Place Name
James Watney (December 18, 1800 – March 16, 1884) acquired the Mortlake Brewery from Philips & Co in 1889. The brewery had been bought by Charles John Philips in 1852. In partnership with James Wigan, the two men made it a large and successful concern resulting in an ever growing need for expansion. When Philips retired his sons sold the business to Watney’s and the firm became Watney, Reid and Co. C Marshall Rose in Nineteenth Century Mortlake and East Sheen gives a potted history of the brewery: “The first Mortlake brewery is said to have been established in 1487 by one John Morgan (or Williams), and to have stood near to the manor house. This was at the west end of the village and is considered to have been sited between the river and the present Mortlake Green. The first expansion of the brewery buildings probably began around 1700 when the Manor House was pulled down. Development has gone on inexorably…” This road was named after the brewing giant in 1919.
