Samuel Dow Limited was a wine merchants and whisky bonders based in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Scotland. The company was known for its range of blended scotch whiskies and its

Pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

lic houses around the city of Glasgow.

History

Samuel Dow Limited was established in 1807 by Samuel McCalman/Dow from

Lochaber Lochaber ( ; ) is a name applied to a part of the Scottish Highlands. Historically, it was a provincial lordship consisting of the parishes of Kilmallie and Kilmonivaig. Lochaber once extended from the Northern shore of Loch Leven, a distric ...

. He opened a very small bar at 45 King Street/Bridgegate in central Glasgow. The company became well known in 19th century Glasgow, and it was the third generation Samuel Dow, who developed the business. In 1881 he opened a bar at 226 Great Western Road. In 1896 the company headquarters moved to 242 Clyde Street from 54 to 58 Mitchell Street. From these premises various blends of scotch whisky were produced and exported worldwide. In 1899 the company also had a public house at 1157–1159 Pollokshaws Road. In 1931 Samuel Dow took over a bar at 67–71 Nithsdale Road in

Pollokshaws Pollokshaws () is an area on the South side of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is bordered by the residential neighbourhoods of Auldhouse, Glasgow, Auldhouse to the east, Eastwood, Glasgow, Eastwood and Hillpark, Glasgow, Hillpark to the south ...

. The company also operated a public house at 9–11 Dundas Street near

Glasgow Queen Street railway station Glasgow Queen Street () is a passenger railway terminus serving the city centre of Glasgow, Scotland. It is the smaller of the city's two mainline railway terminals (the larger being Glasgow Central) and is the third-busiest station in Scotland ...

. As of 2016, the bar in Dundas Street retained Samuel Dow's name with the bar in Nithsdale Road having changed hands (and name) in 2015. Whisky blends included Sam'l Dow's specially selected blended scotch whisky and Dow's Pigeon Blend which was known for its distinctive white pigeon logo. Other blends included McAndrew's, which was also produced and bottled in Glasgow. Occasionally, bottles of Samuel Dow whisky become available to purchase, and are considered to be collector's items. John Archibald Dow was the fourth generation of the Samuel Dow dynasty and he had three children. Samuel Dow (1908–1976) was educated at the

High School of Glasgow The High School of Glasgow is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private, co-educational day school, day school in Glasgow, Scotland. The original High School of Glasgow was founded as the Cathedral school, choir school of Glasgow Cathedra ...

and

Strathallan School Strathallan School is a private boarding and day school in Scotland for boys and girls aged 5-18. The school has a campus at Forgandenny, a few miles south of Perth. School roll The school has 73 full-time staff, and 18 part-time staff. It h ...

in Perthshire. Samuel held several important offices including, president of the Wine and Spirit Trade Association from 1964 to 1965, Master of The Worshipful Company of Vintners in 1971 and chairman of the Scottish Wholesalers Wine Merchants Association from 1953 to 1957.

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was educated at Strathallan School, St Johns Cambridge, and Middlesex Hospital Medical School. John (Alastair) Alexander Dow was educated at Strathallan School and graduated from

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

in 1939. He served as a lieutenant with the

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during

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around the

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and

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. As with Samuel he became president of the Scottish Wine and Spirit Merchants' Benevolent Institution. In 1965 Samuel Dow Limited, and four of its associated companies, were bought by another Glasgow wine and spirit merchant, David Sandeman and Son Limited, who were founded in 1821. Both Samuel Dow and Alastair Dow continued as directors. The whisky interests of both companies were merged, enabling further expansion of the business. David Sandeman and Son Limited was bought by

Allied Breweries Allied Breweries was the result of a 1961 merger between Ind Coope (of Burton), Ansells (of Birmingham), and Tetley Walker (of Leeds). In 1978, Allied Breweries merged with the food and catering group J. Lyons and Co to form Allied Lyons. The b ...

in 1970. The Samuel Dow public houses came under the control of Ind Coope (Scotland), a subsidiary of Allied Breweries. The deal enabled Ind Coope to expand their portfolio of public houses and hotels.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dow, Samuel Wine merchants 1807 establishments in Scotland British companies established in 1807 People educated at Strathallan School Blended Scotch whisky Food and drink companies established in 1807