Maidstone Geneva. An Old Maidstone Industry

MAIDSTONE GENEVA AN OLD MAIDSTONE INDUSTRY By JOHN W. BRIDGE, F.S.A. The Hand-Writing upon the Wall, a caricature in colour, pubhshed by James Gilhay in 1803, depicts Napoleon and his wife, Josephine, sitting at a table with, members of theh court, enjoying the spoils of England after the " invasion " by the French. A hand has written " Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin " on the wah, and the King's crown is outweighing Despotism to a cry of " Vive le Roi ". Among the viands and wines shown on the table are the Bank of England, St. James's, The Tower of London, together with the Roast Beef of old England, Maraschino, and some red liquor in a bottle labelled " Maidstone ". The Maraschino, a liqueur made from the smah black marasca cherries, was manufactured in England at this time, and might have been the forerunner of Maidstone's famous Cherry Brandy, as according to Walter Rowles' " Kentish Chronologer " of 1807, cherries were first planted at Teynham in Kent by Richard Haynes in 1520. Also, Evelyn records that " I t was by the plain industry of one, Harris (a fruiterer to Henry VIII) that the fields and environs of about 30 towns in Kent only, were planted with fruit to the universal'benefit and general improvement of that County to this day." • The bottle labehed " Maidstone", however, was obviously intended to represent the well-known Maidstone Geneva, which was a very popular gin made in Maidstone at this time. If the hquor in the bottle had not been coloured, the bottle would appear to be empty, as the gin was colourless. That this gin was exported to France is suggested by a second caricature in the writer's possession, by Woodward, engraved by Cruikshanks, and pubhshed by T. Tegg of Cheapside on 27th January, 1807. The title is The Giant Commerce overwhelming the Pigmy Blockade. It shows John Buh throwing various goods of Enghsh manufacture across the Enghsh Channel to France, while he exclaims " Blockade my Country, indeed! I'll shew you the Power of Commerce—take that, and that, and then to Breakfast with what appetite you may." Napoleon replies " Pray, Mr. Commerce, don't overwhelm me, and I whl take off de Grande Blockade of Old England." The exports being thrown over to France include Fleecy Hosiery, Worcestershire Porcelain, Wedgewood Ware, Woodstock Gloves, Printed Calico, Leather, Derby Porcelain, 79 MAIDSTONE GENEVA Bhmingham Buttons, Wool, British Sphits, Sugar, Block Tin, Patent Coffins, London Porter, Staffordshire Ware, Norwich Shawls, Pig Iron, Cutlery, Combs, Shears, .and a barrel marked " Maidstone Geneva ". This blockade was a scheme of Napoleon to ruin Great Britain through her commercial trade, and was known as the Continental System, by which he attempted to exclude British goods from continental ports. His Berlin Decree of 21st November, 1806, prohibited Spain, Italy, Holland and ah French territory from dhect or indirect commerce with Great Britain. The British Order in Council of 7th January, 1807, countered this by forbidding ah vessels, under pain of capture, from trading with any French port, or ports under the influence of France. Napoleon's scheme proved a failure, and even at the time when he was boasting of having struck a mortal blow, his own armies were being clothed from Leeds and Northampton. Hasted writes in his History of Kent, " There has been within these few years a distillery erected and carried on here (Maidstone) to a very large extent, by Mr. George Bishop, from which is produced the wellknown Maidstone Geneva, being of such a magnitude that no less than seven hundred hogs are kept from the surplus of the grains from it." These hogs were known as " squeakers " and were sometimes used to influence voters at elections. Geneva has no connection with a place of that name. It should be spelt with a smah " g " as it comes from the Dutch genever, a corruption of the French genievre, from the Latin juniperus = juniper, the berries of which were used for flavouring. The word " Gin " is a contraction of " geneva ", and Geneverette is a continental wine made from wild fruits, flavoured with juniper. Gin is an alcoholic liquor obtained from grain and molasses. The raw alcohol obtained from this source is re-distilled, then flavoured with the necessary material which varies with the brand, quahty, etc., and re-distilled. It is flavoured with a large number of substances, such as angehca root, calamus root, sweet fennel, juniper, cinnamon, hquorice, etc. It is now usuahy sold at "70 proof", which is 30 "under proof", and it may not be sold below 35 " under proof ". When pure, it should be perfectly clear and colourless. Sweetened gin is produced by the addition of smah quantities of pure sugar syrup added to the liquor. Hohands gin is a Dutch brand very largely imported into Great Britain. I t is obtained from barley malt and is usuahy flavoured with juniper. The origin of Proof Spirit goes back to the Middle Ages, when Proof Spirit was that mixture of pure alcohol and water, which when mixed with gunpowder, burned with a steady flame, and did not either explode, which was overproof, or extinguish, whioh was underproof. In turn, Excise Officers, first a Mr. Clarke in the middle of the eighteenth 80 PLATE I JO^F yw/w 'Mm V/^/JSftillers Anas, nmtMf*^ ^tm* Ltfar/i .rffatf/k^^IAIJ} STOJST&^ |[/at/iatat a/u/ *U*r6adlHUWu»iS.t!iUM///&&'fiM eniiVtw,n:tf//^^,t/^ffr/n4i't^oiVant^Ort7na^ &,a/&?Vr anda/tom/'/'tJtir&s td-~0t*t/r//s/ ^taamv^ c/iai THE TRADE CARD OF GEORGE BISHOP (/arc p. 80 •••* i*3F' ~"! HnM0 s 3 TEXSul. uwmxsm TtttlfJ H* hi > " The Hand-Writing upon the WaU By Gillray, 1803. w w £ A * r % . * U 5 I * A * J f * i t < < r * s * • ' . • ' • / :: : :* Iff* , > — " I m^/u//0OL\ j $ « ClAkT COMMERCE •,-, ••„•),,/„„„;.',,. h(lfnu Jjfrrkr/r/f The Giant Commerce overwhelming the Pigmy Blockade ' By Woodward, 1807. -r 5- MAIDSTONE GENEVA century, and then a Mr. Sikes in 1816 invented an instrument, which by means of tables, could be more scientific than the " Gunpowder test ". Both, however, used as Proof what was thought to be Proof at the time and as a result of this, the original test was used. Proof sphit is defined as such sphit as at the temperature of 51° Fahrenheit shah weigh twelve, thhteenths of an equal measure of distihed water. Application of this definition shows that Sphit of Proof strength contains very nearly equal weights of pure alcohol and water. •• The proportions required to give Proof sphit are : By weight. Pure alcohol 49-28"\ , „.0 ^ , , ., Water ° 5 0 ; 7 2 } at 60° Fahrenheit. By volume the figures are pure alcohol 57.1 and water 46 • 7. Owing to the contraction in bulk, accompanied by a rise in temperature which takes place on mixing these figures for volume whl give 100. Addition or reduction of the amounts of water as given above wih give a mixture termed Under Proof or Over Proof, respectively. Thus 30 under proof means that 100 volumes contains 70 volumes of the proof sphit as defined by law. Thirty over proof means that 100 volumes of the 30 over proof hquid contain enough pure alcohol to make, by the addition of more water, a quantity of 130 volumes of proof sphit. In practice, the quantity of proof sphit in any mixture of pure alcohol and water is ascertained by the hydrometer invented by the Mr. Sikes referred to, using specific gravity tables in conjunction with the temperature of the mixture. It is on the proof sphit that ah Customs and Excise duties are based. It is interesting to see that the normal gin and whisky sold to-day at 70 proof contains more water than pure alcohol. The great popularity of Maidstone gin was because of its extra strength, it being made under a special Act of Parhament which allowed this. It was 83 proof, 13 per cent, stronger than the gin of to-day. Excise duty was levied, based on the amount of sphit distilled from a given weight of " malt or other corn, including the bran thereof ", viz. 112 lb. avoirdupois which produced 120 gals, of " wash " or " wort " (the infusion of malt before fermentation) was charged " Two pounds, twelve shillings and fourpence ". If 30 gals, of the " wash ", when disthled by the Officer of the Excise, was found to produce " more than 2 | gal. of sphits at the strength of one in six under Hydrometer Proof ", the duty charged was one shilling and fivepence. Additional duty was to be paid on the above, viz, 15s. and 6d. respectively unth 12 months after " the Ratification of the Definitive Treaty of Peace ". The writer has some of the original Maidstone gin made by George Bishop well over 100 years ago. It is crystal clear, colourless, and stih very potent. 