James Squire
First Fleet convict who brewed Australia's first beer with hops.
James Squire (bapt. 18 December 1754 – 16 May 1822) was a First Fleet convict transported to Australia who is credited with the first successful cultivation of hops in Australia around the start of the 19th century. He first officially brewed beer in Australia in 1790 and later founded Australia's first commercial brewery making beer using barley and hops in 1798.
Quick Facts
- Birth Place
- Kingston upon Thames, England
- Baptised
- 18 December 1754
- Death Date
- 16 May 1822 · 1754 · 12 · 18
- Death Place
- Kissing Point, New South Wales, Australia
- Other Names
- James Squires
- Occupation
- Primarily a brewer, but also: farmer · constable · butcher · baker · banker
- Spouse
- Martha Quinton. Left in England when Squire was transported.
- Partner
- 1. Mary Spencer (convict) (1789–c. 1791) · 2. Elizabeth Mason (convict servant in his service) (c. 1791–????) · 3. Lucy Vaughan-Harding
- Children
- 11
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
James Squire was baptised on 18 December 1754 in Kingston upon Thames to Romani parents Timothy Squires and Mary Wells. After an early conviction for highway robbery in 1774, he served in the army and returned free. In 1785 he was sentenced to seven years' transportation for stealing hens and cocks, joining the First Fleet. He arrived at Botany Bay on 18 January 1788, then moved to Port Jackson. While a convict, he began brewing beer, selling it for 4d per quart, and supplied beer to Lieutenant Francis Grose and William Paterson. After his sentence expired between 1790 and 1792, he received a 30-acre land grant at Eastern Farms (Kissing Point) on 22 July 1795. He expanded his holdings and by mid-1800 had ten sheep, 18 pigs, and 35 goats, with 5 acres sown in wheat and 45 acres ready for maize and barley. He ran a farm, a tavern called The Malting Shovel, a bakery, a butcher shop, and a credit union, and became a town constable. His death in 1822 was marked with the biggest funeral ever held in the colony.
Reader's Guide
James Squire's significance lies in his pioneering role in Australian brewing. He is credited with the first successful cultivation of hops in Australia around the start of the 19th century, and his first official brewing of beer in 1790 represents the earliest evidence of brewing beer with hops in Australia. In 1798 he founded Australia's first commercial brewery making beer using barley and hops, predated only by John Boston's corn beer brewery in 1796. Squire's brewing activities were noted at the Bigge inquiry in 1820, where he stated he had been brewing for 30 years using hops from the Daedalus. His rise from convict to successful entrepreneur and landowner, culminating in the colony's largest funeral, illustrates the transformative possibilities within the early penal colony. His legacy is preserved in the continued recognition of his contributions to Australian beer culture.
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