Giles Hosier (1724-1806), a Quaker merchant and brewer from Dorsetshire, England, married into the Mitchell and Hadwin families of Newport. In 1770 Hosier joined another Quaker merchant, Thomas Robinson, to operate a brewery in Hosier’s home. Because the brewery was producing more barrels, hogsheads and bottles of beer than they could store on their property, on 5 May 1770 Hosier and Robinson petitioned the General Assembly to lease the basement of the Colony House for beer storage for 14 years. The Hosier – Robinson partnership ended in 1774 and the brewery was closed soon afterwards. However by June of 1795 Hosier was back in business, once more petitioning the General Assembly for space in the Colony House.
Today the Hosier House continues its association with beer. Located at Broadway and Hosier Street, the same corner where it stood in the 18th century, it is now the home of the Fastnet Pub.
Above: A March 1795 ad from The Newport Mercury promoting the sale of Giles Hosier’s beer.