Beyond the Names: The Mystery of Alexander Peden: International Brewer

I admittedly enjoy a good pint. What I didn’t know, before digging into the family tree, is that beer is in my blood.

Early 19th century brewing

Two of my ancestors, both on my father’s side, were involved in the brewing industry: Alexander Peden, who ultimately became a brewer after a difficult youth, and William Henry Bond, who was a clerk for a rather famous brewing establishment: William Younger. Alexander and William were a generation apart. The former Peden, my second-great-grandfather, was born in 1847 in Edindurgh, Scotland. The latter Bond was born 1875 in Bermondsey, England. Thirty years may not seem much, but growing up in the middle of the Victorian era on a farm in Scotland would have been a much different life than being raised in the latter part of the 19^th century in the bustling city of London.

You may remember Alexander Peden from an earlier blog. Alexander didn’t have much of a childhood (as we would imagine it) and worked for his uncle at the Peebleshire farm. In his teenage years he worked in his father’s grocery. In 1871, Alexander left his home, married Mary Anne Emily Holtum and began to have a family. Ten years and six children later, Alexander was a brewer in Castle Gresley.

A number of breweries operated in Burton on Trent

Castle Gresley is in Burton on Trent, which was famous for its brewing history in the 19^th century. The brewery there took advantage of natural spring waters, which were rich in sulphates. This added a distinctly hoppy flavour and smell to the brew. At the time, the brewing of India Pale Ale was gaining some prominence in Britain and being shipped to its colonies around the globe. Samuel Alssop was the father of Burton on Trent, having discovered the delicious mysteries of the springs and then perfecting the sulphate-infused brewing technique (now known as Burtonisation). By 1888 there were 31 breweries in the town of Burton on Trent, and it was known as the beer capital of the world. The brewers essentially ran the town politically, socially and economically.

Alexander and his family moved into this town just as it was incorporated in 1878. A long list of brewers in Burton, however, does not include Alexander, suggesting he likely worked for another brewer rather than being one of many owners in the town. The nearest brewery was the short lived Gresley Brewery operated by the Beard Brothers from 1887 to 1895.

Alexander Peden didn’t stay long in Burton, and by 1891 found himself living with a nurse and his children in Edinburgh, working for the Usher brewing company. In my earlier blog I conjectured that Alexander died in the period between 1891 and 1901, because he no longer appeared in the census documents. Researching this article on beer, however, led me to a whole different conclusion based on newfound evidence.

A newspaper advertisement from a law firm acting on behalf of Pedens was published in June 26, 1906 in the New Zealand Herald. The advertisement says that the courts will declare Alexander Peden dead unless anyone presents evidence to the contrary prior to October 15, 1906. Later that year, in August, another newspaper advertisement was posted upon the death of Thomas Peden (Alexander’s father) in a bid to settle his estate of £600, once again looking for Alexander and clarifying that it was thought he was headed to New Zealand in 1898.

SS City of Rome which brought Alexander
from Glasgow to New York in 1896

A search of travel records shows an Alexander Peden, brewer, heading to New York in 1896, on his own, with one piece of luggage. An Alexander Peden shows up in New Zealand voting records in 1900 in Wanganui. The Wanganui brewery was owned and operated by Hopeful Gibbons, a rather famous businessman and bicycle and motorcycle manufacturer originally from Tasmania and eventual Mayor of Wanganui. When Alexander was living in Wanganui, the brewery was a going concern in New Zealand and a brewer with experience in Burton on Trent and Edinburgh would no doubt be welcomed to that company.

Alexander Peden, the Wanganui resident, appears to have married a Jane Anne. In 1900, 1905 and 1906 they are identified as married on the voter registration, and Alexander is still listed as a brewer. There are no marriage records confirming the relationship. There is no way of knowing with certainty that this is the same Alexander, however a review of records in New Zealand fails to come up with any other explanation.

Alexander Peden was buried on October 11, 1919 in Aramoho cemetery in Wanganui. This Alexander is absolutely our Alexander Peden. For reasons I will have to discover through further research, Mary Anne Emily, the wife he left behind, is listed as having been buried there in 1940 (many years after her death in Kent in 1923). Even more mysteriously, the headstone for Alexander Peden reads: In loving memory of ALEXANDER PEDEN beloved husband of Mary Anne Emily Peden, born at Peebles, Scotland 3^rd May 1846 died at Carterton Wairarapa 8^th October 1919. ‘Thy will be done.’

So we know absolutely that Alexander brought his brewing expertise from Burton on Trent to Edinburgh and then to New Zealand. We know that he abandoned his family in Scotland in 1896. We know he made his way to New Zealand via New York. We know that he died in New Zealand and his grave bears the name of the wife he left behind. What we don’t know is whether he did, indeed, marry again in New Zealand. Perhaps his new wife, Jane Anne, stumbled upon the newspaper advertisements and discovered that her Alexander was actually married and had a family in Scotland. Alexander couldn’t escape his past if he wanted to access any of the £600 from his father’s estate. What we do know is that his wife Mary Anne Emily is named on his headstone, and he is still, in stone anyway, “beloved”. Some time after 1906 Alexander appears to have been acknowledged by his family in Scotland and possibly reunited with his wife Mary Anne Emily in death.

I am finding myself oddly thirsty – further research on the Pedens will have to wait.

Postscript: I was going to write this blog about both my brewing ancestors, however Alexander’s story was more exciting than I expected. As a result, I will write about William Henry Bond, brewer and my great-grand-father in another blog.

Afterword (February 2016): During a recent free weekend at findmypast.com, I looked through some newspaper articles and found one that explained some of what happened. Apparently Alexander has his wife Mary Anne Emily (Molly) committed. He did, in fact, have an affair with his nurse, and he was intoxicated through most of his very unhappy marriage. This may explain why his sons never married and chose lives of adventure instead. From the Dundee Advertiser February 7, 1898, just before Alexander abandoned his family and responsibilities and ended up in New Zealand: