Grangetown

Freeman's - farewell to a century of cigar-making

The girls from the JR Freeman cigar factory before a picnic trip in the 1920s.

One of Grangetown's longest surviving businesses was JR Freeman's, with more than a century of cigar-making and which has been a major employer of mostly women. Sadly, it closed at the end of November 2009.

Freeman's was founded in Shoreditch, east London by James Rykes Freeman in 1839, but the company's expansion led to it opening a second works in Cardiff at the end of the 19th century. The exact details are sketchy, but a cigar factory under the name of R Kingston & Co - listed as agents for Freeman's - was open at 57 North Clive Street, on the site of Chivers old vinegar works - by early 1903. By 1906, this was known as Freeman's. The business apparently started in the late 19th century in Bridge Street before moving to Grangetown. Although it's not listed in local directories of the time, the company has in its files invoices with the Bridge Street address there..

JR Freeman and Son by this time was run by JR's son George, whose two sons were also in the family business. Tennis-playing, non-smoking and radical Peter Freeman, came to Cardiff, while brother Donald took over the London factory in 1909. Another brother, Ralph, showed his talents by designing the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

The South Wales Graphic - an Edwardian lifestyle magazine - for April 1903 has a feature on the new segar factory."The scale and style in which Messrs Kingston have started their business are sufficient evnidence that their Cardiff cigar factory is to be no mushroom concern but that is has come to stay," wrote the correspondent.

He was given a guided tour by Mr Williams, the manager, and found "cleanliness, happiness, industry" amongst the workforce on rows of long benches in the cigar-making rooms. The foreman scrutinised the finished product carefully, before the cigars were stored for around a year to mature. The factory had a mess room, including a gas stove and library of books, which could be accessed from the recreation ground. An innovative novelty was an American-made chute-style fire escape for the workers. The 80 women workers were reported to have all successfully drilled through the cork-screw shaped escape, to the satisfaction of the head constable. "It is designed more particularly for the safety of the female employees, amongst whom there is always a tendency to faint at critical moments, " commented the Graphic correspondent. Incidentally, an earlier edition of the publication carried an advert for Kingston's and Freeman's brand of cigar, Freeman's Flying Horse, which would set you back 3d in 1903 - or five for a shilling.

Peter Freeman apparently came up with the brand name for one of the company's best sellers after walking through Cardiff and seeing a billboard for a music hall act called "The Little Mannikins." The Manikin small cigar became a huge seller, as the products became popular beyond the smoke-filled rooms of higher society. A new factory on the site was built from 1914, and was known for its excellent social and welfare facilities, and finished in 1919.

The plant was producing 25 million cigars a year by the 1920s. Freeman, meanwhile stepped down in 1931 and became a colourful Labour MP for Newport. Donald's two sons Robert and John took over the business, but after the war, in need of investment, the company was taken over by the Gallahers cigarette company (1947). Freeman's by this time was producing 70 million cigars a year. The popular Hamlet brand was made from 1955 and by 1961, the company moved to a bigger factory on the edge of Grangetown in Penarth Road, while opening another factory in Port Talbot to add to the one in London. The old Freeman site is now home to an automotive parts seller. The group was eventually taken over by a Japanese tobacco giant. Sadly, Freeman's closure was announced in September 2007 - set for 2009 - blamed on falling sales and with work due to move to Northern Ireland. A total of 184 jobs are being lost and will bring to an end 106 years of cigar-making in Grangetown.

End of an era for factory

By Paul Fisher, JR Freeman

When George Freeman acquired a factory in Cardiff in the 1890s, he cannot have known he was starting a cigar making tradition that would last in the area for more than 100 years.

J.R. Freeman’s was founded by George’s father, James Rykers Freeman in London.

When the first Cardiff factory opened in 1895, cigar making was a manual process from start to finish, from the sizing and blending of filler to the final over-rolling of wrapper leaf. The process remained largely unchanged well into the early 1920s.

When George died in 1909, the business passed into the hands of two of his five sons, Donald and Peter. Donald Freeman, as managing director, was based at the head office in Hoxton, while Peter, working in the Bridge Street factory, was made managing director of J.R. Freeman & Son, Cardiff , the following year.

Peter Freeman was to be a powerful force in cigar making in South Wales , not just as a businessman but also as a champion of employee welfare.

In 1912, he launched a cigar that was to become one of the best-known brands in the world. The story goes that when walking one day in Cardiff , Peter Freeman saw a music hall billboard advertising an act called 'The Little Mannikins'. Deciding that the name 'Mannikin' was perfect for a small cigar, Freeman and his factory developed the product that was to be part of our popular culture for almost 75 years. The success of the Mannikin brand led to an expansion of the business, and in 1914 a start was made on the building of a new six storey factory in North Clive Street which was commissioned in 1919.

In 1947, tobacco company Gallaher made an offer to Freeman’s which gave the brothers the funds needed to modernise the cigar making process, while retaining a considerable measure of independence. As sales continued to grow it was decided that the factory in North Clive Street was unlikely to be able to provide the facilities that could meet the increasing demand. A bigger site was found and in October 1961 a brand new modern factory was officially opened in Penarth Road . The new factory however provided the environment and space for the sort of employee welfare and social facilities that had always been characteristic of J.R. Freeman & Son; and for the next stage of cigar production, including new brands like Harlequin in 1962, Cavalier Panatelas in 1963, and, with a brand that would redefine the UK cigar market, Hamlet, in September 1964.

The workforce remained overwhelmingly female, tight-knit communities all of their own within the factories, whose skills, motivation and commitment contributed hugely to the continuing success of the company. 1989 marked 150 years since Freeman's creation in London in 1839. The year also marked the 25th anniversary of the launch of Hamlet.

In 2009, the planned relocation of equipment and machinery to the Gallaher factory at Lisnafillan in Northern Ireland brought an end to an era of cigar making in south Wales . Despite the relocation, support for the company among the Freeman staff never wavered. The story of J.R. Freeman & Son is not just a story of famous brands, or of an industry, but also of the people who worked in it, and the community that was such an important part of it.

Through 115 years of hard and skilled labour, of business and industrial development, of enthusiastic socialising, sporting endeavour, wars and unceasing social change, there has seldom been seen such mutual loyalty and respect as was built between one company and its workforce.

That mutual respect is still evident today and is perhaps, more than anything else, the lasting legacy of J.R. Freeman & Son and the people who worked there.