Thomas Robert Dewar

It was once said that there were two varieties of Scot, the dour and the volcanic. Thomas Robert Dewar was certainly of the latter class. Whilst the elder brother
was the unique organiser, the younger was the unique salesman. He arrived in London to represent a little known house, so little known that when he took his first tiny office in Warwick Street he had to pay the rent in advance. He always declared that when he came to London he had two introductions to possible customers,
one of whom was dead and the other had just become bankrupt, so he started absolutely from scratch, In another way, too, he was terribly handicapped. The creation of an English business meant a change in a national taste. The English people, though thirsty folk, were not whisky drinkers, in that most bibulous of all novels, the Pickwick Papers, you will find every imaginable drink mentioned, but not a reference to Scotch Whisky. In fact, it might be said that outside
Scott’s novels whisky was as unknown in English
fiction as it was in English bars. For in 1885, when T. R. Dewar came to London, the English people drank brandy, gin and rum, but whisky was a drink mainly asked for by Scots visitors and a request for a whisky and soda was rare.

After a while he took a bigger office at 48, Lime Street. His office boy, then his sole staff, was Fred Whitfield, who eventually became a director and was in his day a leading personality in the trade in West London. Soon T. R. Dewar engaged his first traveller, Graham Morrison,
who afterwards became the manager of the Livepool branch. The record of T. R. Dewar’s seven years in London, when he put Dewar’s and Scotch whisky on the map, was one of incessant, if cheerful, toil. He had not only Scots pertinacity, but he had a genial, magnetic personality which made every man he met a friend. Soon
he saw that great business was not to be built up by bulk sales but by pushing the branded article, and he directed all his efforts to make the name of Dewar well-known. He was, perhaps, the first in the trade to appreciate the great force of publicity and under his guidance the Dewar
advertising became famous. Who does not remember the “ Whisky of his Forefathers,” or that delightful Scot who in pre-war days lent an air of cheerfulness to the gloomy southern side of the Thames ?

This was almost the first large size electrical sign in London and it lessened the gaiety of the metropolis when the foundations of the Shot Tower were pronounced unsafe and the cheery Scot with the swinging kilt had to come down. When the English market was firmly estab-
lished and expanding daily, the enterprising brothers resolved on expansion abroad.

In 1892 T. R. Dewar began a world tour in search of representatives in the foreign, colonial and dominion markets. He spent two years on this exploratory journey, visited twenty-six different countries and appointed thirty-two first class responsible agents.

As in London, so in the wider world, T. R. Dewar was a master of salesmanship. Even on his first visit to America he contrived to get Dewar’s whisky into the White House. Thus it received the official approval of American Presi-
dents even before the House of Dewar was honoured by official appointments to three British Monarchs. A shrewd judge of men, his selection of agents was admirable and many of the firms he chose were still, half a century later, valued clients and friends of the House of Dewar.

T. R. Dewar was a man of many interests. He early served on the London County Council and in 1897 was Sheriff of London, probably the youngest man ever elected to that high office, and finally in 1900 he was elected Conservative member for St. George’s in the East. He was knighted in 1901, became a Baronet in 1917 and was created a Peer in 1919.

Lord Dewat was a many-sided man, business man, sportsman, connoisseur, politician and wit. Soon he became one of the best known men in London. He soon gained reputation as a witty and incisive speaker. It was a standing order in newspaper offices to send a reporter to any meeting that Lord Dewar would address. Editors knew that they could always rely on some witty pointed
saying that would delight their readers.

He was always interested in sport and early saw the advantages of a connexion between Dewar’s and the sporting world. One of his first activities was a coach and four which he spent many hours learning to drive and handle. Eventually ‘ The Rocket,’ as it was called, used to run between Dewar’s oflice and Burford Bridge and other coaching terminals round London. Then he had the idea of offering a special shield as an annual competition between the best amateur and professional Association Football Clubs. The Dewar Shield brought a new interest into Association football, it helped to promote a more friendly feeling between paid and unpaid players, and
incidentally gave all the legions of football followers an interest in Dewar’s.

His next investment was in one of the first motor cars to be used in Britain. It was said that King Edward (then Prince of Wales) had No. 1, Sir Thomas Lipton No. 2 and T. R. Dewar No. 3. There is still in the records of Dewar’s
the first motor car account. One regrets to say that the most frequent entry is ‘ Paid for teams of horses to bring the car home.’ Motoring was an expensive luxury in those times. Then he began to take an interest in racing. His first investment was in a racehorse, ‘ Forfarshire,’ which ran third in the Derby in 1897. This was encouragement
for a beginner, so he proceeded to buy additional
bloodstock, including brood mares, and for many years kept them under the able management of Mr. Brice, at Witham, in Essex.

