View source for W.D. & H.O. Wills

{{Short description|Former English tobacco company}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2016}}
{{Infobox company
| name = W.D. & H.O. Wills
| logo = Wd ho wills logo.png
| logo_size = 200
| former_names =
| image = Wills of Wallsend - geograph.org.uk - 1237457.jpg
| image_size = 250
| image_caption = Wills former factory in [[Newcastle upon Tyne]], pictured in 2009
| type = [[privately held company|Private]]
| fate = Merged to form [[Imperial Brands|Imperial Tobacco]], became a [[brand]] which lasted until 1988 
| successor = [[Imperial Brands|Imperial Tobacco]]
| foundation = {{Start date and age|1786|df=yes}}<ref name=dave>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160303191304/http://www.davenapier.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/wills/wdhowill.htm W.D. & H.O. Wills - "Pacemakers in Tobacco"] (archived, 3 Mar 2016)</ref>
| founder = [[Henry Overton Wills I|Henry O. Wills]]
| defunct = {{Start date and age|1901}}
| location = [[Bristol]]
| industry = [[tobacco industry|Tobacco]]
| key_people = {{collapsible list|
* [[William Day Wills|William D. Wills]] (son)
* [[Henry Overton Wills II|Henry O. Wills III]] (son)
* [[William Wills, 1st Baron Winterstoke|William H. Wills]]
* [[Henry Overton Wills III|Henry O. Wills III]]
* [[Sir Frederick Wills, 1st Baronet|Frederick Wills]]
}}
| products = [[Cigarette]]s
| brands = {{collapsible list|
* [[Capstan (cigarette)|Capstan]]
* Castella
* Embassy
* Passing Clouds
* Panama
* [[Woodbine (cigarette)|Woodbine]]
}}
| num_employees = <!--peak number of employees-->
| parent = <!--former parent companies, if any-->
| subsid = <!--former subsidiaries, if any-->
}}

'''W.D. & H.O. Wills''' was a British [[tobacco]] [[manufacturing company]] formed in [[Bristol]], [[England]]. It was the first British company to mass-produce [[cigarette]]s, and one of the founding companies of [[Imperial Brands|Imperial Tobacco]] along with [[John Player & Sons]].

The company was founded in 1786,<ref name=dave/> and went by various names before 1830 when it became "W.D. & H.O. Wills". Tobacco was processed and sold under several brand names, some of which were still used by Imperial Tobacco until the second half of the 20th century. The company pioneered the use of [[cigarette cards]] within their packaging. Many of the buildings in Bristol and other cities around the United Kingdom still exist with several being converted to residential use.

The brand "Wills" was withdrawn by Imperial Tobacco in 1988 for the majority of its products.

== History ==
[[File:Henry Overton Wills I.jpg|thumb|left|150px|[[Henry Overton Wills I|Henry O. Wills]], founder]]

[[Henry Overton Wills I|Henry O. Wills]] arrived in Bristol in 1786 from [[Salisbury]], and opened a tobacco shop on Castle Street with his partner Samuel Watkins. They named their firm ''Wills, Watkins & Co.''.<ref name=dave/><ref name="Tills">Till, R, Wills of Bristol, 1786-1901, Wills, 1950</ref> When Watkins retired in 1789, the firm became ''Wills & Co.'' Next, the company was known from 1791 to 1793 as ''Lilly, Wills & Co'', when it merged with the firm of Peter Lilly, who owned a snuff mill on the [[Land Yeo]] at [[Barrow Gurney]]. The company then was known from 1793 up until Lilly's' retirement in 1803 as ''Lilly and Wills''.<ref>{{cite web|last=Bodman|first=Martin|title=Mills on the Land Yeo|url=http://somersetrivers.org/PDF/MillsOnTheLandYeo.pdf|publisher=Nailsea and District Local History Society|access-date=28 April 2011}}</ref>

In 1826, H.O. Wills's sons [[William Day Wills]] and [[Henry Overton Wills II|Henry O. Wills II]] took over the company, which in 1830 became "W.D. & H.O. Wills". William Day Wills' middle name is from his mother Anne Day of Bristol. Both W.D. and H.O. Wills were non-smokers.<ref name="Tills" /> Other members of the family entered to the business, such as [[Henry Overton Wills III|Henry O. Wills III]] in 1846, and [[William Wills, 1st Baron Winterstoke|William Henry Wills]] in 1858. When William Day Wills died in May, 1865, two days after stepping in front of a horse drawn carriage, necessitating the amputation of his left leg, 2000 people attended his funeral at [[Arnos Vale Cemetery]].<ref name="Tills" />

During the 1860s, a new factory was built to replace the original Redcliffe Street premises, but the firm quickly outgrew it. The East Street factory of W.D. & H.O. Wills, in [[Bedminster, Bristol|Bedminster]], opened in 1886, with a high tea for the 900 employees in the Cigar Room.<ref name="Tills" /> The new factory was expected to meet the needs of the company for the remainder of the century but, it was doubled in size within a decade and, early in the 1900s, a further Bristol factory was created in Raleigh Road, Southville.

That growth was largely due to the success of cigarettes. The firm's first brand was "''Bristol''", made at the [[London]] factory from 1871 to 1974. ''Three Castles'' and ''Gold Flake'' followed in 1878, but the greatest success was the machine-made ''Woodbine'' ten years later. ''Embassy'' was introduced in 1914 and relaunched in 1962 with [[coupon]]s. Other popular brands included ''[[Capstan (cigarette)|Capstan]]'' and ''Passing Clouds''. The company also made cigar brands such as ''Castella'' and ''Whiffs'', several pipe tobacco brands and ''Golden Virginia'' hand-rolling tobacco.

Up until 1920, only women and girls were employed as cigar-makers. One clause in the women's contract stipulated:
<blockquote>She shall not contract Matrimony within the said Term, nor play at Card or Dice Tables, or any other unlawful Games.<ref name="Tills" /></blockquote>
In 1898 [[Henry Herbert Wills]] visited Australia which led to the establishment of ''W.D. & H.O. Wills (Australia) Ltd.'' in 1900.<ref name="Tills" /> When [[Queen Elizabeth II|Princess Elizabeth]] visited on 3 March 1950 she was given cigarette cards as a gift for [[Prince Charles]].<ref name="Tills" />

In 1901, thirteen British tobacco companies held discussions with the [[American Tobacco Company]] about building a factory in the UK to bypass taxes. The [[Imperial Tobacco Company]] was incorporated on 10 December 1901, with seven of the directors being members of the Wills family.<ref name="Tills" /> Imperial remains one of the world's largest tobacco companies.

The last member of the Wills family to serve the company was Christopher, the great great grandson of H.O. Wills I, who retired as sales research manager in 1969.

[[File:WD and HO Wills Building.jpg|thumb|The former W.D. & H.O. Wills warehouse building in [[Perth]], pictured in 2018]]

The company not only had factories and offices in Bristol, but also in [[Swindon]], [[Dublin]], [[Newcastle upon Tyne|Newcastle]] and [[Glasgow]]. The largest cigarette factory in [[Europe]] was opened at [[Hartcliffe]], Bristol, designed in 1974 by [[Skidmore, Owings & Merrill]], but closed in 1990. It proved impossible to find a new use for the premises and the building was demolished in 1999. Its site is now the Imperial Park retail complex, but the associated offices became [[Lakeshore, Bristol|Lakeshore]], residential apartments, created by [[Urban Splash]].

The facade of the large factory in Bedminster, and the bonded warehouses at Cumberland Basin, remain prominent buildings in Bristol, although much of the existing land and buildings have been converted to other uses, such as The [[Tobacco Factory Theatre]].

The Newcastle factory closed in 1986 and stood derelict for over a decade, before the front of the [[Art Deco]] building&nbsp;– which was preserved by being [[Listed building|Grade II listed]]&nbsp;– reopened in 1998 as a block of luxury apartments. (See main article: [[Wills Building]]) The factory in Glasgow has similarly been converted into offices.

In 1988 Imperial Tobacco withdrew the ''Wills'' brand in the United Kingdom, except for the popular [[Woodbine (cigarette)|Woodbine]] and [[Capstan (cigarette)|Capstan]] ''Full Strength'' brands, which still carry the name.

===Benevolence===
The company pioneered canteens for the workers, free medical care, sports facilities and paid holidays. Wills commissioned portraits of long-serving employees, several of which are held by [[Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery|Bristol Museum and Art Gallery]] and some of which can be seen on display at the [[M Shed]] museum. In 1893, the W.D. & H.O. Wills Ltd Association Football Team was established, and the company also held singing classes for the younger workers and women that year.<ref name="Tills" /> In 1899, wives of Wills employees serving in the [[Boer War]] were granted 10 shillings per week by the factory.<ref name="Tills" />

==Archives==
[[Bristol Archives]] holds extensive records of W.D. & H.O. Wills and [[Imperial Tobacco]] (Ref. 38169) ([http://archives.bristol.gov.uk/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=38169&pos=1 online catalogue]). In addition there are photographs of the Newcastle factory of W.D. & H.O. Wills at [[Tyne and Wear Archives]] (Ref. DX1363) ([http://www.tyneandweararchives.org.uk/DServe2/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqPos=0&dsqSearch=(RefNo=%27DX1363%27) online catalogue]).
[[M Shed]] in Bristol holds the Wills Collection of Tobacco Antiquities, consisting of advertising, marketing and packaging samples from the company's history,  photographs and artefacts relating to the history of tobacco. ([http://museums.bristol.gov.uk online catalogue])

