Murray, Sons and Company Ltd was a

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

manufacturing company based in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. The company traded under its own name but under various ownerships, from its foundation in 1810 until closure in 2005.

History

Murray, Sons and Company Ltd began trading in Belfast in 1810, and became a limited company in 1884. By 1921, it shared most of the Belfast manufacture of tobacco,

cigarette A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing a combustible material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhaled via the opp ...

s and

snuff Snuff may refer to: Tobacco * Snuff (tobacco), fine-ground tobacco, sniffed into the nose ** Moist snuff or dipping tobacco ** Creamy snuff, an Indian tobacco paste Media and entertainment * Snuff film, a type of film that shows a murder Literat ...

with Gallaher Limited, who had moved to Belfast in 1867.

Dunlop McCosh Cunningham Dunlop McCosh Cunningham, (1901–1983) was an Irish rugby player and businessman. Early life Cunningham was born in 1901 to his father Samuel Cunningham Senator in the First Stormont Senate, and mother Janet Knox. He was educated at Fettes Co ...

took over the running of the works in the mid-1920s from his uncle. The firm produced the ''Erinmore'' and ''Yachtsman Navy Cut'' brands, though the cigarettes were not the superior quality that the pipe tobacco proved to be. The firm produced high quality popular pipe tobacco. For a time in the 1970s the Managing Director was Belfast man Mr Gleghorne and his personal assistant was Mrs Elizabeth Iris McDowell (née Hillock)

Acquisition

In 1953, Murray, Sons and Company Ltd was acquired from

by London-based Carreras Tobacco, which following the sale of shares in 1958 by the Baron family, merged with Rothman's of Pall Mall to become Carreras Rothmans Limited. Carreras Rothmans became known as Rothmans International in 1972. In June 1999, Rothmans International was acquired by

British American Tobacco British American Tobacco plc (BAT) is a British multinational company that manufactures and sells cigarettes, tobacco and other nicotine products. The company, established in 1902, is headquartered in London, England. As of 2019, it is the large ...

Closure

In 2004, British American Tobacco announced the possible closure of Murray, Sons and Company Ltd and began a consultation process to review the plant's future. The company's fate was announced in January 2005, with the loss of 63 jobs.

Brands

Throughout its trading life, Murray Sons and Company Ltd manufactured various brands of tobacco products including pipe tobacco: * Craven * Dunhill * Erinmore * Yachtsman Navy Cut

References

{{British American Tobacco Tobacco companies of the United Kingdom British American Tobacco brands Manufacturing plants in Northern Ireland Manufacturing companies established in 1810 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 2005 British companies disestablished in 2005 Defunct manufacturing companies of Northern Ireland 1810 establishments in Ireland 2005 disestablishments in Northern Ireland