J.B. CHEVALLIER | 1857 - 1940
John Barrington Chevallier (known as JB) was one of the more interesting characters in the long line of Chevallier's. Taught at home by his father he succeeded in gaining a scholarship to Eton College.
Having passed his exams JB went to Cambridge, on being told by his father that he had to read Maths and not Economics he bypassed the problem by studying both. He left Cambridge with a double first.
JB Chevallier was very much a sporting man. As well as playing in 4 FA Cup finals with the Old Etoniains (won two, lost two) he was a founder member of Derby County Football Club as he was a governor at the nearby independent school of Repton. Interestingly, Derby County youth team scholars attend Repton School today.
He was also a good long distance runner, once he came across a poacher on the farm and gave chase across three parishes until he caught him.
He tried his hand at many different tasks including rearing Red Poll cows, bee keeping and exporting cyder to India.
He also managed to send by mail order Aspall apples and cyder to as far north as Manchester using the local Mid Suffolk Light Railway as his means of distribution.
It was JB who first spelt cyder with a Y at Aspall. In the 1920's, JB's cydermaker Harry Sparrow would re-ferment the cyder with barley crystals to increase the alcohol to 10 - 11%. This made a more refined quality cyder which was sold in corked and wire muzzled bottles.
He spelt cyder with a Y as this was indicative of the style of cyder he was producing.
0 comments:
Post a Comment