Hester Parnall

Hester Parnall
Born1868 (1868)
St Austell, Cornwall, England
Died1939 (aged 70–71)
Fowey, Cornwall, England
OccupationsBusinesswoman and brewer
Years active1911–1939
Known forChair of St Austell Brewery

Hester Parnall (née Hicks, 1868–1939) was an English businesswoman and brewer who was director and chair of St Austell Brewery.

Biography

Hester Parnall was born in St Austell, Cornwall, England, in 1868.[1] She married Thomas Rogers Parnall in 1904, a widower 28 years her senior. She was widowed in 1915.[2]

St Austell Brewery was founded in 1851 by Parnall's father, Walter Hicks, at St Austell.[3][4] In 1911, Hester's brother Walter Junior died after a motorcycle accident at Helston, Cornwall, and Walter returned to run the brewery aged 82.[3] Another brother, Gerald, died at Flanders during World War I in 1915.[1] Parnall joined St Austell Brewery as a director in 1911 and became company chairman after her father's death in 1916.[5][3][6] She remained in this position until her 1939.[7][8][9] She was succeeded by her nephew Egbert Barnes (1898–1979).[10][11]

Under her leadership, St Austell Brewery expanded, horse-drawn wagons were replaced with steam-powered ones and by the 1920s production had doubled in comparison to before the war.[6] The brewery output was 38,000 barrels per annum, equating to 9.5m pints of beer.[1] Parnall also grew the company's hospitality holdings, purchasing over 75 pubs and hotels,[12] including The Yacht Inn in Penzance,[13] The Crown Inn in St Ewe[14] and The White Hart Hotel in St Austell.[15] In 1934, she acquired Christopher Ellis and Son’s steam brewery in Hayle, Cornwall, along with the estate of 30 pubs.[6] A room at Pedn Olva in St Ives is named "Hester's" in her honour.[16]

Parnall was a "matriarchal figure"[17] and was feared by her employees. The first person to see her chauffeur-driven Daimler car pulling into the brewery would bang on the water pipes to warn that she was arriving.[3][18] In 1963, she was described by Clifford Hockin, then the brewery’s company secretary as "ruling the Company with the grace of a duchess combined with the aplomb of a successful business man".[6]

Parnall travelled everywhere with her Pekinese dogs and was a supporter of the Conservative Party.[1] In 1926, she became the tenant of the country house Tregrehan House near St Austell.[1] She invited Edward, Prince of Wales, Wallis Simpson, and Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin to Tregrehan.[17] In 1931, Parnall acquired Point Neptune villa at auction and she modernised and redecorated the house between 1936 and 1939.[2][19] Parnall died in 1939 in Fowey, Cornwall.[1][4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Hester Parnall (1868-1939)". Women Who Meant Business. 22 December 2022. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
  2. ^ a b "POINT NEPTUNE". HOUSE AND HERITAGE. 30 March 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d "An Ancient Art". BBC. 15 April 2008. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
  4. ^ a b Letcher, Lisa (26 May 2025). "Cornish man built a brewing legacy with just £1,500". Cornwall Live. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
  5. ^ Brewers' Journal and Hop and Malt Trades' Review. W. Reed. 1916. p. 258.
  6. ^ a b c d "Brewery raising a glass to International Women's Day". Falmouth Packet. 3 March 2019. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
  7. ^ "Krushin' It is St Austell Women's Day brew". Beer Today. 11 March 2025. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
  8. ^ Cole, Stuart (2007). West from Paddington. Etica Press Ltd. p. 99. ISBN 978-1-905633-05-0.
  9. ^ Protz, Roger (24 November 2021). The Family Brewers of Britain: A Celebration of British Brewing Heritage. CAMRA Books. ISBN 978-1-85249-377-6.
  10. ^ "Women in CAMRA". CAMRA - Campaign for Real Ale. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
  11. ^ Wilkinson, David (19 July 2017). The Alfred Wallis Factor: Conflict in Post-War St Ives Art. Lutterworth Press. ISBN 978-0-7188-4593-3.
  12. ^ "Our Story". St Austell Brewery. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
  13. ^ "The Yacht Inn, Penzance". Cornish Story. 8 November 2018. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
  14. ^ Vergnault, Olivier (17 September 2017). "This pub has been owned by St Austell Brewery for 100 years". Cornwall Live. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
  15. ^ "About Us". The White Hart Hotel. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
  16. ^ "Pedn Olva, St Ives". Pedn Olva. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
  17. ^ a b Sherwood, Harriet (6 September 2020). "How Victorian female brewers broke the (pint) glass ceiling". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 October 2025 – via Inkl.
  18. ^ Nurin, Tara; Fahrendorf, Teri (21 September 2021). A Woman's Place Is in the Brewhouse: A Forgotten History of Alewives, Brewsters, Witches, and CEOs. Chicago Review Press. ISBN 978-1-64160-345-4.
  19. ^ "Enjoying the Fowey Estuary with natural and historic sites". Cornwall Heritage. 8 August 2023. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
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