William Blackall Simonds

William Blackall Simonds (1761–1834) was a brewer and banker in the English town of Reading. He founded both H & G Simonds Brewery, which merged with other breweries to form Courage, Barclay, Simonds & Co in 1960, and J & C Simonds Bank, one of the precursors to Barclays bank.

Simonds came from a family with estates at Arborfield to the south-east of Reading, but his father, William Simonds senior, had moved to Reading to set up a malting business that later grew to include brewing. William senior married Mary Blackall, and William Blackall Simonds was their only son. He was probably born in Reading, with records showing that he was baptised at the Broad Street Independent Chapel in Reading on 13 August 1761.

When William senior died in 1782, William Blackall Simonds inherited his business. He married Elizabeth May, who was the heiress of Daniel May, the miller of Pangbourne, and the ward of Thomas May, the miller of Brimpton and founder of a brewery in Basingstoke.

William Blackall Simonds' grandson George Blackall Simonds was a well known 19th century sculptor, who became chairman of the brewery in 1910. The brewery merged with the London breweries of Courage and Barclay Perkins in 1960. The merged company, known as Courage, Simonds and Barclay, continued to operate from Simonds' original location until 1980, when it moved to a new brewery on the southern outskirts of the town, close to the M4 motorway.