Thomas Cobbold, the founder was a maltster in Bury St. Edmunds and he decided, in modern parlance, to diversify down the line into brewing. He reasoned that the chances of success were greatest in Harwich because the population was growing and being a port and a garrison town there would be plenty of thirsty customers. The exact location of his brewery is uncertain but it is known that, at that time nearly every inn had its own brewery producing beer for consumption on the premises. The popularity of beer was in part due to the lack of clean drinking water. Diluted brews for children gave rise to the expression ‘small beer.’

Being close to the sea meant that local water was brackish and this is alleged to be the reason that Thomas and his son, also Thomas, started brewing at the Cliff in Ipswich, using water from Holy Wells (as it was then spelled). Part of what is now the Holywells Park had been owned by the family for some years but it was not until 1811 that ‘Big’ John Cobbold was able to buy Pitt’s farm to complete the estate.

The second-generation Thomas had been born in Rattlesden but lived and died at the Cliff being the house built for the family at the same time as the brewery. He is recorded as having worshipped at the Church of St. Clement (which became known as the Cobbold church) where his headstone is preserved to this day

To the Memory
Of THOM. COBBOLD
Common Brewer
who departed this Life
21st April 1767
In the 59th year of his life

The term Common Brewer sounds derogatory, but was what we would call ‘wholesaler’ today and indicates the trend towards selling beer for consumption in houses other than one’s own.

Thomas junior had an eldest surviving son, also Thomas (1742-1831) #51 who would have been expected to inherit the brewery but he opted to be ordained so the brewery passed to a younger son, John who has recently been given the sobriquet ‘Big’ to distinguish him from his six John descendants. They in turn are distinguished from each other by the adoption of their mothers’ maiden names. Big John’s nickname is justified by his large physical presence, his long tenure of the family business and by his philoprogenitive prowess. Both his wives had the same Christian name so they became known as Elizabeth 1st, who gave him fifteen children and Elizabeth 2nd who added a further seven.

His second Elizabeth née Knipe (1765-1824) #58 came from a cultured background and it is said that on arriving in John Cobbold’s house she found only three books – a Bible and two books of brewery accounts. She was that rare person, a female Georgian polymath, an accomplished linguist with a talent for the lyre, an artist, a writer of prose and poetry, infinitely skilled at paper-cutting and with an instinctive care for the poor and disadvantaged.

John Chevallier was the local MP and was probably the most vigorous business man of his day. He was instrumental in the construction of the wet dock (now Ipswich’s valuable waterfront) which, at 33 acres was the biggest in the land when as Mayor he was on the first boat through its lock in 1842 and equally involved in the arrival of the Eastern Union Railway in Ipswich in 1846.

Following John Patteson’s early death, John Chevallier called his son Felix back to Ipswich to run particularly the family’s banking interests. One cannot avoid the thought that Cambridge’s loss was Ipswich’s gain. Felix was shrewd and generous. His gift of Christchurch Mansion was and is much appreciated but less well known is the legacy of over 700 acres of fine agricultural land to a trust which still manages them to this day.

During the eighteenth century many of the fine houses enriched by wool merchants in Ipswich became Cobbold pubs. Some contained fine carved and panelled interiors which have since been retuned to the people of Ipswich by installation at Christchurch Mansion. John Dupuis was amongst the most generous.

The death of John Murray, when a doodlebug destroyed the Guards Chapel during Mattins on Sunday 18th June 1944, was a tragedy. Colonel John had been working with Gen. Eisenhower’s team on the D-Day landings and was expecting his Chief of Staff, Gen. Bidell Smith to join him at the service. Bidell Smith’s life was saved by his last-minute cancellation. John Murray and his wife, Lady Blanche Cavendish (1898-1987) #449 had been married in the Guards Chapel in 1919. Just a few weeks before his death they had celebrated their silver wedding there by the gift of a pair of silver candlesticks which were alight in an ante-chapel when it was struck. As though in an act of defiance they were not extinguished.

Stepping into the breach following John Murray’s death was Alistair Philip Cobbold (1907-1971) #472 who had board members Eric Butler, Lord Tollemache, and Peter Strutt to assist him. His son, Richard (1935) became the Wines and Spirits supremo and at the time of writing is the last surviving member of the Cobbold family brewing business.

It is not proposed to go into the detail surrounding the initial and subsequent sales of the business. The Cobbold Family History Trust has kept up with events as far as possible and welcomes the Victorian Society’s inclusion of the Cliff Brewery on its list of endangered buildings in 2015. The Trust decries the pointless vandalism and fire of 2020 and has written in support of the current (2025/26) redevelopment proposal.