Gawler was a growing township in the 1840's and local publican Henry Carlton saw that John Auld could not keep
up with demand at his brewery, and with that Henry leased some on Julian Terrace, near the banks of the South
Yarra River and built a brewery. Mr Carlton left the brewery in 1849, and the land owner Mr Patrick Tod sold the brewery to Daniel Lovelock and Robert Ingham, and the brewery was renamed to the Gawler Town Brewery. The new owners
soon dissolved their partnership leaving Daniel as the manager and Robert as the brewer. The brewery was sold soon
afterward to brothers Henry and Alfred Snelling, the pair were also operating Aulds brewery on Murray street, though
they went bankrupt by 1852. The brewery was left vacant until 1855 when Mr James Fotheringham purchased the brewery, James had brewed beer in a small way in Gawler previous to purchasing the brewery. James was joined by his brothers Thomas and Robert in 1856 after they arrived in South Australia from England. The brewery built its reputation and the brother extended the business by purchasing the Allen Creek Brewery in Kapunda in 1858, with Thomas moving to Kapunda to manage the new enterprise. The three brothers dissolved their partnership in 1864 with Thomas leaving the business. James Fotheringham died in October 1866, at his home in Mitcham he was 49 year old, after James's death Thomas rejoined his brother Robert at the breweries. Robert continued to operate the Gawler Brewery while Thomas managed the Kapunda site, though in 1868 the pairs partnership again was dissolved and Thomas took control of the Gawler brewery. Thomas Fotheringham died in 1894, leaving the brewery to his sons Sydney and Thomas Jr. The brothers tried to continue brewing until 1901 when all the brewing of alcoholic beer discontinued and only aerated waters and cordials were produced. Along with the new business model was a change in the name of the business, the company was renamed to the Gawler Bridge Factory. The Gawler Brewery finally closed it's doors in 1932 when the South Australian Brewing Company purchased the business and closed the factory. There was an outpouring of sadness that after nearly 80 years the well known name of Fotheringham would not longer be seen in the Gawler area. |
Gawler Town Brewery Fotheringham & Co Gawler Bridge Factory |
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B26862 State Library SA
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