Wills, William Henry, 1st Baron Winterstoke

has biography | a une biographie: British tobacco businessman, politician, and philanthropist in the nineteenth and early twentieth century.

The Wills family were a wealthy tobacco-importing family based in Bristol from the eighteenth century onwards. The family's firm, W. D. & H. O. Wills, was established by Henry O. Wills (William Henry's grandfather) in 1786. William Henry Wills took over the company and later served as chairman of the amalgamated Imperial Tobacco Company from 1901. The British tobacco industry relied heavily on raw material supplied overseas from the Americas, which was produced by enslaved labour in the British Caribbean until 1834 and the United States until 1865.

The Wills legacy in relationship to transatlantic slavery and colonialism continues to attract critical scrutiny in the present. Students at Bristol University have campaigned to have the Wills Memorial Building renamed in light of these legacies, but the university made a decision in 2023 to retain the name.
was born | est né: 1 September 1830
died in | est mort par: 29 January 1911
has nationality | a la nationalité: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
has type | est de type: financial benefactor
has association with | a une association avec: Arrowsmith, James Williams; Statue of Edward Colston

is referred to by | est référencé par: Wikipedia - William Henry Wills, 1st Baron Winterstoke; Wikipedia - W.D. & H.O. Wills; Sally Weale, 'Bristol University decides not to rename buildings linked to slavery', The Guardian, 28 November 2023; 'Racism and the Tobacco Industry', Tobacco Tactics (2021)

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Items with "funded by | financé par: Wills, William Henry, 1st Baron Winterstoke"
Statue of Edward Colston

Items with "has current or former member | a pour membre actuel ou ancien: Wills, William Henry, 1st Baron Winterstoke"
The Anchor Society

Cast in Stone