Editing Webster's Brewery (section)

=== Origins: 1838–1900 ===
[[File:Grave of Samuel Webster (Brewer), Pellon, near Halifax (Taken by Flickr user 9th June 2012).jpg|thumb|right|The grave of Samuel Webster near Halifax]]
Samuel Webster (1813–1872) was born in [[Ovenden]], a small village about 2 miles from Halifax town centre.<ref name=Malcolm>{{cite web |title=Malcolm Bull's Calderdale Companion: W |url=http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~calderdalecompanion/w.html#w1644 |publisher=Freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com |access-date=7 May 2011}}</ref> He was the eldest of seven brothers born into a [[Congregationalist]] family of the 10&nbsp;[[acre]]-owning farmer James Webster.<ref name=Malcolm /> Webster acquired the small Fountain Head Brewery in Ovenden Wood in 1838 when he was 25 and opened an office in Union Cross Yard, Halifax.<ref name="nationalarchives.gov.uk">[http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/A2A/records.aspx?cat=203-wyc1234&cid=-1#-1 The National Archives].</ref> The company bought its first public house in 1845.<ref name="nationalarchives.gov.uk"/> In 1860 he was joined in [[partnership]] by his three sons Isaac, George Henry and Samuel Green, and the firm began trading as Samuel Webster & Sons.<ref>The Brewing industry: a guide to historical records By Lesley Richmond, Alison Turton, p. 356</ref> Samuel Webster died in 1872, leaving his sons to continue the business.<ref name=Malcolm /> The firm also imported and sold wines and [[cigar]]s, in addition to its brewing concerns.<ref>[http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/A2A/records.aspx?cat=203-wyc1234&cid=7#7 The National Archives].</ref>

By 1880 the company had 100 [[tied house]]s.<ref name=Nat>{{cite web |url= http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/A2A/records.aspx?cat=203-wyc1234&cid=-1#-1 |title=The National Archives &#124; SAMUEL WEBSTER AND SONS LTD, FOUNTAIN HEAD BREWERY, OVENDEN, BREWERS, ADDITIONAL RECORDS |date=17 August 2004 |author=Samuel Webster and Sons Ltd |publisher=nationalarchives.gov.uk |access-date=15 April 2011}}</ref> In March 1890 Samuel Webster & Sons became a [[registered company]] with £175,000 (£17.5&nbsp;million in 2010) of [[Financial capital|capital]] and Isaac Webster, Samuel's eldest son, its first chairman.<ref name="nationalarchives.gov.uk"/><ref>COMMERCIAL & MARKETS. Liverpool Mercury etc (Liverpool, England), Monday, 24 March 1890; Issue 13169.</ref> In 1892 net profit was £20,000 (£2&nbsp;million in 2010).<ref>COMMERCIAL REPORTS. The Leeds Mercury (Leeds, England), Tuesday, 26 January 1892; Issue 16787.</ref> In 1896 the company took over H & T T Ormerod of [[Brighouse]], West Yorkshire which could trace its origins back to 1760.<ref name="richmond357">The Brewing industry: a guide to historical records By Lesley Richmond, Alison Turton, p. 357.</ref><ref name="brighouseecho1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.brighouseecho.co.uk/community/echoes-of-the-past/toast_to_the_pioneer_brewers_1_2983515|title=Toast to the pioneer brewers – Echoes of the Past – Brighouse Echo<!-- Bot generated title -->|access-date=14 November 2011|archive-date=19 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120519002142/http://www.brighouseecho.co.uk/community/echoes-of-the-past/toast_to_the_pioneer_brewers_1_2983515|url-status=dead}}</ref> Isaac Webster died in 1899, leaving an [[Estate (law)|estate]] of £87,454 (£9&nbsp;million).<ref>Births, Deaths, Marriages and Obituaries. The Morning Post (London, England), Saturday, 17 June 1899; p. 5; Issue 39636. 19th Century British Library Newspapers: Part II.</ref> By 1900 the company's office had moved to 57 Northgate, Halifax.<ref name=Malcolm />