Alfred Dunhill (30 September 1872 – 2 January 1959) was an English

tobacconist A tobacconist, also called a tobacco shop, a tobacconist's shop or a smoke shop, is a retailer of tobacco products in various forms and the related accoutrements, such as pipes, lighters, matches, pipe cleaners, and pipe tampers. More specia ...

, entrepreneur and inventor. He is the progenitor of Alfred Dunhill, Ltd. a London-based luxury goods company owned by Swiss company

Richemont Compagnie Financière Richemont S.A., commonly known as Richemont, is a Switzerland-based luxury goods holding company founded in 1988 by South African businessman Johann Rupert. Through its various subsidiaries, Richemont produces and sells j ...

and the Dunhill tobacco products company owned by British American Tobacco (now two independently owned entities). From 1893 Dunhill ran a company selling motoring accessories, and in 1902 opened a shop in Mayfair. He developed a

pipe Pipe(s), PIPE(S) or piping may refer to: Objects * Pipe (fluid conveyance), a hollow cylinder following certain dimension rules ** Piping, the use of pipes in industry * Smoking pipe ** Tobacco pipe * Half-pipe and quarter pipe, semi-circular ...

designed for motorists in 1904. He opened a tobacconist's shop in

St James's St James's is a central district in the City of Westminster, London, forming part of the West End. In the 17th century the area developed as a residential location for the British aristocracy, and around the 19th century was the focus of the d ...

in 1907, offering tailored tobacco blends. Shops were opened in New York and Paris in the 1920s. With his international ambitions, Dunhill helped to create the modern luxury goods market. He retired from business in 1929, and married his mistress in 1945, following the death of his wife.

Early life

Dunhill was born on 30 September 1872 at 2 Church Path,

Hornsey Hornsey is a district of north London, England in the London Borough of Haringey. It is an inner-suburban, for the most part residential, area centred north of Charing Cross. It adjoins green spaces Queen's Wood and Alexandra Park to the ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

. He was the second son of five children of Henry Dunhill (1842–1901), a master blind-maker, and his wife and cousin, Jane, née Styles (1843–1922). His younger brother was the composer

Thomas Dunhill Thomas Frederick Dunhill (1 February 187713 March 1946) was a prolific English composer in many genres, though he is best known today for his light music and educational piano works. His compositions include much chamber music, a song cycle, '' ...

. His father occupied premises on Euston Road, manufacturing harnesses for horses. Alfred Dunhill was educated at The Lower School of John Lyon in

Harrow on the Hill Harrow on the Hill is a locality and historic village in the borough of Harrow in Greater London, England. The name refers to Harrow Hill, ,Mills, A., ''Dictionary of London Place Names'', (2001) and is located some half a mile south of the mod ...

and by tutors until he was 15, when he was apprenticed to his father's business.

Early career

In 1893, Dunhill inherited his father's business and shortly afterwards began to supply accessories for motor cars under the name Dunhill's Motorities (a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of words He married Alice Stapleton (1874–1945) on 15 June 1895. In 1890 he established the Discount Motor Car Company to sell his accessories through

mail order Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as: * Sending an order form in the mail * Placing a telephone call * Placing ...

. In 1902 he opened his first shop in Conduit Street, Mayfair, selling clothing and accessories to chauffeurs and their employers. He entered the pipemaking business in 1904 when he developed a "windshield pipe" to allow motorists to smoke while driving.

Tobacco business

In 1907 he opened a small tobacconist's shop on Duke Street in the

area. He offered tobacco blends tailored for the individual customer. In 1908 he introduced the first Dunhill cigarette. The shop rapidly prospered. His granddaughter Mary later described his flair as a salesman and a shopkeeper. The business expanded, and by 1910 Dunhill had taken additional premises in Duke Street. In 1912 he was joined in the business by his youngest brother, Herbert, and his eldest son, Alfred, followed by his second son, Vernon, in 1913. In 1912 Dunhill introduced the white spot trademark to its pipes. In 1934 he had the ship ''

Lady Gay The word ''lady'' is a term for a girl or woman, with various connotations. Once used to describe only women of a high social class or status, the equivalent of lord, now it may refer to any adult woman, as gentleman can be used for men. Inform ...

'' built as a personal motor cruiser; it later participated in the Dunkirk evacuation and was preserved until being destroyed by fire in 2021. The post-war period witnessed both expansion and the commissioning of new products. The company always ensured its products were covered by patent and trade mark, a policy prosecuted with vigour from the outset. The early 1920s saw the wholesale and export side of the business move to

Notting Hill Gate Notting Hill Gate is one of the main thoroughfares of Notting Hill, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically the street was a location for toll gates, from which it derives its modern name. Location At Ossington Street/Ke ...

, close to the pipe and cigarette division located at

Campden Hill Road Campden Hill Road is a street in Kensington, London W8. It runs north to south from Notting Hill Gate to Kensington High Street. History Campden Hill Road was originally called Plough Lane. By 1879, William Abbott, a stockbroker, "held the lea ...

Royal warrant

In 1921 the firm received its first royal warrant, as tobacconist to Edward, Prince of Wales. Dunhill also supplied

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

and Siegfried Sassoon. The 1920s also saw the opening of shops in New York and Paris. ''

Bloomberg Businessweek ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...

'' opined that Dunhill prefigured the modern luxury goods market with its international ambitions. In 1924 the company launched the Unique

lighter A lighter is a portable device which creates a flame, and can be used to ignite a variety of items, such as cigarettes, gas lighter, fireworks, candles or campfires. It consists of a metal or plastic container filled with a flammable liquid or ...

, a product that Dunhill and his brother Herbert had much interest in developing, and was the world's first lighter that could be operated with just one hand.

Publication

Also in 1924, Dunhill published ''The Pipe Book'', a monograph which detailed the history of the smoking pipe. In ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' review of the book, the anonymous author credited Dunhill with making pipe smoking "a gentlemanly diversion". The book has rarely been out of print since its publication. Dunhill was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 1925.Royal Society of Arts archives

Retirement

Dunhill passed the chairmanship of his company to his son Alfred Henry in 1928, taking retirement due to health reasons. He left his wife and moved to

Worthing Worthing () is a seaside town in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 111,400 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Brighton and Ho ...

to join his long-term mistress, Vera Mildred Wright (1902–1976), who changed her name to his by deed poll. Dunhill married Wright on 28 March 1945, shortly after the death of his first wife. He died in a nursing home in Worthing on 2 January 1959, and was cremated at

Golders Green Crematorium Golders Green Crematorium and Mausoleum was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. The land for the crematorium was purchased in 1900, costing £6,000 (the equivalent of £135,987 in 2021), ...

. He left gross assets of £74,117 (). His second wife survived him.

Works

* ** Reprinted: *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunhill, Alfred 1872 births 1959 deaths English businesspeople in retailing English inventors People from Hornsey English company founders People educated at The John Lyon School