81 o MAIDSTONE GENEVA The effect of excessive gin-drinking is indicated by the following " Epitaph on a Gin-Drinker ". " Hah burnt alive ! beneath this Dung-hill lies A Wretch, whose memory the Sage despise. Her Brain all Tumult, ragged her Attire ; The Sport of Boys, when wallowing in the Mhe, Life did, to her, as a wild Tempest seem ; And Death, as sinking to a horrid Dream. Hence learn, ye Brutes, who reel in human Shape, To you superior is the grinning Ape ; For Nature's wise Impulses they'll pursue, Whhst each dread Start of Frenzy governs you." From Clement Taylor Smythe, writing in 1832, and from J. M. Russell in his History of Maidstone, 1881, we learn that a distillery for the making of Hollands gin was established in Maidstone by George Bishop, a native of the town. He had for several years conducted a distihery in Hohand, and after acquiring the art of distilling the celebrated Schiedam, he returned to England with the intention of setting up a distihery in Maidstone. Finding that there were laws in existence which would interfere materially with the needful operations, he petitioned the Legislature for an Act of Parhament to enable him to carry out his project, the realization of which, he pointed out, would tend to prevent smuggling by rendering Hollands a home produce. After much opposition, particularly by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the House of Commons, an Act of Parhament was obtained. Its subsequent importance, however, was so great, that eight other Acts were passed at different times, to continue and amend the powers which had been granted (See 39 Geo. III. Cap. 105, etc.). The demand for this sphit was very large, and it became in a short space of time a principal article of sale in nearly every town and village in the country. A large brick building with yards and other premises was erected on the south side of Bank Street, near the Swan Inn and adjoining the old Kentish Bank of Messrs. Brenchley & Co., and by the year 1789 the disthlery was in full operation. Maidstone Hollands gin was soon in great demand. When the originator died, the concern was left in the hands of his relatives, Sh William Bishop, George Bishop, and Argles Bishop, whose affairs got into confusion through extravagance and mismanagement, and in 1818, the distihery was sold. It was then carried on by the purchasers under the management of George Bishop for about a year, when in consequence of an application made by Argles Bishop to carry on, under the same powers, an opposition distihery which he had set up in premises in St. Peter Street, which have since become part of the Medway Brewery, the Excise took the opportunity of putting an end to both concerns, on the plea that the original disthlery 82 MAIDSTONE GENEVA having changed hands, the Act was inoperative. The premises behind Bank Street were afterwards converted into a steam corn-mih, shown as a " fiour-mih " on an old map of Maidstone. The buhding, which was destroyed in 1926, can be seen in a view of Maidstone, pubhshed in Kent's Capital in 1898. Thomas Grant of Maidstone issued a handbih in 1857, a copy of which is in the Maidstone Museum, in which he gives the history of the manufacture of gin, based on the foregoing, to which he adds : " So highly was the gin esteemed, and the loss of it felt, that hundreds of Sphit Merchants, for many years after, professed to have a remnant; and even to this date there are, as most persons can testify, numerous old pubhc houses in London with " MAIDSTONE GIN " in large