Thomas Rawson and Co.’s Brewery from The Noted Breweries of England and Wales 1891. Source: HathiTrust.
Thomas Rawson and Co. brewery was the oldest brewery in Sheffield built in 1758 on Pond Street. The 1891 book The Noted Brewers of Great Britain and Ireland described the location:
The thoroughfare was called Pond Lane, and there really were ponds close to it – only one remains. The site was chosen on account of several famous springs within the premises, which still yield a plentiful supply.
When Thomas Rawson died the brewery was passed to his sister Hannah who bequeathed it to her nephew Thomas Birks.
Thomas Birks and his siblings were baptised at the Queen Street Congregational Chapel. In his obituary, Thomas was described as:
A Nonconformist of the staunchest school, but his catholic spirit led him to sympathise with the aid the efforts of all denominations to promote religion and education, while his acts of charity were unceasing and profuse.
Thomas was a Liberal and became a town councillor and alderman. He was Mayor of Sheffield in 1849, standing down from the Council in 1853 due to failing health. As a Nonconformist and Liberal, he had much in common with many of Sheffield’s temperance campaigners.
Thomas had married Ann in 1836 and the couple had three children. Their first child died aged 10 months and was the first burial in this plot in 1838. She was the 270th burial in the Cemetery and her cause of death was recorded as ‘water on the head’. Ann died in 1843 aged only 31 of consumption (tuberculosis). Thomas married Judith in 1845 and had two more children.
The business prospered and at the time of his death the family were living in a large house in Firth Park called Bolsover Hill. The Pond Street brewery was destroyed in the Sheffield blitz of 1940.
Thomas was interred in grave LL 56 in the Nonconformist area where his monument can still be seen.
