A short history of bottling Buxton water
(read more)'Hamilton' shaped bottle
DERSB : 2012.23
Hamilton bottle used by the Buxton Mineral Water Company.
Hamilton style bottles were first made in the 1840s. Their torpedo shape required them to be stored on their side, which helped retain the bubbliness of the water and prevented corks from drying out and loosening.
Buxton has long been associated with water, both for bathing and drinking. William Henry Robertson MD, the doctor at the Devonshire Hospital in the 1850s and 60s sets out Rules for Drinking the Water, saying that "it is seldom necessary to take more than two half pints of the waters every day" and that you should ease yourself into the practice of drinking it.
The waters are so fully charged with gas ... apt to occasion some degree of giddiness of even headache, that it is prudent at first to drink the water by sips,... ' (A Handbook to the Peak of Derbyshire and to the use of the Buxton Mineral Waters; or Buxton in 1854, page 226).
The first reference to Buxton Mineral Water being sold is an advert in London's Morning Advertiser 17 April 1855. It reads: "Buxton Mineral Waters. Bottled by authority at St. Ann's Springs." It was sold in pint bottles, with directions for use, by Francis E Nielson, Pharmaceutical Chemist, the Quadrant, Buxton; and by Hawkins and Co. Importers of Mineral Waters, Duke Street, St James's, London.
We don't know when the Buxton Mineral Water company was established. The Buxton Mineral and Aerated Water Company dissolved in 1872, but when was its founded? It was replaced by the Buxton Mineral Water Company in 1873. The earliest evidence at the museum is a trademark for the company awarded in 1876.
Additional information
- Description: length 235mm
- Rights: Creative Commons CC BY-NC 4.0 Buxton Museum and Art Gallery (part of Derbyshire County Council)
Wonders linked to this object:
St. Ann's Well- Buxton
'Of the High Peak are seven wonders writ. Two fonts, two caves. ... (read more)