characters over theh doors. In 1838 the father of the present proprietor began to distil this gin at Dover, and the celebrity it has again obtained since that period has induced the proprietor to erect a new distillery at Maidstone with ah the improvements of modern times, including steam power. The chief recommendations in favour of this gin, in addition to its peculiarity of flavour are primarily, ITS WHOLESOMENESS— The pecuhar care used in its first distillation from the grain, and the fact that it reaches the consumer in a state of genuine purity, are probably among the reasons why it agrees with the most delicate constitutions, and is generally admitted by medical men to be far more wholesome than ordinary gin. Secondly, ITS CHEAPNESS— for although nominally it is a trifle dearer than the BEST Common Gin, it is so much stronger in flavour, that for grog, httle more than hah the usual quantity is required. The price some time back lowered from 3s. to 2s. 8d. per bottle. It can be procured of most Sphit Merchants and Innkeepers throughout the Kingdom. The price is 14s. 6d. per gallon, or in bottles neatly labelled, at 2s. 8d. bottle included, 32s. per dozen, and to insure it being genuine, the corks are branded thus MAIDSTONE DISTILLERY. Where no agents are appointed, famhies can be supplied direct from the Disthlery, in quantities not less than Two Gallons, or One Dozen Carriage paid to London or any Station on the South-eastern North Kent Rahways. P.O. Orders, and correspondence to be addressed to " THOMAS GRANT, Disthlery Maidstone." In the Universal British Directory of 1791, George Bishop is mentioned as a Justice of the Peace, Sir Wilham Bishop, Bart., as a Jurat, and George Bishop & Co., as malt-distillers. George Bishop was Mayor of Maidstone in 1777 and 1786, and Sir Wilham Bishop in 1778 and 1787. Sh Wilham Bishop, Knight, distiller, who was knighted during his mayoralty by George III, hved in a house " standing back from the street, nearly opposite the Judges' Lodgings in Lower Stone Street ". He died in 1817 aged 83. The following notices which are in the Maidstone Museum, giving the prices of sphits, are interesting : 83 MAIDSTONE GENEVA MAIDSTONE HOLLANDS Equal to any Imported: Also best flavoured ENGLISH GIN, and fine, pure, clean SPIRITS that whl mix with any Liquor in large Proportions without hurting the Flavours, and the best Wine Brandy Coniac flavour : Also CLEAN SPIRITS for the use of Apothecaries. By GEORGE BISHOP at his Disthlery, Maidstone : and his warehouse : No. 2. RUSSIA COURT, Leadenhall Street, London. Who only is authorised by Parliament. No. 1. Maidstone Hollands at per gallon 5s. 9d. No. 2. Ditto Cordial Gin. „ „ 5s. 6d. No. 3. Ditto best flavoured Enghsh Gin „ 5s. 6d. No. 4. Ditto Clean Sphits „ 5s. 6d. No. 5. Ditto best Wine Brandy „ 6s. 6d. N.B. Sold at the lawful strength, he being allowed by Law to sell Sphits stronger than any other Person. A printed notice was sent to customers, probably because of the war conditions at that time, as follows : Maidstone Disthlery, June 20th. 1795. Sh, We are sorry to say, there is a certainty of the Distilleries in England being stopped in six months—there is no stock of Spirits, and it is impossible for us to quote any prices at present. We are, Sh, Your obedient Servants, Geo. Bishop and Co. After this prices went up, and the following printed notices were sent to customers ordering gin. Maidstone. Sh, Your favour dated . . . came safe to hand, ordering . . . . Puncheon of Hollands ; we have thought it proper to advise you the present price before we forward the same, which is 7s. Od. per Gallon Money. 7s. 2d. Ditto. 2 months, and we wait your further directions most respectfully. Sh, Your obedient Servants, Geo. Bishop and Co. Later, this same notice was used, with the prices altered to 7s. 4d. and 7s. 6d. respectively. The sale of Sphits by the Maidstone Disthlery was discontinued about 1910, thus terminating the production of a commodity for which Maidstone was famous during the greater part of one hundred and fifty years. 84