All five Dowty Chairman were smokers!

Did you know?

That Sir George Dowty wrote ideas on the back of his beloved du Maurier cigarette packets.

These cigarettes were introduced in 1930 and are still available- but only in Canada.

du Marurier cigarette packet

Sir George designed an ash tray for use on his desk that caused the cigarette stub to disappear down a tube!

All five Dowty Chairman were smokers.

A W Martyn… his daily smoke was the premier John Player brand called Players No 3.

John Players No.3 cigarette packet

These were oval shaped cigarettes and competed with the premier Wills brand called Passing Clouds. The packet read Extra Quality and 20 pieces.

Will “Passing Clouds” cigarette packet

At 6 pm every evening he poured a whisky, lit a cigar and switched on the radio for the news, woe betide you if you spoke – silence was obligatory. He lived into his late seventies.

The late Brian Smith… in his early days at Dowty Mining – had the duty of preparing the Boardroom prior to a Board meeting.

He was always instructed to make sure a packet of Du Maurier was in place where Sir George sat.

Sir Robert Hunt… a prodigious cigar smoker. He attributed his longevity (he lived to be 86) to a daily diet of cigars and whisky. Chairman of the Gloucestershire Area Health Authority for many years!

The Earl of Harrowby… a pipe smoker – the picture of him in the annual accounts regularly showed him holding a pipe.

Roy Roberts… the ‘stand in‘ Chairman for the last nine months of the Group’s life, was a chain smoker of cigarettes. The habit killed him shortly after TI acquired Dowty.

Contribution by Martin Robins