wheels to power the machinery. The Crooklands Mill was built some time before it was taken over by Bagley & Wright who certainly owned it between 1894 and 1897.

Sugar (cubes), Golden syrup

1859 - Henry Tate enters the sugar business

1872 – Tate and Sons open a new refinery in Liverpool

1874 – Sugar taxation removed

1875 – Tate bought the rights to the technology for the Sugar cube, and introduced it to the UK.

1878 – Tate and Sons open Thames Refinery, they specialised in Sugar cubes. This refinery was located by the docks of East London which helped importing it’s supply of raw sugar.
1882 – A large continental sugar crop produced significantly decreased the price of sugar, meaning the sugar being produced was no longer as valuable as it once was. This impacted Lyle’s as they were mid construction of their refinery, meaning the profits they were making were not meeting his needs. The estimate for the construction also increased during this time. 

1883 – Lyle and son began melting sugar at Plaistow refinery, this made Lyle’s golden syrup which was ‘an instant hit’.

1887- Tate institute was set up, which was a community club for the workers

1921 – Tate's and Lyle’s company merge

1939 – Thames refinery becomes the largest cane sugar refinery in the world.

Where were the raw materials sourced from? 
Sugar was cultivated on a large scale in places such as South America and the Caribbean islands. The Caribbean colonies grew roughly 90% of European sugar consumed. 

Where was the finished product manufactured?
Tate and Lyle’s individual and joint refineries such as: Thames refinery and Plaistow refinery. 

What was the relationship between the company and the British empire?
Tate and Sons were amongst competition from 74 refineries in the UK, this shows how the product that they made was in high demand.
Sugar was seen as a luxury in Victorian Britain. It became more affordable after the government removed the heavy taxation of sugar in 1874.         
Sugar consumption reached high consumption rates often due to the culture that had been cultivated in the British Empire. Products that had been brought Britain such as tea, coffee and cocoa were then mixed with sugar to make it sweeter. Sugar was also increasingly used in new products such as: jams, sweets, pickles, chutneys, biscuits and cakes. 

The pills themselves were a combination of aloe, ginger, and soap. They were initially advertised like other patent medicine as a cure-all, but they actually did benefit the digestive process. This effectiveness made them stand out from other remedies for sale in the mid-19th century.

Beecham described himself as a medicine vendor in 1848 and in 1850 Beecham was a chemist, druggist and tea dealer. 

Thomas Beecham went into business in 1842. The first product was Beecham's Pills, a laxative. Thomas became a travelling salesman, offering his pills in different parts of the country.

In 1847 business success allowed him to open a shop in Wigan town. 

His shop failed and he moved to St. Helens in 1859 and his first factory opened for rapid production of medicines in the same year.

Beecham was exporting his remedies to Africa and Australia in 1875.

The company's new factory in St Helens becomes the first in the area to have electricity in 1887.

Thomas Beecham died in 1907, and his sons Joseph and William took over the running of the business.

Under Sir Joseph Beecham, 1st Baronet (1848-1916) the business expanded but the company remained focussed on patent medicines and engaged little in research.

Production of Beecham's Pills laxative reached one million a day by 1913.

In 1914 Sir Joseph Beecham was induced to underwrite the purchase for £2 million of the Covent Garden estate and market in London. The deal went awry when the outbreak of the First World War prevented the flotation of a company to sell off the properties.

Beecham's Powders were launched in 1926.

Beechams bought companies for a variety products in 1938, adding the Lucozade glucose drink, Enos Fruit Salts, and Macleans toothpaste to its product chain.

It added hair products for men to its product chain in 1939 by buying County Perfumery Co Ltd, manufacturers of Brylcreem.

It decided to focus more on improving its research and built Beecham Research Laboratories in 1943.

The company was named Beecham Group Ltd in 1944.

Company bought C. L. Bencard, which specialized in allergy vaccines, the company's first acquisition in the field of prescription medicine in 1949 or 1953.

Acquired H. W. Carter and Co, manufacturers of Ribena blackcurrant drink in 1955. Formation of Beecham Foods.

In the 1950s to 1960s the 2 groups together developed penicillin derivatives including pheneticillin, then the more potent methicillin (Celbenin). Later these were followed by Ampiclox and others as the group focussed on pharmaceutical development.

By the mid 1950s the group comprised some 100 smaller companies, including a large wholesale grocery business which was sold off later.

Acquired Pure Lemon Juice Co. A new toiletries factory was opened at Maidenhead, reflecting the increased business in shampoos, deodorants and hair sprays. They also acquired Thomas and Evans, makers of Corona Soft Drinks in 1958.

Penbritin (ampicillin) hit the market in 1961, and soon Beecham's facilities were inadequate for the worldwide demand. They employ 14,450 people in the same year.

1969 Acquired Horlicks Malted Milk Co in 1969. The company’s business at this time was:

Pharmaceutical and veterinary - 30 percent

Consumer Products - 65 percent

Animal feedstuff concentrates and health products - 5 percent

Beecham launched Amoxil (amoxicillin), which went on to become one of the most widely prescribed antibiotics in 1972.

General Occidentale sold Bovril, Marmite and Ambrosia to Beecham Group in 1980.

Beecham introduced Augmentin in 1981, an antibiotic used to treat an array of bacterial infections.

1989 Production of "Beecham's Pills" ceased in 1989.

In 2001 SmithKline Beecham and Glaxo Wellcome merged to form GlaxoSmithKline.

Its beginnings date back to the 19^th century, to 1824 when John Cadbury opened a small store selling cocoa. He grew his business, opened a factory, but Cadbury only began to stand out after his sons, Richard and George, took over the business. To save their company from going under, they introduced a new press in 1866 that allowed them to produce higher purity cocoa powder, extracting more of the cocoa butter from the beans. This product, “Cadbury Cocoa Essence” made Cadbury the premier domestic manufacturer of chocolate products in Britain by 1910. Using the excess cocoa butter, they expanded their product range. In 1875, the first of the Cadbury chocolate eggs were introduced, made of dark chocolate and 1897 saw them introduce their first milk chocolate bar, which could not compete in quality to Swiss products, though through efforts in product development and marketing, by the beginning of the First World War, their ‘Diary Milk’ chocolate bars became the successful product it remains to this day.

Company politics under the Cadbury brothers were noteworthy insofar that with their success, they moved their factory away from Birmingham’s centre and did their best to enhance working conditions, giving workers social security and constructed a model housing estate for their workers featuring large gardens. In 1900 this became the Bournville Village Trust, open to other people than just the workers of Cadbury’s. After the death of his brother, George Cadbury put a larger focus on his charity work, becoming politically active to support the liberal party.

Whereas Cadbury’s domestic conduct with their workforce was quite advanced and benevolent for its time, cocoa beans in the 19^th century were mainly sourced from Portuguese colonies in Africa, increasingly replacing slave plantations in South America. Either location relied on forced labour and exploitative practices. To this day, much of the world’s chocolate is sourced from these regions.

References:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/George-Cadbury
https://www.cadbury.co.uk/our-story
https://academic.eb.com/levels/collegiate/article/George-Cadbury/18485
https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-32232?rskey=HXcIJI&result=2
https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/easter/the-history-of-chocolate/