Benjamin Greene (5 April 1780 – 26 November 1860) was an English businessman, newspaper owner and the founder of Greene King, one of the United Kingdom's largest brewing businesses.[1] He later became the owner of multiple plantations in the British West Indies and supported slavery.[2]
Benjamin Greene was born on 5 April 1780 in Oundle. He apprenticed at Whitbread, a British multinational hotel and restaurant company.
Greene initially founded a brewing business in 1801 with John Clark in Bury St Edmunds.[1] Then in 1806 he dissolved that partnership and established a new venture with William Buck at the Westgate Brewery.[1] It was this venture that became Greene King.[1]
On the death of Sir Patrick Blake, 2nd Baronet he became the executor and, on the subsequent death of Sir Patrick's widow, the owner of some estates in the West Indies.[1]
He acquired the Bury and Suffolk Herald in 1828 and as proprietor took an ultra-conservative position opposing both the Reform Bill and the Slavery Abolition Bill.[1] This position attracted much criticism and three libel actions.[1] He left Bury St Edmunds in 1836 and established with his son, Benjamin Greene & Son, West India merchants and shipowners, at 11 Mincing Lane, London.[1]
He made three claims under the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 and was awarded a total of £4,033 15s 7d compensation for the 231 slaves he had owned on his estates in Montserrat and St Kitts.[4][5][6] The Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slave-ownership at UCL describes him as an enthusiastic supporter of slavery, being particularly active between 1828 and 1833.[7] In June 2020 Greene King announced that it would be paying reparations to BAME charities in recognition that he and by extension the company had benefited from slavery.[8]
He died at Russell Square in London on 26 November 1860 and is buried at Highgate Cemetery.[1]
Family
He was married twice: first in 1803 to Mary Maling and then in 1805 to Catherine Smith with whom he went on to have seven sons and six daughters[1] including:
