Churchman's

Churchman's was founded by William Churchman in 1790. The original shop, which sold pipe tobacco, was located at Hyde Park Corner in Ipswich.[1]

Churchman's n° 1 tin

In 1888 William Alfred (later Sir William) and Arthur Charles Churchman (later Lord Woodbridge and a director of the British American Tobacco from 1904 to 1923), grandsons of the founder, succeeded their father, Henry, in the business. By 1890 the company also produced "white cigarettes", and six years later produced 20,000 cigarettes an hour.[3] To counter the aggressive American invasion to the British cigarette market (started when W. Duke Sons & Co., and four of the largest American manufacturers merged to form the American Tobacco Company in 1890), W.D. & H.O. Wills, John Player & Sons, Lambert & Butler, Hignett Brothers (with their associated firms) and Stephen Mitchell & Son, with six other firms, joined forces to found the Imperial Tobacco Company, Ltd., in 1901. Churchman joined the recently formed company the following year.[3]

As the company expanded with increased sales, it opened a new facility at the junction of Portman Road and Princes Street. This factory would be extended during the 1920s and 1930s.[1] In 1961 Churchman merged with Lambert & Butler and Edwards, Ringer & Bigg, to become first "Churchman, Lambert & Ringer", then renamed simply "Churchman's" in 1965. By that year, manufacturing of cigars concentrated the factory's production, with more than 1 million cigars per day and 1,000 employees working at Churchman's.[3][1]

In 1972, the cigar business was integrated with John Player & Sons, with Churchman's becoming a subsidiary of it. Twenty years later, JP&S moved its operations to Bristol and Churchman closed.[1]

Churchman produced several sets of cigarette cards to advertise its products, beginning in the first years of 20th century, most of them related with sports, mostly association football sets. The first football set included rugby union players and appeared in 1909, featuring illustrated footballers of both codes in their clubs' shirts. Other football sets were released in 1914, 1938 and 1939 but only related to association football.[2] Other sports series released included athletics, cricket, golf, and tennis.

Churchman also released a railway series in 1935, and an athletes series (featuring photographs of sportsmen of diverse disciplines) in 1939.