Not Just Milk Stout

The story of the Mackeson family’s sometimes bumpy journey from small-town brewers to national fame and a title. This is the story of how the Mackeson brothers of Deal bought a brewery in the small town of Hythe and eventually transformed it into the manufacturer of one of the biggest brewing success stories of the twentieth century – Milk Stout. The drink was a favourite in pubs and shops across the country and famously found its way into the snug in Coronation Street’s ‘Rover’s Return’. But the family’s journey was not a smooth one. Four generations from 1801 struggled with economic depression and recession, war, suicide, bankruptcies, a law suit, wastrel and importunate relatives, and premature deaths. There were triumphs, too: delivering the Koh-I-Nor diamond to Queen Victoria, discovering a new dinosaur and finally, in the person of Harry Ripley Mackeson, producing a Lord of the Treasury and a baronet. AUTHOR: Anne Petrie is a well-known local author who here combines a lively tone and authoritative research. Richly illustrated with over 90 pictures, this book is a must for the bookshelves of social historians and everyone seeking to find out more about this fascinating county. 30 b/w illustrations

Author Biography

Anne Petrie has an MA in History and has been chair of Hythe Local History Group for many years. She enjoys sharing her work via her popular blog, which has an international readership, and through her books and contributions to local publications. Her particular interests are in social and family history, and her most recent book for The History Press was The Story of Kent (2017).