A Brewery Legacy

The Tooth & Co Collection, held by Powerhouse Museum and the Australian National University Archives, has been inscribed on the UNESCO Australian Memory of the World Register, acknowledging its significance in documenting Australia’s social, cultural, and industrial history through the lens of beer brewing and pub culture.

Tooth & Co was established in 1835 by brothers-in-law John Tooth and Charles Newnham when they opened the large Kent Brewery on Broadway, Chippendale. It became one of the biggest brewing and hotel brands in Australia by acquiring several brewers along the east coast and buying up hotels, shaping not only the nation’s drinking habits but its communities and built environments. The archive offers an intimate insight into Tooth & Co’s 150-year history and its influence on Australian life — from colonial pubs to iconic Art Deco hotels.

At the heart of the collection are meticulously kept brewery ledgers from the mid-1800s, recording orders from publicans across New South Wales for its brands including KB Lager (named after the Kent Brewery), Kent Old Brown and the full range of Reschs beers. These ledgers record trends in beer consumption and pub trade throughout the state, and offer a timeline of the economic fortunes of regional and city pubs alike.