Britain’s first lager was brewed in Wrexham. From Victorian German founders and North Wales water to the Titanic, Khartoum, football chants and modern revival, this is the remarkable story of Wrexham Lager.
Britain’s first lager was brewed in Wrexham. From Victorian German founders and North Wales water to the Titanic, Khartoum, football chants and modern revival, this is the remarkable story of Wrexham Lager.
What began as a short piece about my great-great-grandfather Thomas Edwards, a cabinet maker in Wrexham, soon became something much more. First mentioned in the newspapers in connection with keeping animals in unsanitary conditions, the story took an unexpected turn as I followed the records.
Tracing the family through the streets of Wrexham revealed a picture of everyday life in the Victorian and Edwardian years, a hardworking family raising children and building their lives. Along the way, it became clear that Thomas wasn’t the man responsible for those animals after all.
But the research uncovered far more than I expected, including a family secret that had remained hidden for a generation.
