Thomas Talbot

Image of the Talbot & Co. works on Commercial Road, Gloucester.

Former premises of Talbots Bottlers, Ladybellegate Street, Gloucester, 2015. Former Talbots Bottlers premises, incorporating remains of Blackfriars on the right.

Thomas Talbot (181914 February 1891) was a beverage bottler of Gloucester who founded the Talbot Mineral Water Company in 1845. In 1886, he was elected high sheriff of Gloucester and later became an alderman of the city.

Early life and family Thomas Talbot was born in Portsea, Hampshire, in 1819 to Thomas and Maria Talbot. He had a sister Eliza who became a governess. He married Ann Ratcliffe Buston or Burton in Gloucester in 1845. In the 1851 census he was shown as a "Soda water manufacturer and grocer" at 45 Lower Northgate Street. In the 1881 census he was shown as a "Mineral Water Manufacturer Master Employ 9 Men 4 Boys" residing at 4 Commercial Road.

Talbots Bottlers Talbot founded the Talbot Mineral Water Company in 1845. The firm had premises in Ladybellegate Street from at least 1867 and occupied some of the buildings of the former Blackfriars monastery and built some new buildings along Commercial Road. In 1873 the firm also had premises at 48 Northgate Street. It later became Talbot Bottlers (Gloucester) Limited. Archaeological investigations of the Ladybellegate site were carried out after 2000 in connection with proposals to redevelop adjacent buildings. The site is now in the ownership of Historic England.

City of Gloucester In 1881, Talbot was president of The Gloucester Fish and Game Supply Society Limited. In 1884, he successfully stood for election in the east ward of the City of Gloucester. He was of a Conservative disposition. In November 1886, he was elected high sheriff of the city and served for one year. In November 1888, he was elected for one year an alderman of Gloucester. He was a sidesman of St Mary de Crypt Church.