Who founded this brewery?

How Tally knows

The Dictionary of Canadian Biography records that John Kinder Labatt invested £2,000 in a brewery operated by his friend Samuel Eccles, on the south branch of the Thames — the oldest brewery in London, established by John Balkwill in 1827-28. Balkwill rebuilt it in stone after the 1845 fire and sold it to Eccles in February 1847. Labatt acquired Eccles's interest when he retired in 1854 and renamed the firm the London Brewery. Tally answers PARTIALLY because three men have a claim on the word founder and they did different things: Balkwill built the brewery, Eccles bought and ran it, Labatt invested in it and later owned it outright. Only the last gave the company its name.

Evidence

• LABATT, JOHN KINDER — Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 9 — Dictionary of Canadian Biography / University of Toronto & Université Laval Proves: John Kinder Labatt invested £2,000 in a brewery operated by Samuel Eccles — the oldest brewery in London, established by John Balkwill in 1827-28 — and acquired Eccles's interest on his retirement in 1854, renaming the firm the London Brewery.
• London Brewery — Fanshawe Pioneer Village Proves: The London Brewery was established by John Balkwill in 1828, destroyed by the great fire of 1845, rebuilt in stone, and sold by Balkwill to Samuel Eccles in February 1847.

Connections

• labatt-brewing-company → INVESTED_IN → John Kinder Labatt (1847–present) · grade B
• labatt-brewing-company → PREDECESSOR_FOUNDED_BY → John Balkwill (1827–present) · grade B
• labatt-brewing-company → OPERATED_BY → Samuel Eccles (1847-02–1854) · grade B
• labatt-brewing-company → OWNED_BY → John Kinder Labatt (1854–present) · grade B

What we still don’t know

• The Dictionary of Canadian Biography places the brewery on the south branch of the Thames at the foot of Talbot Street; other accounts name Simcoe Street. Both readings are preserved and neither is asserted.
• Western University Libraries holds the Labatt Historic Collection. No document from it has been reviewed; the partnership agreement and the 1854 bill of sale would settle the remaining detail.