Later on he acquired a property called ‘ Homestall ‘ in Sussex, where he proceeded under his own supervision to
produce many famous horses. The apple of his eye was undoubtedly ‘Abbot’s Trace ‘, a most unlucky horse, as he had the misfortune to collide with another horse just when he had a good chance of winning the Derby. However, as a sire he proved a great success, for he produced many winners, totalling over 250,000 pounds in stake money.

Other famous horses bred by him were ‘ Abbot’s Speed,’ twice winner of the Kempton Jubilee and Jurisdiction,’ which ran second in the 1,000 Guineas. The stud was bidding fair to show him a good return on his money when his sudden and untimely death cut short his activities. These, however, were taken up by his nephew and heir,
Mr. John Arthur Dewar. From the foundation of this stud he has produced a lot of winners. The most notable of these was ‘ Cameronian,’ who was a foal at the time of Lord Dewar’s death and not only won the Derby, but was the cause of a notable change in British racing laws. Under the then existing rules all animals’ engagements
became null and void on the death of their owners. The late Edgar Wallace, however, took a friendly action against the Jockey Club to contest this point and the winning of this case enabled ‘Cameronian’ to run in the Derby.

The backbone of the stud was virtually one mare, ‘Lady Juror,’ bought for 8,300 pounds. She produced eleven consecutive foals, ten of which were good winners, including such as ‘The Black Abbot,’ ‘The Recorder,’ ‘Jurisdiction,’ ‘Riot,’ ‘Fair Trial,’ and ‘Sansonnet ‘, all beautifully bred and their progeny still figuring very
prominently at the stud and on the racecourse. Amongst other famous horses bred there during the last decade are ‘ The MacNab,’ ‘ Fonab,’ ‘Neola,’ ‘Neolight,’ and many more. Needless to say, many of the progeny of this
stud have found their way into the export markets, some going to India, Australia and New Zealand, whilst ‘ Cameronian’ went early in the war to South America, where he is now at stud. Mention should also be made of ‘Challenger,’ which was sold to America and sired that splendid horse, ‘Challenge,’ the winner of so many American Classics and the sire of so many more successful horses in the States to-day.

Another interesting department in connection with this estate is its Greyhound Kennels. Lord Dewar truly enjoyed beginner’s luck at Coursing. He purchased a dog called ‘Winning Number’ for something less than a ten pound note and with this, his only dog, proceeded to win the Waterloo Cup in his very first attempt at oursing, greatly
to the indignation of men who had spent thousands of pounds and long years of effort in vain attempts to win this coveted trophy. Luck, however, did not last long here. The dog died six months after the event and none of its progeny were very successful. In later years, however, the Kennels have become famous. The Waterloo Cup has been won by Mrs. J. A. Dewar’s ‘Dutton Swordfish ‘ and on other occasions ‘ Dutton Rock,’
Dew Prince’ and ‘ Dew Victory ‘ have gone near to winning, but in this sport, even more than in racing, there is many a slip between the cup and the lip, one must have a good dog and at the same time luck must be with him.

In spite of his absorption in business, politics and sport, Lord Dewar always had time for his friends. He was the most social of men and liked nothing better, to use Doctor Johnson’s phrase, ‘than to cross his legs and have his talk out.’ He made Dewar House in the Haymarket a great social centre, a meeting place for people from all
over the world. Kipling once said that there were two places in the world where sooner or later people were bound to meet, Port Said and Charing Cross. Dewar House might fairly claim to be a third, for it acted as a kind of magnet to all visitors to London. There was always a genial welcome and more good talk and good
stories in that small private sanctum than anywhere in London. Day in and day out there is a constant stream of visitors. A glance down the visitors’ book is like looking at a directory of the British Empire. Looking over the entries you will find Prime Ministers, Ambassadors, Generals,
Admirals, High Commissioners, lawyers, actors, authors, artists and artistes, to wit, Dame Nellie Melba, Sir Harry Lauder and George Robey, or by contrast, some trader from the Falkland Isles, or Zanzibar or Singapore.

But the history of the House of Dewar would be very imperfect without reference to another remarkable character, the Chairman, Mr. Peter Menzies Dewar.

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