Ansell's was founded in 1857 by Joseph Ansell as Ansell and Son. They were originally malsters and hop merchants before concentrating on brewing from 1881. The company was incorporated in 1889 as Joseph Ansell and Sons Ltd..

In 1934 Ansell's acquired Holt's making them one of the largest UK regional breweries.

In December 1960, Ansells launched the first large seven pint can known as a party can or 'bumper'. It was called Ansells Caskette Draught Beer and the can was made by Metal Box at Perry Wood, Worcester. Various other sizes soon followed.

In 1961 Ansell's merged with Alsop's, Tetley Walker and Ind Coope breweries to form Allied Breweries who had main offices at Burton upon Trent.

The Aston Brewery closed in 1981, after 100 years of brewing in Birmingham, and production was moved to Allied's Burton plant and thus Birmingham lost one of its most famous landmarks.

From early 2002, the brand was produced by Carlsberg Tetley at their Leeds plant.

Colonel Edward Ansell built the present Moor Hall in Sutton Coldfield as his private residence  in 1905. All of the wood carvings and stone work were created on site, and architects from all over the country came to admire the workmanship. The fireplace in the lounge bar has MCMV (1905) carved in the mantel and if you look just above at the stained glass window and you will see 1906 carved there. 

Edward Ansell auctioned Moor Hall in 1930 and it was bought by the Streather family, who opened it as a private hotel for the first time. Today Moor Hall is a Best Western hotel.

Sadly no tribute to Edward Ansell is on show at Moor Hall