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Herbert Edward Dunhill: Difference between revisions
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Here, Mary reports on her book, a bit of her uncle's personality and how he was invited to join the business by his father: | Here, Mary reports on her book, a bit of her uncle's personality and how he was invited to join the business by his father: | ||
<blockquote>< | <blockquote><q>One of the visitors who occasionally came to Woodlands was Uncle Herbert or Bertie, as we called him, Father’s youngest brother and his junior by twelve years, who was soon to take an important part in the business. He had been a territorial member of the Artists Rifles but, on account of the tubercular condition that was to afflict him for most of his life, he had been declared unfit for active service. | ||
Uncle Bertie, then about thirty years old, was tall, outstandingly handsome and clean-shaven though he was later to grow a full Imperial beard, reddish in color. He was so much more extrovert and forthcoming than Father that their blood relationship would have surprised you. On leaving King’s School, Canterbury, Uncle Bertie had lodged with my parents and, on account of the somewhat foppish ways he affected in his youth, from his wide-brimmed hats to his vegetarian diet, and partly because of the sackfuls of postage stamps he kept under his bed, Mother regarded him as a crank. But Uncle Bertie, as he was soon to show, was astonishingly astute, especially in financial matters. Some members of the business were soon to be daunted by the stern glance his pale eyes could give you from behind their gilt-framed spectacles, though I always felt affection for Uncle Bertie. I also looked forward to his visits because they usually meant that I could spend some time with Lilian, his daughter and my cousin, a pretty fair-haired girl, just about as lively as I was. We were almost exactly the same age and the greatest friends. | Uncle Bertie, then about thirty years old, was tall, outstandingly handsome and clean-shaven though he was later to grow a full Imperial beard, reddish in color. He was so much more extrovert and forthcoming than Father that their blood relationship would have surprised you. On leaving King’s School, Canterbury, Uncle Bertie had lodged with my parents and, on account of the somewhat foppish ways he affected in his youth, from his wide-brimmed hats to his vegetarian diet, and partly because of the sackfuls of postage stamps he kept under his bed, Mother regarded him as a crank. But Uncle Bertie, as he was soon to show, was astonishingly astute, especially in financial matters. Some members of the business were soon to be daunted by the stern glance his pale eyes could give you from behind their gilt-framed spectacles, though I always felt affection for Uncle Bertie. I also looked forward to his visits because they usually meant that I could spend some time with Lilian, his daughter and my cousin, a pretty fair-haired girl, just about as lively as I was. We were almost exactly the same age and the greatest friends. | ||
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<blockquote><q>After five years Alfred Dunhill was joined by his younger brother, Herbert, who had a powerful business acumen. He looked after the financial side of the business and left Alfred to initiate and develop products. It was a perfect committee of two! The increasing success of the business was achieved more by word of mouth and recommendation than from advertising; virtually none of that was undertaken. | <blockquote><q>After five years Alfred Dunhill was joined by his younger brother, Herbert, who had a powerful business acumen. He looked after the financial side of the business and left Alfred to initiate and develop products. It was a perfect committee of two! The increasing success of the business was achieved more by word of mouth and recommendation than from advertising; virtually none of that was undertaken. | ||
Alfred Dunhill retired in 1928 (he lived on until 1959) and the business was run by Herbert until his death in 1950. For many years Herbert lived in Monte Carlo and controlled the day-to-day running by letter, telegram and regular visitors from the London office | Alfred Dunhill retired in 1928 (he lived on until 1959) and the business was run by Herbert until his death in 1950. For many years Herbert lived in Monte Carlo and controlled the day-to-day running by letter, telegram and regular visitors from the London office.</q> Richard Dunhill - Forewords of Balfour, Michael. Alfred Dunhill, One Hundred Years and More (Weidenfield and Nicolson, London, 1992).</blockquote> | ||
Mr. Richard Dunhill | <blockquote><q>Two male members of the staff took turns to travel to Merano, their bags stuffed with reports, accounts, proposed salary increases and requests that required his signature before they could be implemented. Every week he sent back bags of memorandums and instructions, no detail being too trivial for his critical eye, even the way stamps should be stuck onto office envelopes and the space that should be left between them if they happened not to be of the same colour. If this reluctance to delegate authority seems petty in a man whose health had now banished him from the country - and we naturally found it extremely frustrating - Uncle Bertie’s methods, as we shall see, ensured that the family continued to exercise a tight control over the London business throughout his lifetime.</q> Dunhill, Mary, Our Family Business (The Bodley Head - Great Britain, 1979).</blockquote> | ||
Mr. Richard Dunhill also relate this: "as an example of Herbert’s passionate attention to detail, I reproduce the following memorandum, dated 16 September 1945, from Herbert Dunhill to the chairman, [https://pipedia.org/wiki/Dunhill#Alfred_Henry_Dunhill Alfred H. Dunhill.] It goes without saying that Herbert was a philatelist par excellence:" | |||
<blockquote>[[File:Aspas-copy.png|40px]]'''Re:''' Stamping of Letters Since I last wrote about the stamping of our overseas letters, the carelessness in stamping has not however lessened. It has become worse and more consistently bad. My rules in past years were that stamps must be level and at least a quarter-inch from the edge, the same distance top and sides. If the stamps were of different colours they should have a slight space between them; if the same they should be placed so that they appear to be from one sheet, even if really not. Care should be taken, if several stamps are used, to choose stamps of colours that look pleasant when placed together. Please have my methods carried out in the future.[[File:Aspas.png|40px]] Herbert E. Dunhill.</blockquote> | <blockquote>[[File:Aspas-copy.png|40px]]'''Re:''' Stamping of Letters Since I last wrote about the stamping of our overseas letters, the carelessness in stamping has not however lessened. It has become worse and more consistently bad. My rules in past years were that stamps must be level and at least a quarter-inch from the edge, the same distance top and sides. If the stamps were of different colours they should have a slight space between them; if the same they should be placed so that they appear to be from one sheet, even if really not. Care should be taken, if several stamps are used, to choose stamps of colours that look pleasant when placed together. Please have my methods carried out in the future.[[File:Aspas.png|40px]] Herbert E. Dunhill.</blockquote> | ||
<blockquote><q>He became more and more out of touch with modern commercial practice in England, and when he died, the directors, particularly my uncle Alfred Henry Dunhill and my Aunt Mary, were soon able to make changes to improve the running of the company.</q> Richard Dunhill - Forewords of Balfour, Michael. Alfred Dunhill, One Hundred Years and More (Weidenfield and Nicolson, London, 1992).</blockquote> | |||
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[[User:Yang|Yang]] ([[User talk:Yang|talk]]) 09:21, 17 December 2019 (CST) | [[User:Yang|Yang]] ([[User talk:Yang|talk]]) 09:21, 17 December 2019 (CST) | ||