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 retail business that sells tobacco products in various forms and the related accoutrements, such as pipes, lighters, matches, pipe cleaners, and pipe tampe ...

, entrepreneur and inventor. He is the progenitor of Alfred Dunhill Limited, a London-based

luxury goods In economics, a luxury good (or upmarket good) is a good (economics), good for which demand (economics), demand increases more than what is proportional as income rises, so that expenditures on the good become a more significant proportion of ove ...

firm (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 jew ...

), and the Dunhill tobacco products company owned by

British American Tobacco British American Tobacco p.l.c. (BAT) is a British multinational company that manufactures and sells cigarettes, tobacco and other nicotine products including electronic cigarettes. The company, established in 1902, is headquartered in London, E ...

(now two independently owned entities). From 1893 Dunhill ran a company selling motoring accessories, and in 1902 opened a shop in

Mayfair Mayfair is an area of Westminster, London, England, in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. It is between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane and one of the most expensive districts ...

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

St James's St James's is a district of Westminster, and a central district in the City of Westminster, London, forming part of the West End of London, West End. The area was once part of the northwestern gardens and parks of St. James's Palace and much of ...

in 1907, offering tailored tobacco blends. Shops were opened in New York and Paris during 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 in

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 to the west and Alexand ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

. 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. His father occupied premises on

Euston Road Euston Road is a road in Central London that runs from Marylebone Road to Kings Cross, London, King's Cross. The route is part of the London Inner Ring Road and forms part of the London congestion charge zone boundary. It is named after Euston ...

, manufacturing harnesses for horses. Alfred Dunhill was educated at The Lower School of John Lyon in

Harrow on the Hill Harrow on the Hill or Harrow-on-the-Hill is a locality and historic village in the borough of London Borough of Harrow, Harrow in Greater London, England. The name refers to Harrow Hill, ,Mills, A., ''Dictionary of London Place Names'', (2001) ...

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 In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

of "motorist" and "priorities"). 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 an order by telephone call ...

. In 1902 he opened his first shop in Conduit Street,

, 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'' built as a personal motor cruiser; it later participated in the

Dunkirk evacuation The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo and also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, or just Dunkirk, was the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allied soldiers during the Second World War from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, in the ...

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 in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in Inner London. Historically the street was a location for Tollbooth, toll gates, from which it derives its modern name. Location At Ossingto ...

, 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 leas ...

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 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

and

Siegfried Sassoon Siegfried Loraine Sassoon (8 September 1886 – 1 September 1967) was an English war poet, writer, and soldier. Decorated for bravery on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front, he became one of the leading poets of the First World ...

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

Bloomberg Businessweek ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'' (and before that ''Business Week'' and ''The Business Week''), is an American monthly business magazine published 12 times a year. The magazine debuted in New York City in Septembe ...

'' 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 uses mechanical or electrical means to create a controlled flame, and can be used to ignite a variety of flammable items, such as cigarettes, butane gas, fireworks, candles, or campfires. A lighter typic ...

, 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 A monograph is generally a long-form work on one (usually scholarly) subject, or one aspect of a subject, typically created by a single author or artist (or, sometimes, by two or more authors). Traditionally it is in written form and published a ...

which detailed the history of the smoking pipe. In ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' 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 The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), is a learned society that champions innovation and progress across a multitude of sectors by fostering creativity, s ...

in 1925.Royal Society of Arts archives

Retirement

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

Worthing Worthing ( ) is a seaside town and borough in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 113,094 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Br ...

to join his long-term mistress, Vera Mildred Wright (1902–1976), who changed her name to his by

deed poll A deed poll (plural: deeds poll) is a legal document binding on a single person or several persons acting jointly to express an intention or create an obligation. It is a deed, and not a contract, because it binds only one party. Etymology Th ...

. 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 is one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. The land for the crematorium was purchased in 1900, costing £6,000 (the equivalent of £136,000 in 2021), ...

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

Works

* ** Reprinted: *