The Jameson family :
John Jameson (1740 - 1823) was Sheriff Clerk of Clackmannan and Kinross, Writer to the Signet, based in Alloa. He married Margaret Haig, the eldest daughter of John Haig of the Gartlands [The Garlet] in September 1768.
In 1790, Jameson became the Bailie of Alloa Harbour. This was the same year that he and George Abercromby got together to petition for the extension of terms within a 1754 Act regarding tax on a pint of ale or beer brewed for sale in Alloa and its surrounding districts. It had been set at two Scots pennies. The Act also put a tax on all vessels that berthed at Alloa Harbour. Speaking on John’s behalf, William Jameson said that the dues were necessary to implement improvements to make the harbour safer and larger to accommodate more shipping.
John took an interest in a Stein family owned distillery in Dublin - he initially managed Bow Street Distillery for the Steins, buying it from them around 1805. He experimented with a larger ratio of un-malted barley in his whiskey recipe. This was more tax efficient as malted barley attracted higher tax rates. His son John would later join him in the endeavour, and the company would be re-named John Jameson & Son (Around 1810).
In 1802 John’s son John (jnr.) married Isabella Stein.
John's son William Jameson joined John Stein at Marrowbone Lane - and eventually bought him out. John’s son James Jameson took William’s share of Marrowbone Lane Distillery when William died.
John’s son Robert, born 1771, took over as Sheriff Clerk from his father.
John's son Andrew set up a whiskey distillery in Fairfield near Enniscorthy, County Wexford (Fairfield Distillery) in 1818. This closed circa 1837 when he divorced wife Catherine, whose father had previously owned the buildings.
John Jameson’s wife Margaret, known as Peggy, lived until 1815, dying at the age of 63 while John died on December 2 or 3, 1823. He is buried in Greenside Cemetery in Alloa. His son John jnr. took over the whiskey business.
John’s grandson Andrew Jameson, Sheriff Clerk after his father Robert, was involved in the selling of the Stein family's Kennetpans Distillery operation in April 1845 due to debts they had amassed.
In 1891 the Jameson Bow Street Distillery became a private limited company.
Jamesons merged with Cork Distillers and John Powers to create Irish Distillers Group in 1966, with the Jameson Distillery in Bow Street closing ten years later due to the opening of the Midleton Distillery by Irish Distillers outside Cork. The old Jameson distillery is now a visitor centre. In 1988 Pernod Ricard bought out Irish Distillers Group.
Jameson owned distilleries :
Bow Street, Dublin [Bought]{John, John (Jnr) } (c.1805 - 1971) (Closed 1976)
Marrowbone Lane, Dublin [Bought]{William} ( c.1802 - 1923)
Fairfield, Enniscorthy, County Wexford [Founded]{Andrew} ( 1818 - 1837)
Family Tree :
What we've found so far.
