Benjamin Greene

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For other people named Benjamin Greene, see Benjamin Greene (disambiguation).

Benjamin Greene (5 April 1780 – 26 November 1860) was the founder of Greene King, one of the United Kingdom's largest brewing businesses.

Career[]

Born in Oundle and apprenticed at Whitbread, Benjamin 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.[2]

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.[3][4][5] 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 1828-1833.[6] 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 the slave trade.[7]

Grave of Benjamin Greene in Highgate Cemetery

He died at Russell Square in London in 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. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i Benjamin Greene at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
  2. ^ The Theatre Royal Archived July 15, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "Details of Claim | Legacies of British Slave-ownership". www.ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  4. ^ "Details of Claim | Legacies of British Slave-ownership". www.ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  5. ^ "Details of Claim | Legacies of British Slave-ownership". www.ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  6. ^ "Summary of Individual | Legacies of British Slave-ownership". www.ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  7. ^ "Lloyd's of London and Greene King to make slave trade reparations". The Guardian. 2020-06-17. Retrieved 2020-06-18.


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