John had married Eliza Miller in 1881, but she died in 1889 leaving a daughter Madeline (born 1882). John re-married in 1893, to Jessie Cooper, and they had two sons - Arthur Cyril (born 1896) and Rupert (born 1900). Rupert and his cousin Harry, Arthur's oldest son, later took leading roles in the company.
John also took an interest in Portsmouth Football Club, and was it's first
chairman. This interest may have come through his acquaintance with architect Arthur
Cogswell, a founder of the club, who designed numerous beerhouses and
public houses in the area. John was also a friend of Arthur Conan Doyle, who played
in goal for Portsmouth AFC. In any case John led a syndicate to buy land in
the heart of the town which the club moved on to in 1898 - click on the blue plaque to go to Portsmouth FC Supporters Club:
In common with other local brewers Brickwoods added bottled beers to draught in the 1890s. The original Portsmouth Brewery was closed in 1902, with the business and name transferring to new premises at Chapel Row just outside the dockyard: this was renamed Admiralty Road, apparently at Brickwoods' suggestion. At this time there were fourteen brewing firms in Portsmouth.
John Brickwood became a man of increasing influence (for example, as leader of the national Country Brewers' Society), was knighted in 1904, and made a baronet in 1927. During this time he commissioned genealogical research into the family history, which led to the creation of at least three family trees.To read more about the family trees, follow the Crest; for the life of Sir John Brickwood, follow the picture of Sir John & Lady Brickwood:
In the years before the First World War Brickwoods expanded the bottled
beer department and opened a new mineral water factory. By 1914 there were
only four breweries operational in Portsmouth, with Brickwoods having 333
public house licences - some 46% of the total number of tied houses owned
by Portsmouth breweries. Brickwoods had spread west into the nearby port
of Southampton and south on to the Isle of Wight. They also leased an
off-licence in Fulham, south-west London, from 1890 to 1916. Sir John's
nephew Harry, who was a Lieutenant in Navy Intelligence during the war,
became a Director. Harry also had an interest in sailing, being one of the
founders of the Victory Class. Click on the banner to go to the Victory Class website:
CLICK
ON THE PICTURE BUTTON LEFT, "THE 'KING AND QUEEN' AND THE 'SHIP
ANSON' IN 1970", FOR PICTURES OF THESE PUBS IN 1928 AND 1998.
The company continued to grow in the post war years and was the leading brewery in the county of Hampshire by 1930. Sir John Brickwood died in February 1932 being succeeded as Chairman by Harry, who presided over the merger with Long's - the third largest brewery in Portsmouth - in 1933.
