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30th January 1851

St Austell Brewery started life as Walter Hicks Wines and Spirits on 30th January 1851 after a very young Mr Hicks mortgaged his inherited farm for £1500 to start life as a merchant selling wines, beers and spirits to the public.

The firm moved to Seven Stars Pub where he started brewing in 1863, then onto a Steam brewery at the London Inn.
The company moved into a purpose built brewery in Tregonissey Lane, St Austell in 1893.

Walter junior took over the helm from his now elderly father, however, in 1911 he was tragically killed in motorcycle accident. Walter senior returned to the helm at the age of 82 to keep the business going.

On his death in 1916 the Brewery was taken over by his daughter, Hester Parnell, who just one year earlier had lost her husband Thomas, it was she who changed the name to St Austell Brewery, and she ran the company until her death in 1939.

Extract from https://staustellbrewery.co.uk/about-us/our-brewing-history/
‘Hester, who went everywhere with her pair of Pekinese dogs, would have a significant influence on the business, shaping it into what it has ultimately become today through expanding the hospitality offering. She was a driven businesswoman with a fierce reputation. So much so, that the first person to spot her chauffeur-driven Daimler arriving in the brewery yard would tap on the water pipes, telegraphing a message across the brewery to alert everyone to be on their best behaviour. Hester was Chairman of the company until she died in 1939.’

Hester added nearly 80 pubs and hotels to the brewery’s holdings through her tenure, becoming known for “ruling the company with the grace of a duchess combined with the aplomb of a successful businessman“

Hester was born in 1858, the second of six children Walter and his second wife, Caroline had and when her father died she was forty three and had lost her husband, her father and her older brother in a matter of four years.

I think Hester was a natural business woman, she thrived in developing the business, doubling the output by 1920 – the brewery’s output was close to 38,000 barrels per annum, equivalent to around 9.5m pints. She managed the acquisition of a number of smaller breweries (who were also her competition) building the company to cover the whole of Cornwall.

In 1934 she acquired Christopher Ellis and Son based in Hayle and with it there 30 pubs, one of which was the Yacht Inn in Penzance. The original building was demolished and in it’s place a stunning art deco building which echoed the stylish cruise ships of the time and was influenced by the newly opened Jubilee Pool. It is one of my favourite buildings in Penzance.

Hester rented the great stately Tregrehan house near St Austell in 1926, only moving to Point Neptune in Fowey two years before she died. Whilst at Tregrehan she hosted Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, and the Prince of Wales and his consort Mrs Wallis Simpson.

She was 71 years old when she died and three weeks earlier had handed the reigns of the brewery business over to her nephew Egbert Barnes.

Hester Parnell was an amazing woman who has not been recognised for her business achievements. It is she who shaped the business to offer hospitality as well as beer, it is still the model used by the brewery today.

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References:

St Austell website history section

Art Deco Pubs website

Women Who Meant Business website article

Wikipedia page