PLYMOUTH |
The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |
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REGENT BREWERY GREAT WAR MEMORIAL
The Regent Brewery stood at the junction of Chapel Street (now the lower part of Durnford Street) and Edgcumbe Street (now Union Street), East Stonehouse, just before Stonehouse Bridge. It was erected in 1889 and became part of the Plymouth Breweries Group in 1891. As a large employer in the area, it was inevitable that many of its men served in the Great War and the loss of lives was recorded on a concrete tablet originally located on the wall of the Brewery Tap Public House. It was originally unveiled on the morning of Saturday October 23rd 1920 by Mr G A Collun, chairman of the directors. Also present were Mr T G Greek Wills JP; Mr G A Seaward; Captain R W R Law OBE MC, three of the directors; and MR R A Shipstone, the brewer; Mr E Wedmeyn, manager; and Mr H M Taylor, company secretary. [1] A large number of employees of the Company lost their lives during the Great War. This was not to be unexpected, said Mr Colum: 'For the last three-quarters of a century the Company and its predecessors had selected employees from the ranks of ex-Service men. As their sons came into the business, it was natural that, on the first sound of danger, these young men, imbued with the martial spirit, flocked to the colours'. [1] Mounted upon the redstone memorial, beneath the laurel wreath, is a tablet of Upton Wood granite bearing the names of the fallen. Besides the tablet an illuminated Roll of Honour carried the names of all those members of the firm who had served in the Great War. [1] In 2002 the tablet was rescued and restored and is now by the side of the East Stonehouse coat of arms on the remaining part of the wall of the old Anchor Brewery building, which was part of the Group. It records the following names [1]:
S. J. Parsons, W. Smith, C. H. Finch, E. Rodd, A. L. Mitchell, H. L. Rundle and V. J. Sherwood also appear on the Roll of Honour of the Plymouth War Memorial. NOTE: It would appear from the newspaper account of the unveiling that this should strictly be called the "Plymouth Breweries Great War Memorial". Sources:
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