Benjamin Greene (brewer)

Not to be confused with Benjamin Buck Greene, his son.
Benjamin Greene
Born(1780-04-05)5 April 1780
Oundle, Northamptonshire, England
Died26 November 1860(1860-11-26) (aged 80)
Bloomsbury, London, England
Occupation(s)Businessman, brewer, planter, newspaper owner
Known forFounder of, Greene King
Children13

Benjamin Greene (5 April 1780 – 26 November 1860) was an English businessman, newspaper owner and the founder of Greene King, one of the United Kingdom's largest brewing businesses.[1] He later became the owner of multiple plantations in the British West Indies and supported slavery.[2]

Career

Benjamin Greene was born on 5 April 1780 in Oundle. He apprenticed at Whitbread, a British multinational hotel and restaurant company.

Greene initially founded a brewing business in 1801 with John Clark in Bury St Edmunds.[1] Then in 1806 he dissolved that partnership and established a new venture with William Buck at the Westgate Brewery.[1] It was this venture that became Greene King.[1]

On the death of Sir Patrick Blake, 2nd Baronet he became the executor and, on the subsequent death of Sir Patrick's widow, the owner of some estates in the West Indies.[1]

He was a supporter of the arts and in 1819 lent £5,000 to William Wilkins to build the Theatre Royal in Bury St Edmunds.[3]

He acquired the Bury and Suffolk Herald in 1828 and as proprietor took an ultra-conservative position opposing both the Reform Bill and the Slavery Abolition Bill.[1] This position attracted much criticism and three libel actions.[1] He left Bury St Edmunds in 1836 and established with his son, Benjamin Greene & Son, West India merchants and shipowners, at 11 Mincing Lane, London.[1]

He made three claims under the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 and was awarded a total of £4,033 15s 7d compensation for the 231 slaves he had owned on his estates in Montserrat and St Kitts.[4][5][6] The Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slave-ownership at UCL describes him as an enthusiastic supporter of slavery, being particularly active between 1828 and 1833.[7] In June 2020 Greene King announced that it would be paying reparations to BAME charities in recognition that he and by extension the company had benefited from slavery.[8]

Grave of Benjamin Greene in Highgate Cemetery

He died at Russell Square in London on 26 November 1860 and is buried at Highgate Cemetery.[1]

Family

He was married twice: first in 1803 to Mary Maling and then in 1805 to Catherine Smith with whom he went on to have seven sons and six daughters[1] including:

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Greene, Benjamin (1780–1860)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 23 September 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/61093. Retrieved 11 April 2023. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ^ Otele, Olivette; Kattah, Mawuena (31 March 2023). "More than money: the logic of slavery reparations". the Guardian. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  3. ^ The Theatre Royal Archived July 15, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "Details of Claim | Legacies of British Slave-ownership". www.ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  5. ^ "Details of Claim | Legacies of British Slave-ownership". www.ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  6. ^ "Details of Claim | Legacies of British Slave-ownership". www.ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  7. ^ "Summary of Individual | Legacies of British Slave-ownership". www.ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  8. ^ "Lloyd's of London and Greene King to make slave trade reparations". The Guardian. 17 June 2020. Retrieved 18 June 2020.


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