Bennett's of Ballinacurra Descriptive List (Ref. B609)

B609/

house making malt for the brewing firm of Arthur Guinness and Son. Also present in the collection are many records of the involvement of the firm, and in particular of John H Bennett, in the creation and operation of the Department of Agriculture Cereal Station at Ballinacurra. In addition, the collection contains personal and estate records of John H Bennett and his family, and of the West family, which came to represent the Bennett interest in the firm. The close interrelation between business, agricultural and scientific, and family records has greatly influenced the arrangement of the collection, and has led to the decision not to attempt to separate Cereal Station and family records from the business records. The first section, B609/1, consists of correspondence series, that is, sets of letters to and from the company filed as correspondence. This includes the ‘General Letters’ series, which contains letters and letterbooks from 1824 up to 1989. The earliest items in this series include letters to Guinness and to the Department of Agriculture, for the years before distinct series for correspondence with these bodies were created. Owing to the close relationship between the firm and Guinness, items relating to that firm occur throughout the collection. Correspondence with the malt department of Guinness, however, seems always to have been filed separately, so that series is placed in this correspondence section. As Department of Agriculture correspondence generally relates to the Cereal Station, that series has been placed in section B609/7, which relates to the station. Other correspondence present is of a general nature (B609/1/C-E). Despite the similarity of the letters contained, it was thought best to leave them in the series in which they were filed by the firm. There is much overlap between these later correspondence series and the ‘General Letters’ series (B609/1/B), so they have been placed directly after it, with Guinness correspondence placed at the start of the section (B609/1/A), reflecting its greater coherence as a series. Correspondence is followed by B609/2, which relates to the harvesting, drying and storing of barley and the manufacture of malt, as well as buying and selling of barley, arrangements with growers, and related weather reports and other records. These are records of the core activity of the firm as a malting concern. B609/3 contains financial records, including cash books, journals, and ledgers, as well as bank statements and receipts. Share, taxation, and rates records have also been placed in this section. Present are cash books for the period from 1898 to 1971, and ledgers from 1867 on, as well as a ledger for 1824-1827. Printouts for more recent years are also present. There is some overlap between these records and barley sale and purchase records in the previous section, and many volumes refer to farm and estate accounts and charges, and private accounts, as well as business costs. Company management is documented in section B609/4, which includes articles of association, Directors’ and Management Committee minutes, and management and company secretary correspondence. Audited statements of account are also placed here, as it was felt their function as management records was more significant than their financial function. Records of the firm’s involvement in other companies and organisations, such as Irish Malt Exports, are also placed here. It should be noted that the