By Rory Kehoe
Saturday 2nd September 1939 wasn’t exactly a slow day for news! However, leaving aside the small matter of Germany’s invasion of Poland, the Daily Telegraph found space to inform readers that “…The old-established Margate brewery of Cobb & Co, together with 41 pubs and 2 off licences, will be auctioned in October. This, by order of the Chancery Division, in the matter of the estate of the late Francis Marsden Cobb…”
To say the least, Francis Cobb was something of a lad, being very much a huntin’, shootin’, fishin’ type, who played his full part in Margate’s social scene, yet still found time to breed racehorses and sire 13 children! Odd then, on his death aged 91in 1937, that he died intestate. Hence the Telegraph’s auction notice.
How did things end up in this muddled state?
The first Francis Cobb was born in 1727 and was a baker. In 1761 he leased a brewery (established 1673) which, like Cobb’s other business, flourished at a time when Margate was enjoying a boom period. Cobb’s success led him to found a bank and so well regarded was he, that by the end of the 18th century, his local nickname was “King Cobb!” Cobb died in 1802, being succeeded by his son, also named Francis.
During the Napoleonic wars, with much demand to supply the Royal Navy and Army, Margate continued to prosper, as did the Cobb family’s businesses. By the 1830s, Cobb’s brewery was probably the most significant in East Kent and was among the first in the county to become steam-driven: a Boulton & Watt engine being installed in 1827. On Francis junior’s death in 1832, he was succeeded by his son, Francis William, born in 1787.
FW Cobb appears to have been a shrewd businessman, as both brewery and bank continued to prosper, right up to his death in 1871. He was succeeded by his son, the socially active and horizontally energetic, Francis Marsden Cobb, born in 1846.
FM Cobb spent about 50 years at the helm, retiring from the business in 1927, aged 81. It was on his watch that the family’s bank, Cobb & Co, became a separate entity, which was subsumed within Lloyd’s Bank in 1891.
Despite being a successful concern, Cobb’s didn’t travel the expansion path, by acquiring and closing rival companies. Thus it was, that Cobb’s remained much the same size for most of its last 100 years, with c.40 pubs, all of which were located within 15 miles of Margate.
Fast forward to 1937 and the death of FM Cobb, soon followed by that of his widow, Agnes. Family wrangling over his £319k (c.£25m these days) estate, most of which was tied up in the brewery and tied estate, then commenced. This, evidently, was not resolved by September 1939 and due to the war, the dispersal auction never happened. In 1941, Shepherd Neame was offered the chance to buy Cobb’s but although the Neame and Cobb families were related by marriage, Sheps declined the offer.
In 1947, FM Cobb’s son, Francis Rupert took control of the brewery and set it up as a Private Limited Company. It was his nephew, David Cobb, who negotiated the sale of Cobb’s to Whitbread’s, which resulted in the brewery’s closure in October 1968.
Very little remains of Cobb’s brewery now but there may be readers who remember their “Classic Ales” and who can share some memories. If so, please get in touch.
Similarly, if you have any documents, photographs, signs, bottle labels, or other items relating to any of Kent’s old breweries, which could be scanned, photographed, or even purchased, please drop me a line. As a local historian and collector, I’m always keen to expand my breadth of knowledge on the subject of Kent’s brewing heritage.
Another excellent and well researched article on Thanet’s brewing history.
Cobb’s brewery (as a few of us old locals will remember, it being demolished in 1971) was a huge building at the top of Fort Hill. It was built in a year, the foundation stone being laid in July 1807, with the first brew produced the following July. It was one of the few purpose built breweries erected outside London in the Georgian era, reflecting the growing population and popularity of Margate as a seaside resort, and was even mentioned in fashionable guidebooks of the time.
Cobb’s also supplied beer to our thirsty sailors in the Royal Navy, the Downs fleet being anchored off Deal, during and after the Napoleonic Wars.
Such a shame so much of our history was bulldozed in the 60s and 70s.
“horizontally energetic” 👏 bravo!