Leesons and beer.

A Little Bit Of Leeson Brewing History.

The Leesons were brewing beer in Dublin from about the 1680s onwards but details are hard to come by.

The first English Leeson brewer I have come across was Charles Leeson of 6 Horninglow Street, Burton on Trent. His brewery and maltings were founded during the 1720s by Willian Newton and acquired by Charles Leeson in 1753. The premises comprised of a house, garden, brewhouse, tun house, malthouses and other buildings. In 1801 the family executors sold the brewery to Joseph Clay and Son who owned the adjacent Lamb and Flag Brewery.

My Grandfather John Leeson (standing at the back) at work in the 1920s.

He was a drayman working for the Hammerton brewery (1921 census). Family oral history says that he drove his wagon and team of 4 horses through Blackwall Tunnel regularly. 

The brewery was located at 32 Frances Street, Woolwich according to the 1916 directory. This was just outside the gates of the Red Barracks and a stones throw from the family home in Back Lane. None of these buildings exist anymore.

Link to 1890s and 1940s Maps

The directory is from 1916, it was like the yellow pages of its time. At some stage the street were renumbered to how we know them, odds on one side, evens on the other.

The map is from approx. 1940s.

Here is an older map aprrox. 1890's which shows the corresponding buildings before they were demolished. Use the slider to mix between the two.

The current generation of brewers.

Another battle field visit.

 

This month I visited another local battle field. Bosworth Field. For a talk about the battle, the armies and their tactics. It was given by two battle field guides one an ex-para and the other a former Lt Colonel. It was very good. I learnt a lot about the battle but still can't get my head around the complexity of the Wars of the Roses.

Two Battle Anniversaries.

Naseby and Waterloo.

This month there have been two major battle anniversaries.

The 380th anniversary of Naseby in 1645 and the 210th anniversary of Waterloo in 1815 (and hence the 10th anniversary of our Waterloo Dinner in 2015).

Naseby was very youth orientated, aimed mainly at scouts and cadets how re-enacted the battle.

There was also a cake!!

We were invited to the VIP lunch.

The Waterloo Dinner 2015.

LINK, scroll down to bottom of page

Belton House and Park.

 May 13th 2025.

We visited the National Trust owned Belton Estate.

Apart from the Mr Colins (BBC Pride and Prejudice) connection there are two other points that interested me.

Family history link with my Great Uncle Albert Groves.

During WW1 the park became the training camp for the newly formed Machine Gun Corps. So Albert would have been there for his training.

The photo shows part of the camp barracks and the temporary branch line from the East Coast mainline.

Also there was a skirmish there during the ECW. It took place on, wait for it, 13th May 1643. This was a significant action as it was Cromwell's first cavalry victory, from which he developed his future battle winning tactics.

The photo of the park shows on the left the area of the MGC camp (now an off limits deer park) and to the right the probable area of the ECW action.

All in all a good day out.

My Dad's Barracks - Malta.

 My Dad did his national service with REME and was stationed in Malta 1953-4.

His barrack block in 1953.

In 1983 when we visited.

In 2024 when we visited.

Quite some changes recently.

80 years on.

Tokyo Bay 2025.

Tokyo Bay 1945.

My Dad's cousin, Desmond Bourton, was on HMS Teazer (R23, a Tumult class Destroyer), which was part of the fleet in Tokyo Bay for the Japanese surrender ceremony on 2nd September 1945.

 

 

Another Holiday, Another Gun Port!!

 Madeira 2025.

A very short walk from our Hotel in Funchal was Palacio de Sao Lourenco, a 16th Century Fort.

The Battle of Kings Norton, 17 October 1642.

 The Battle of Kings Norton 1642.

24 days after the battle of Powick Bridge (23rd September) and 6 days before Edgehill there was a small battle between Royalist horse under the command of Prince Rupert and Parliamentarian horse under the command of Lord Willoughby of Parham. Both forces were marching to join their respective armies and clashed at King’s Norton (now a suburb of Birmingham).  Not an action that gets talked about much as the supposedly invincible Royalist horse, lead by Rupert, must have been having a bad day! Lord Willoughby didn't seem to have got much praise for his achievement, he wasn’t placed to face Rupert’s wing at Edgehill, in fact he seems to have missed the battle as he was part of the escort of the heavy guns.

This photo is of a display in the local pub, 'The Navigation Inn'.