I pride myself on doing the extensive research it takes to prepare for each stop on my Craft Brewery Pilgrimage. That research will ensure that our visit to PackingHouse Brewing Company in Riverside on Saturday, March 24 is a rewarding experience.
Research of a slightly different kind highlights yet another example of the pivotal role that brewing beer plays in the history of our civilization.
A memorandum in the Huntington Library describes that a Committee of the House of Commons sitting on Public Breweries received evidence respecting the canteens in the Tower of London. On May 20, 1818, The committee summoned Major John Henry Elrington, the Major of the Tower, ordering him to attend and give testimony the next day.
Major Elrington reported the matter to his commanding officer, General Loftus, who also was a member of the House of Commons. General Loftus objected to the Committee’s examination of Major Elrington without the specific permission of the Prince Regent. He argued that the Tower of London is a Royal Palace, and “all within it is subject alone to the Sovereign Power.”
After hearing General Loftus’ objections for two days, the Committee ordered that the evidence it had taken and received in its proceedings about the canteens within the Tower be expunged from its records.
There are several lessons for us today in this historic example. It raises an intriguing legal question about the interaction between parliamentary and royal authority.
It is also yet another indication of how many turning points of history are lubricated with beer.
It fascinates me that, because General Loftus was effective, we will never know what the Committee had learned about the canteens in the Tower and what more they were interested in learning. Was he just trying to avoid the work of putting together detailed testimony, or was there something he was trying to keep hidden?
[Image by xiquinhosilva]
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