Samuel Webster & Sons Limited

Location:         Halifax, West Yorkshire, England

Website:          Link to page about Webster's on the Directory of UK Real Ale Brewers

Founded in 1838 by Samuel Webster the brewery set up a considerable base of tied houses in the South Yorkshire area. In 1966 it merged with Bradford bases brewery J. Hey but only a few years later in 1972 London brewers Watney Mann, who owned 27.1 per cent of the company launched a takeover bid. The brewery continued under the Websters name as the Yorkshire subsidiary of the Watney Mann empire. In 1985 the brewery was merged with Wilson Brewery of Manchester and became Samuel Webster and Wilsons Ltd. By 1990, with Watney Mann having been closed for some years, the brewery came under the control of Courage. In 1996 the brewery was closed with the production of Webster's Bitter being moved to Scottish Courage's John Smith brewery in Tadcaster.