JOHN SINCLAIR LTD

The John Sinclair Tobacco Company was one of the pioneers of the tobacco industry in Britain. It all started in 1856, when John Sinclair, a young and ambitious Scotsman, moved to Newcastle upon Tyne and opened his first tobacco shop in Bath Lane. John Sinclair had a passion for tobacco and a great skill in creating original and tasty blends. Soon his tobacco brands became famous and demanded throughout the country, including Barney’s, Punchbowl, Parson’s Pleasure and Navy Cut. Some of these brands were the favorites of illustrious characters, such as Winston Churchill, who loved to smoke Parson’s Pleasure. The company of John Sinclair grew rapidly and opened numerous shops and branches in various cities of the United Kingdom. In 1905 the company became a public limited company with John Sinclair as chairman and general manager. The company was proud to be one of the largest cigarette manufacturers in the world and to provide cigarettes to the soldiers at the front during World War I. In 1929 the company acquired the brands of John Sinclair Ltd of Newcastle upon Tyne, another company founded by a relative of John Sinclair. Following the merger, the grandson of the founder of John Sinclair Ltd, John Alexander Sinclair, joined the board of directors of Carreras Tobacco Company, one of the rivals of John Sinclair Tobacco Company. In 1930 Carreras Tobacco Company was acquired by Imperial Tobacco Company, one of the largest multinationals in the tobacco sector. Robert Sinclair, the son of John Alexander Sinclair, became the chairman of Imperial Tobacco Company in 1947 and was appointed Baron Sinclair of Cleeve in 1953. In 1972 Carreras Tobacco Company changed its name to Carreras Ltd and merged with other European tobacco companies to form Rothmans International. Rothmans International was then acquired by British American Tobacco in 1999