== Notable products ==
[[File:CutGoldenBar.jpg|thumb|150px|Cut Golden Bar tobacco tin]]
From the early 20th century to April 1951 "Pirate" was one of the most recognized cigarette brands in China.  In Chinese it was commonly referred to as 'lao dao pai', meaning 'Old Knife Brand' in reference to the sword the pirate was carrying on the brand's key visual. The brand had a short revival in China under different ownership in 1994 but was eventually discontinued in 1997.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mofba.org/2019/11/20/of-pirates-and-plagiarism-the-story-of-pirate-cigarettes/|title=Little Museum Of Foreign Brand Advertising In The R.O.C|website=www.mofba.org|date=20 November 2019|access-date=2020-01-17}}</ref>

In 1959 the company launched the short-lived [[Strand (cigarette)|Strand]] brand. This was accompanied by the memorable but disastrous, ''You're never alone with a Strand'' [[television advertisement]].<ref>[http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-7958328_ITM "Tobacco's Finest Blend: With the ban on advertising tobacco about to come into force ..(tobacco ads reviewed for creativity)"], [[Campaign (magazine)|Campaign]], 24 January 2003</ref>

In India, the [[Gold Flake]], [[Classic (cigarette)|Classic]] and [[Wills Navy Cut]] range of cigarettes, manufactured by [[ITC Limited|ITC]] , formerly the ''Imperial Tobacco Company of India Limited'',<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.itcportal.com/sets/itc_frameset_new.htm | title = History and Evolution of ITC Limited | publisher = ITC Limited | access-date = 2007-09-23 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070617114915/http://www.itcportal.com/sets/itc_frameset_new.htm <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 2007-06-17}}</ref> still has W.D. & H.O. Wills printed on the cigarettes and their packaging. These lines of cigarettes have a dominant market share.

== Cigarette cards ==
{{See also|List of cricketers in Wills' Cigarettes Cricketers, 1928}}
In 1887, Wills were one of the first UK tobacco companies to include [[Cigarette card|advertising cards]] in their packs of cigarettes, but it was not until 1895 that they produced their first general interest set of cards ('Ships and Sailors'). Other Wills sets include 'Aviation' (1910), 'Lucky Charms' (1923), 'British Butterflies' (1927), 'Famous Golfers' (1930), 'Garden Flowers' (1933) and 'Air Raid Precautions' (1938).
<ref>Set of 50 cards in personal reference collection</ref>

Wills also released several sports sets, such as the [[cricket]] (1901, 1908, 1909, 1910), [[association football]] (1902, 1935, 1939), [[rugby union]] (1902, 1929) and [[Australian rules football]] (1905) series.<ref name=sparta>[https://spartacus-educational.com/Fcigarette.htm The History of Football Cigarette Cards] by John Simkin, on Spartacus Educational, September 1997</ref>

===Gallery===
<gallery>
File:Charles de Trafford - Wills cigarette card 1901.jpg|Charles de Trafford, 1901
File:Wills card roosevelt.jpg|[[Theodore Roosevelt]], 1902
File:Wills card doig 1902.jpg|J.E. Doig of [[Sunderland F.C.|Sunderland]], 1902
File:James Sinclair Dickson, Port Adelaide, 1906.jpg|James Dickson of [[Port Adelaide FC|Port Adelaide]], 1906
File:SJ Cagney Wills Card.jpg|S.J. Cagney of [[Ireland national rugby union team|Ireland]], 1929
File:Wills card matthews.jpg|[[Stanley Matthews]], 1939
</gallery>

== Trivia ==
The factory in Hartcliffe, Bristol, was used for location filming for the UK television series ''[[Doctor Who]]'', for the 1977 serial '[[The Sun Makers]]'. Filming at the Wills Factory spanned 13 to 15 June 1977. In addition to the roof and tunnels, scenes were also filmed in the lift and the roof vent.

== See also ==
* [[List of cricketers in Wills' Cigarettes Cricketers, 1928]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* [https://www.imperialbrandsplc.com/index.html Imperial Brands], successor

{{Imperial Tobacco}}
{{Sports cards}}
{{Non-sports trading cards}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wills}}
[[Category:Defunct companies based in Bristol]]
[[Category:Defunct manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Tobacco companies of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Companies established in 1786]]
[[Category:Imperial Brands]]
[[Category:Tobacco companies of Australia]]
[[Category:Manufacturing companies of Australia]]
[[Category:British American Tobacco]]
[[Category:History of Bristol]]
[[Category:British companies established in 1786]]
[[Category:ITC Limited]]