Worshipful Company of Brewers

The Company was incorporated by royal charter in 1437/8, although it appears to have existed in some form from the 13th century. The Company received a grant of arms in 1469. The Company certainly had a hall in Addle Street in the City of London (leased from the Dean and Chapter of St Paul's Cathedral) from at least 1403. This building was destroyed in the Great Fire, and the Company's Second Hall built in 1673 was destroyed in World War Two. The present hall in Aldermanbury Square was completed in 1960.

Records of Dame Alice Owen's Charity: In 1609 Dame Alice Owen conveyed almshouses, situated by St John Street (which she had founded for ten poor widows of Islington) to the Brewers' Company. Four years later she founded a school for 30 boys in Islington next to the almshouses. Again, she entrusted the administration of the school to the Brewers' Company, which still retains close links. The almshouses were taken down in 1879-80 to make way for a new playground for the expanding school. A girls' school was added in 1886, and the two combined on its present site in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire in 1973.

Records of John Baker's almshouses: The charity established by the will of John Baker (d. 1818) provided for the establishment of six almshouses, which were built on Mile End Road.

Records of Richard Platt's charity: In 1596 Richard Platt, proprietor of the Old Swan brewery in the parish of St James Garlickhithe and twice Master of the Brewers' Company, obtained letters patent of Elizabeth I to found six almshouses and a grammar school in Aldenham, Hertfordshire. In 1599, the year before Platt's death, they were conveyed to the Brewers' Company. The school was for two centuries just a local village school with very few pupils, based in the master's house. It grew considerably in the 19th century. The Brewers' Company still plays an active role in the running of the school. For further information see R J Evans, The History and Register of Aldenham School, Aylesbury 1969.