English politicians and members of the nobility appear without any
explanation on Canadian cigar boxes
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CHAMBERLAIN
Hinged Tin box (25)
Factory 1 IRD 17
J. M. Fortier, Montreal, Que., ca.1910
CMC 2001.185.36 Tony Hyman Collection
Joseph Chamberlain (1836–1914), British Colonial Secretary
from 1895 to 1903, may have been best known to Canadians for having negotiated
a fisheries dispute between Canada and the United States in 1887–88.

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GLADSTONE
Trimmed nailed wood box (50)
Factory 13 IRD 17 Series of 1883
Smith, Fischel & Co., Montreal, Que.
CMC 2003.46.86
William Gladstone (1809–1898) was, along with Benjamin
Disraeli, the best known of the Prime Ministers who served Queen Victoria.
The Liberal Gladstone twice alternated in office with the Conservative
Disraeli between 1868 and 1880.
Since this box bears a Series of 1883 tax label, it may be
that Gladstone was in power (1880–1885, 1886, and 1892–94) when
Smith, Fischel & Co. produced the cigar bearing his name.

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LORD RUSSELL
Trimmed nailed wood box (50)
Factory 9 IRD 32 Series of 1915
Line, McDonald & Co., London
CMC 2001.185.31 Tony Hyman Collection
Lord Charles Russell (1832–1900), Lord Chief Justice of
England from 1894 to 1900, was highly esteemed on both sides of the
Atlantic.

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LORD RAGLAN
Trimmed nailed wood box (50)
Factory 1 IRD 33 Series of 1897
Hamilton & Levett, Stratford, Ont.
CMC 2003.46.43
Not the first Baron Raglan, veteran of the campaigns at
Waterloo and Sebastopol and hero of Victorian schoolboy literature. This
is George Fitzroy Henry Somerset, third Baron Raglan (1857–1921),
who was British Under-Secretary for War from 1900 to 1902 and thereafter,
by appointment of Edward VII, Governor of the Isle of Man. Just what is
signified by the trains and telegraph poles in the background of the portrait
is a mystery.

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BERESFORD
Book-shaped wood box (10)
Factory 21 IRD 32 Series of 1897
Stirton & Dyer, London, Ont.
CMC 2005.139.12
Charles, Lord Beresford (1846 – 1919) rose through the
ranks of the navy to become First Lord of the Admiralty. He also served as
a Conservative MP. He has no apparent connection with Canada. He wrote to
The Times defending the commander and crew of the Titanic after the disaster,
and is said to be the author of a famous witticism: on being invited on
short notice to dine with the Prince of Wales, he sent a telegram, "Very
sorry can’t come. Lie follows by post."

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ROSEBERY
Trimmed nailed wood box (50)
Factory 27 IRD 17 Series of 1897
Smith, Fischel & Co., Montreal, Que.
CMC 2005.139.9
The motto of the Earls of Rosebery, quoted on the cigar box label,
means "Faith and Trust". Archibald Philip Primrose, fifth Earl of
Rosebery (1847–1929), lived up to it. He was a favourite of Queen
Victoria, a minister under Gladstone, and Prime Minister briefly after
Gladstone retired. He later served as rector of the universities of Glasgow,
Edinburgh and Aberdeen.
This is a truncated version of a cigar label that shows the
exterior of the English Parliament, and Rosebery speaking in the House of
Commons. |
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