 Strangeways Brewery was founded in 1778 by two grain merchants , Thomas Caister and Thomas Fry , just north of what is now Manchester city centre . Their principal customers were the cotton workers of Manchester , then a burgeoning mill town . Henry Boddington , born in 1813 in Thame , Oxfordshire , joined the brewery in 1832 as a travelling salesman when the brewery was in the possession of Hole , Potter and Harrison . Like most Manchester breweries at the time , it was a modestly sized operation . Boddington had become a partner by 1848 , alongside John and James Harrison , and by this time the company went under the name John Harrison & Co . In January 1853 , Boddington borrowed money to become its sole owner . Between Boddington 's takeover until 1877 , the brewery 's output increased tenfold from 10 @,@ 000 to 100 @,@ 000 barrels a year , making it not only Manchester 's largest brewery but one of the largest in the North of England , with over 100 tied houses . By 1883 Henry Boddington & Co. was a limited liability company . Henry Boddington 's estate was valued at almost £ 150 @,@ 000 when he died in 1886 . 
