River Goulburn Brewery Sparkling Ales, Seymour

Henry Bolton, together with his uncle John Fynn, and James Tierney, started the brewery, which at that time was generally referred to as the Seymour Brewery. At one time or another all three partners had been involved in the Heathcote Brewery, about 40 km to the west. Bolton, sometime Postmaster-General of Victoria, had brewing interests in Benalla and elsewhere. The partners advertised in the 18 November 1869 issue of the Waranga Chronicle & Goulburn Advertiser simply as ‘Bolton, Tierney & Co. Brewers, Seymour’.

The Goulburn River Brewery Co. was formed in 1874. Five years later Bolton became the sole owner. Percival Renou bought the business in 1880, and did reasonably well until he became insolvent in 1892. The brewery was offered for sale by the mortgagee, and a year later it was purchased by Henry Bones & Sons for £2000. Bones was the owner of the local Prince of Wales Hotel, and he found that selling beer was easier than making it, and he closed the brewery after a few months.

The Goulburn River Brewery had been closed for four years until 1896 when along came Paul Siddall with his two sons, eager to try their luck. Paul had owned the Crown & Junction Brewery at Seymour twenty-five years earlier. Although that venture had lasted for only two years, he had learnt a lot since then; besides, he said, he knew the district very well. The Siddall family’s attempt to get the brewery going again lasted for two years, and the buildings were later converted to a butter factory.

This poster looks rudimentary but it was effective in advertising the brewery. Percival Renou would have used his local printer in Seymour, usually the newspaper office, to produce this poster. It was made utilising the letterpress printing method with metal and wooden type.