HYENA HUNTERS OF SOUTHWARK

See Also: THE DOCKS Decline and Containerisation; EMBASSIES The German Embassy, The Former; HORSERACING; ITALIANS; VISITOR ATTRACTIONS, DISAPPEARED

In 1710 a brewery was established on part of the site that is now to the west of the southern end of Southwark Bridge. The Anchor pub was its taphouse. In 1758 Henry Thrale inherited the business. Seven years later the brewer and his wife Hester were introduced to the lexicographer Dr Samuel Johnson. He became their close friend and was frequently a guest of theirs, both at their townhouse in Southwark and at their country residence in Streatham.

The man of letters was one of Mr Thrales's executors. As such, he was involved in the 1781 sale of the brewery. He was asked by someone what the enterprise was worth. The doctor replied that it was not a mere parcel of boilers and vats, but the potentiality of growing rich beyond the dreams of avarice. The purchaser was the banker David Barclay. He paid 135,000 for the business. The Barclay family acquired brewing expertise by making Mr Perkins, who had been one of Thrale's managers, a partner in the firm.

Barclay & Perkins installed a Boulton & Watt steam engine to provide the site with automated energy. During the course of the Napoleonic Wars, it became the biggest brewery in the world. It acquired European-wide fame and became one of the attractions that visitors to London wanted to see.

In 1848 the Austrian army officer Field Marshal Julius Jacob von Haynau brutally suppressed a rising against the Habsburgs rule in northern Italy. In the process, he earned himself the soubriquet the Hyena of Brescia . The following year he put down a rebellion by the Hungarians. Subsequently, he quarrelled with the Minister of War in Vienna and so, in a huff, went on a tour of Europe. In 1850 he visited the Barclay & Perkins brewery. The workforce, who were several hundred strong, learnt that he was on the premises. They were outraged by this news and rose up as a mob. He had to be rescued by the police.

Giuseppe Garibaldi, the unifier of Italy, visited London in 1864. He made a point of visiting the Barclay & Perkins's brewery. There, he thanked the staff for their reaction to the Hyena .

There is a story that in 1885 Otto von Bismarck the Chancellor of Germany came to London. As part of his visit, he took a tour of the brewery. During it he was presented with a four-pint tankard of strong beer. Guests usually took a sip from the vessel and then handed it back. However, that this might be the practice does not seem to have occurred to the statesman. Instead, he drank the full draught. Someone who was feeling mischievous remarked that almost no one had ever managed to drink two tankards of the brew. Bismarck seemed to feel that his honour might be at stake. Therefore, he asked for the vessel to be recharged. This was done. He then consumed all of its contents a second time. He was able to walk to his carriage and was then driven away from the brewery. Subsequently, he asked the driver to stop by Embankment Gardens. There, he made his way out of the vehicle, lay himself out on a park bench and went to sleep.

In 1960 Barclay & Perkins merged with Courage to create Courage, Barclay & Company. This was indicative of how inner London was changing with the movement away of population and the decline of the docks as a source of employment. In 1981 the brewery closed. The land was sold for housing.

Location: Park Street SE1 9AB

The Anchor, 34 Park Street, SE1 9EF

The Old Parr's Head, 290 Upper Street, N1 2XF. Glazed broken tiles on the Cross Street side of the ex-pub read Barclay, Perkins & Co. (blue, turquoise)

David Backhouse 2024