The Castlemaine Brewery was an Australian brewery and brewing company established in 1857 by Edward Fitzgerald. He was joined in the business by his brother

Nicholas Fitzgerald Nicholas is a male given name and a surname. The Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Anglican Churches celebrate Saint Nicholas every year on December 6, which is the name day for "Nicholas". In Greece, the name and it ...

in 1859, after which the firm spread rapidly, opening breweries in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

, Sydney and

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, along with smaller breweries at Daylesford and

Newbridge Newbridge may refer to: Places Australia *Newbridge, New South Wales *Newbridge, Victoria * Newbridge Heights Public School England * Newbridge, Bath, electoral ward *Newbridge, Cornwall, three places in Cornwall with the same name * Newbridge, ...

. The breweries, though all originating from the same brothers, were either established or later floated as separate companies with distinct histories thereafter, even though the brothers retained a stake in them.

Castlemaine

The first brewery founded by Fitzgerald was located in

Castlemaine, Victoria Castlemaine ( , Variation in Australian English, non-locally also ) is a small city in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, in the Goldfields region of Victoria, Goldfields region about 120 kilometres (75 miles) northwest by road from ...

in 1857. It was closed and the company wound up in 1925, at which time it was reportedly the oldest industry in the district, with many employees who had worked there for much of their careers.

Melbourne

A Melbourne brewery was established in South Melbourne (now Southbank) by Nicholas Fitzgerald and a managing partner, James B. Perrins, in 1871. It was floated as the Castlemaine Brewery Company (Melbourne) in 1885. It amalgamated with five other breweries to form Carlton and United Breweries in 1907, at which time the brewery was closed. Several of the historic buildings remain today.

Queensland

In 1878, the Fitzgerald brothers partnered with the

business and shipping firm Quinlan & Co to form a new company, Fitzgerald, Quinlan & Co., for the purposes of opening a brewery in the Brisbane suburb of Milton. The new firm redeveloped the former Queensland Distillery into a new brewery. In 1887, The Castlemaine Brewery and Quinlan, Gray & Co. Brisbane Ltd was formed to acquire the assets of Fitzgerald, Quinlan & Co. and Quinlan, Gray & Co (the renamed Quinlan & Co). The company purchased competitor Perkins & Co Ltd in 1928, becoming

Castlemaine Perkins Castlemaine Perkins is a brewery at 185 Milton Road, Milton, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is a wholly owned entity of the Japanese-controlled Lion company. Operations began in 1878 and continue today. Castlemaine Perkins is the home of ...

Newcastle

In 1874, Edward Fitzgerald and his partner in the Sydney brewery, Robert Prendergast, partnered with the

firm of Wood Bros. to build a new brewery there, which was completed the following year. It was operated by the partnership of Prendergast, Wood & Co. from 1886. In 1887, a new public company was formed to acquire the interests of the brewery, Castlemaine Brewery and Wood Brothers and Co., Newcastle, Limited. It was acquired by

Tooth & Co Tooth and Co was the major brewer of beer in New South Wales, Australia. The company owned a large brewery on Broadway in Sydney from 1835 until 1985, known as the Kent Brewery. It was historically one of Australia's oldest companies, having be ...

in 1921, and continued as a Tooth & Co brewery until its closure in 1931 during the Great Depression.

Sydney

In 1869, Edward Fitzgerald and partner Robert Prendergast built a brewery in Hay Street, Sydney, near

Darling Harbour Darling Harbour is a harbour adjacent to the city centre of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia that is made up of a large recreational and pedestrian precinct that is situated on western outskirts of the Sydney central business district. Orig ...

. The brewery was floated as the public Castlemaine Brewery and Malting Company in 1881 and reconstituted as the Castlemaine Brewing, Malting, Wine and Spirit Company Ltd. in 1885. In 1890, the company purchased the Australian Brewery and renamed itself the Australian Brewery and Wine and Spirit Co., Limited. The Castlemaine Brewery was closed after the sale and was demolished in 1905.

References

{{reflist Defunct breweries of Australia 1857 establishments in Australia