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 ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. 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 Rolling paper, thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhale ...

s, and snuff with Gallaher Limited, who had moved to Belfast in 1867. Dunlop McCosh Cunningham 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 Dunlop McCosh Cunningham by

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

-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 Rothmans International PLC was a British tobacco manufacturer. Its brands included Rothmans, Player's and Dunhill. Its international headquarters were in Hill Street, London and its international operations were run from Denham Place in Denham ...

in 1972. In June 1999, Rothmans International was acquired 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 ...

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