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Nottingham - John Player & Sons Great War

Simon Brown wrote ‘Nottingham City Museum and Galleries holds the archive of John Player’s, so we have been working with the Imperial Tobacco company through the process of the closure of the Horizon factory in Nottingham. As part of this we were permitted to take a photographer in to the factory on the last working day there. There are two war memorials in the building, from WWI and WWII.’

UKNIWM Ref - 27333

Formerly housed at John Player & Sons' Victorian factory in Radford, Nottingham, this memorial was moved to Imperial Tobacco's Horizon site on the city's outskirts which opened in 1972 and closed in 2016. It lists employees by the department in which they worked: Bonded Warehouse/Box Department/Cigarette Department/Cutting Department/Despatch Department/Engineers Department/Fancy Department/Leaf Department/Offices/ Sawmills/Spinning Department. Their ranks and units are cited. It is a bronze wall plaque with low relief lettering and a relief border of laurel garland. The inscription reads 'TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND IN PROUD AND ENDURING MEMORY/ OF THE EMPLOYEES OF/ JOHN PLAYER & SONS/ BRANCH OF THE IMPERIAL TOBACCO CO (OF GREAT BRITAIN & IRELAND) LTD./ WHO FELL AND DIED AS SOLDIERS DURING THE GREAT WAR’ Beneath the names it continues 'THIS MEMORIAL WAS ERECTED BY THE WORKPEOPLE AND THEIR DIRECTORS' There is also a John Player & Sons World War Two memorial (see elsewhere on this site). Nottingham City Council's Curator of Community History and World Cultures, Simon Brown, notes, 'It is our hope that they’ll be re-housed somewhere publicly accessible - Imperial Tobacco are working on that.'

Memorial location
Names on Memorial

George Abdy - George Abdy

Albert Afford - Albert Afford

George Allwood - George Allwood

Leslie Atkin - Leslie Atkin

William Stevenitt Bacon - William Stevenitt Bacon

John Bagshaw - John Bagshaw

Arthur Ernest Bates - Arthur Ernest Bates

William G. Bellaby - William George Bellaby

George Richard Billson - George Richard Billson

Arthur Leonard Birch - Arthur Leonard Birch

Samuel Bonser - Samuel Bonser

William Bradley - William Bradley

Frank Arnold Bright - Frank Arnold Bright

John Thomas Brown - John Thomas Brown

Harold Dixon Buxton - Harold Dixon Buxton

Thomas Chambers - Thomas Chadwin Chambers

J Clarke - Joseph Clarke

Joseph William Clarke - Joseph William Clarke

Albert Clarkstone - Albert Clarkstone

Augustus Collison - Augustus Collison

Edward Albert Cotton - Edward Albert Cotton

Harry Coulson - Harry Coulson

Arthur E Coxon - Arthur Edward Coxon

George Craddock - George Craddock

Stanley Cullingworth - Stanley Cullingworth

Herbert Mackintosh Dickinson - Herbert Mackintosh Dickinson

Charles Dove - Charles Dove

TH Eddershaw - Henry Thomas Eddershaw

James Herbert Edgson - James Herbert Edgson

Leonard William Elkington - Leonard William Elkington

Frederick William Elliott - Frederick William Elliott

Ernest Evley - Ernest Evley

Albert Eyre - Albert Eyre

Arthur Farnsworth - Arthur Farnsworth

Ernest Ford - Ernest Ford

Donald Forryan - Donald Forryan

Joseph Foster - Joseph Foster

Leonard Edward Gill - Leonard Edward Gill

Elijah Henry Godber - Elijah Henry Godber

Alfred Goulder - Alfred Goulder

Alfred Henry Green - Alfred Henry Green

Harry Guilford - Henry Guilford

John George Hamilton Guy - John George Hamilton Guy

Cyril Lewis Hardy - Cyril Lewis Hardy

Edward Hardy - Eric Hardy

Henry Albert Harrison - Henry Albert Harrison

William Harrison - William Harrison

Albert Hay - Albert Hay

Job Higton - Job Higton

James Hill - James Hill

Joseph Percy Holmes - Joseph Percy Holmes

Stephen Hurt - Stephen Hurt

Arthur Johnson - Arthur Johnson

Fred Johnson - Fred Varney Johnson

Albert Roland Kerridge - Albert Roland Kerridge

Leslie Kilbourne - Leslie Kilbourne

John Lloyd Langham - John Lloyd Langham

Julian Cecil Lazonby - Julian Cecil Daniel Lazonby

Robert Loney - Robert Loney

Thomas Herbert Maltby - Thomas Herbert Maltby

Harold Lot Mansell - Harold Lot Mansell

Harry Marriott - Harry Marriott

George Miller - Glyn Miller

Joseph Myatt - Joseph Myatt

Albert Edward Nuthall - Albert Edward Nuthall

Albert Oakden - Albert Oakden

Percy Osborne - Percy Osborne

Albert Leslie Parker - Albert Leslie Parker

Edward Pilkington - Edward Pilkington

Arthur Richardson - Arthur Richardson

Richard Harrison Roadley - Richard Harrison Roadley

Adelbert Ellis Rogers - Albert Ellis Rogers

James Edward Seaman - James Edward Seaman

Isaac Shaw - Isaac Shaw

John E. Shaw - Edmund John Shaw

Robert Shelton - Robert Shelton

Charles james Simpson - Charles James Simpson

Leslie Colin Simpson - Leslie Colin Simpson

Oliver William Sissons - Oliver William Sissons

Hiram Slack - Hiram Slack

John Slack - John Slack

Luke Slate - Luke Slate

Harry Smith - Harry Smith

Sidney Smith - Sidney Smith

George Albert Stanesby - George Albert Stanesby

Louis Stanley Starkey - Louis Stanley Starkey

Thomas Stevenson - Thomas Stevenson

Arthur Stokes - Arthur Stokes

Harry Stones - Harry Stones

Charles Swift - Charles William Henry Swift

Bernard Swindell - Bernard Swindell

John Acton Sykes - John Acton Sykes

Charles Thomas - Charles Thomas

Reginald Thompson - Reginald Thompson

William Arthur Toynton - William Arthur Toynton

Francis Van Praet - Francis Van Praet

Arthur Elijah Wakefield - Arthur Elijah Wakefield

George Ernest B. Ward - George Ernest Butler Ward

Vincent Warrener - John Vincent Warrener

Benjamin Wenn - Benjamin Wenn

Arthur West - Arthur West

Frederick Whale - Frederick Whale

John Harold Whitby - John Harold Whitby

William Henry Whitby - William Henry Whitby

John William Williams - John William Williams

George Harry Withey - George Harry Withey

William Eric Woodward - William Eric Woodward

Frank Goodwin Wootton - Frank Goodwin Wootton

Henry Hampstead Yates - Henry Hempstead Yates

Alfred Yeomans - Alfred Yeomans

Photos
  • Simon Brown wrote ‘Nottingham City Museum and Galleries holds the archive of John Player’s, so we have been working with the Imperial Tobacco company through the process of the closure of the Horizon factory in Nottingham. As part of this we were permitted to take a photographer in to the factory on the last working day there. There are two war memorials in the building, from WWI and WWII.’
    Courtesy of Simon Brown and Nottingham City Council - Simon Brown wrote ‘Nottingham City Museum and Galleries holds the archive of John Player’s, so we have been working with the Imperial Tobacco company through the process of the closure of the Horizon factory in Nottingham. As part of this we were permitted to take a photographer in to the factory on the last working day there. There are two war memorials in the building, from WWI and WWII.’