Glassworks: not marked.
George Withy was born in Castle Street, Bristol on 8th July 1802, son of Quaker parents George & Lydia Withy, woolen drapers. His grandfather, also a George Withy, had been a merchant tailor in Bristol. George junior married Eliza, daughter of Mr. Shield of Almondsbury, on 12th May 1829 at the Society of Friends meeting house, Portishead. He was a woollen draper at the time of his marriage.
George Withy the elder, late of Bristol, died at Melksham on 30 Sep. 1837 aged 74. He was a devout member of the Society of Friends, and a keen supporter of the abolition of slavery.
Around 1851 George Withy the younger took over Fuller's aerated water works at Orange Grove, Bath. The 1851 census records him as a Soda Water Manufacturer Living at 9 Pierrpont St. Bath. He had been a tea dealer in 1847 in Old Bond Street, corner of Burton Street. One of the earliest advertisements I have found is from 1852: "SODA WATER MANUFACTORY, - WITHY late FULLER, manufacturer of the improved SUPER-CARBONATED SODA WATER, CHAMPAGNE LEMONADE, GINGER LEMONADE, &c., ORANGE GROVE, BATH." Withy went into partnership around this date with Joseph Francis Cotterell and John Russell Grace, extending the business to Wilder Street in Bristol. Joseph Francis Cotterell, who was born 22 May 1818 at Sea Mills, Westbury upon Trym, to Quaker parents Henry Fowler Cotterell and his wife Sarah, married Antonia Prudencio on 3 July 1858 in Bradford on Avon. Antonia was a widowed sister of Francisco Prudencio. Francisco worked for Withy & Co. as foreman before joining Batten & Co. in Bristol around 1874, the company becoming Batten and Prudencio. Joseph's previous wife Catharine Naish had died in 1849, and by 1851 he was a master decorator staying at the Naish household in Congresbury, Somerset. Joseph died in Bristol in 1903. John Russel Grace was a younger man than the other two gentlemen in the partnership, born 10 Nov. 1835 in Queen Square, Bristol to Josiah and Mary. Josiah was a Bristol corn factor and also a Quaker. By 1861 John was still living with parents at 15 Queen Square, but was working as a Soda Water Manufacturer at the Wilder Street factory in Bristol. After the break up of the partnership John became a partner with H. W. Carter for a while but by 1881 he'd become a commercial traveller in the flour trade. John had married Mary Jane Bray, in Liverpool Christ Church, on 1 May 1861. He died in 1914 in Bristol.
In the 1861 census George and Elizabeth are living at 10 Larkhall Place,Walcot in Bath.
In the Cornish Telegraph - Wednesday 27 April 1870, Withy & Co announce that they have appointed Richard Carter of St. John's House, Penzance, agent for Penzance and neighbourhood. The partnership of Withy, Cotterell and Grace was dissolved the following month, this was a separation of the Bath and Bristol partners. The 1871 census records George Withy and his wife living at 3 Sydney Buildings, Bathwick, and that he is now the local branch manager of Withy & Co. now a Limited Company. After the split of the partnership Cotterell was trading independently for a short period from 3 Baldwin Street (Clare Street end), Bristol. His advertisements appear in the 1872 newspapers, stating that he was 18 years a partner in Withy & Co.
In Bath the company was taken over by Hunter & Temple. In Bristol it became Carter & Co. Carter claimed an establishment date of 1831 on his bottles. This dates back prior to Fuller of Bath. Mr. H. W. Carter had been a soda water manufacturer living in Napier Road, Redland, in 1871. He may have been working with Withy at this time.
George Withy's probate register record states: "George Withy formerly of Larkhall in the City of Bath but late of Tyne-road Bishopston in the county of Gloucester who died 16 July 1878 at 9 Pierrepont-street, in the said City." So George died at his old Bath address which had been occupied by the family since he had set out on his Soda Water career in the early 1850s.
| 10oz Chisel-lipped Hamilton Bottle | |
| Embossed:
G. WITHY & Co. / WILDER STREET BRISTOL / 10 ORANGE GROVE BATH /
GENUINE SUPERIOR / AERATED WATERS / BY STEAM POWER. Glassworks: not marked. |
| 10oz Blob-lipped Hamilton Bottle |     |
| Embossed:
G. WITHY & Co. / WILDER STREET BRISTOL / 10 ORANGE GROVE
BATH / GENUINE SUPERIOR / AERATED WATERS / BY STEAM POWER. Glassworks: not marked. |
| 10oz Chisel-lipped Round Bottomed Cylinder |   |
| Embossed
lengthwise in script: Geo. Withy & Co. other side: REGISTERED / (G. WITHY & Co. / BATH & BRISTOL - in circle / TRADE MARK. Glassworks: P (likely Powell, Bristol). |
| 10oz Blob-lipped Hamilton Bottle |   |
| Embossed
lengthwise: HUNTER & TEMPLE / LATE WITHY & COMP
/ BATH / GENUINE SUPERIOR / AERATED WATERS Glassworks: not marked. |
| 10oz Chisel-lipped Flat Bottomed Hamilton or Skittle Bottle |   |
| Embossed
on base only: WITHY & Co / BATH / &
BRISTOL Glassworks: not marked. Amber-green glass. |
| 10oz Chisel-lipped Flat Bottomed Hamilton or Skittle Bottle |   |
| Embossed
on base only: W These have been found with other Withy skittles hence attribution. Black-dark olive green glass. |
| 10oz Bullet Stoppered Bottle |  |
| Embossed
lengthwise: WITHY 'S / BRISTOL Glassworks: ? Image courtesy Aled Rees. |