But it was originally just VA, Perique, no?
Why Is "Three Nuns" So Named?
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But it was originally just VA, Perique, no?
Then it would have been Two Nuns, and everyone knows what happens when you leave two nuns in a room together.
But, I was pretty sure that 3N was one of the first to feature DF in a VaPer. But, that link DonGiles posted, probably has the run down on that.Back in the late 1970’s or early 1980’s, Royal Cigar made an ecumenical window display with a couple of Churchwarden pipes along with packages of Presbyterian, Three Nuns, Parsons Pleasure and Five Brothers. I assume they warned anyone who was tempted to buy any Five Brothers.
My dim recollection is that the tobacco was named after the old Three Nuns Inn (later Hotel) in Aldgate. That might be wrong; if I can find my notes I'll post something more.
Ok, so... now I am dying to know why a Hotel is called Three Nuns. That sounds even more interesting.
I remember when I first worked in the city my boss used to complain about the smell of my pipe. He was a total knob end but rather fancied himself as a comedian even though he was fatter than Fat Bastard out of the Austin Powers films. I used to smoke Three Nun's and he picked the round tin up of my desk and looked at me and said, 'Three Nuns? None today, none tomorrow and none the day after?'. Walked away laughing at his own comic genius.
Yes that's it. Looking at it now on the British Newspaper Archive. The Bells ran the Three Nuns Inn/Tavern at least as early as 1870.
Here is a history of the property: Three Nuns, 11 Aldgate High Street, Aldgate EC3 - https://pubwiki.co.uk/LondonPubs/Aldgate/ThreeNuns.shtml
There is a very interesting discussion of the history of the Three Nuns hotel/pub/brewery on Aldgate in London, which doesn’t answer the question of where the name originated, but it goes back to 1418. There is a connection with Jack the Ripper.
HERE
The originating blender went to Catholic school and had a crush on a series of nuns, maybe. Or was whacked with a ruler by a series of nuns. Or both. The Three Nuns Inn explanation sounds possible and reassuring.
First mention of J. & F. Bell, Ltd. "Three Nuns" in the British Newspaper Archives is in 1900. Before that, in 1895, J. & F. Bell were trading shares on the Scottish stock exchanges. In 1896 J. & F. Bell was apparently still a London registered company, apparently storing tobacco in Glasgow warehouses (which was a common occurrence).
The interesting part will be proving if the "Aldergate Bells" decided to make a living selling tobacco, and ultimately became the "Glasgow Bells."
Sadly the pub/hotel was demolished probably around 1971? from the sources I've found. Oddly, when I first went to London as a student my lectures were in a building just across the road from where the pub stood. When @jguss mentioned the pub earlier I couldn't place as I'm pretty sure I've drunk in virtually every pub within quite a wide radius of that spot! But, I was a student there in 1978; struggling to think what was standing on the spot at the time but it was not an old historic pub; since 1978 that spot has been demolished again and now appears to be bus station(?) from Google maps.
Still, if the Bell's owned the pub it does kind of make sense they would name their tobacco after it.
Still, if the Bell's owned the pub it does kind of make sense they would name their tobacco after it.
Had a friend who dropped out of school due to getting tired of being beat up by the monks. Good thing it wasn't nuns.
At the risk of being accused a pedant; Aldgate and Aldersgate are two different areas in London (admittedly not very far apart). There used to be Undeground stations at Aldersgate, Aldgate and Aldgate East. To get rid of some the confusion Aldersgate Station was renamed Barbican.
My first girlfriend when I was at university went to a convent school; I gather the nuns could be very strict...
My mistake. Accuracy is diminished with haste.
No worries; I'm forever making mistakes in my haste too.
This is great! I'm pretty sure we've discussed this before without reaching any conclusion.
My guess at the time was that it was a reference to a now forgotten joke about three nuns. That might actually still be true, only now the joke is medieval instead of victorian.
Anyway, good detective work gentlemen.
My guess at the time was that it was a reference to a now forgotten joke about three nuns. That might actually still be true, only now the joke is medieval instead of victorian.
Anyway, good detective work gentlemen.
Yes that was an interesting discussion. Someone in the discussion got a bit confused between the Three Nuns and the Three Tuns - I've certainly had a few beers in the Three Tuns.
The discussion brought back memories (this is back in the 1980s) of when I was a member of the Tower Hamlets Wheelers (THW) - social cycling club but we mainly organised a weekly self-help bicycle maintenance workshop (we provided the tools; advice etc. and the punters provided the bicycles that needed TLC); a few hours of that on a Wednesday evening and then all off to the pub. The other thing the THW did was act as the Tower Hamlets branch of the London Cycling Campaign (most borough groups were constituted by the campaign but a couple - like THW - were separate entities.
I mention this only because one of our members was an American historian and academic who had a fascination (some would suggest after attending one of her talks an unhealthy fascination with Jack the Ripper - she certainly got excited when on the subject!). So for National Bike Week as well as doing the obvious cycle focused workshops - pop-up bike maintenance at street corners and the like - we would organise a Jack the Ripper Bike Ride which basically went around the various sites connected with his atrocities and show people around the area. The East End still had a reputation at that time and many people were scared to set foot in it - convinced it was populated my gangsters and the like.
The ride not only included Jack the Ripper but other points of local historic interest (plus a few beers and a curry). The murders took place around Brick Lane which is quite an interesting area as it has seen waves of immigration from French Huguenots, through Eastern European Jews escaping the pogroms to more recently Bangladeshi and other communities. Each has made their mark on the area (which probably why it's famous for curries -although there are better areas close by as it's got a bit to touristy and is now populated by... ....hipsters!
Anyway, with waves of immigration you do get a gradual change in the area and one of things we always pointed out were the mosque and synagogue which are quite close together. I assume it's still the same as it was last time I visited the area but the remarkable thing - for most people - was that the synagogue had Arabic inscriptions on it and the Mosque had Hebrew. Basically the Jewish population in the area was in decline and the Muslim one was increasing so they got together decided to swap their existing buildings as the old Synagogue was too large for its congregation and the Mosque was too small.
If it was a nice evening we might take the punters a bit further east so they could visit the Blind Beggar in Whitechapel; another pub with a colourful history:
- William Booth (founder of the Salvation Army) preached his first sermon outside the pub (the memorial statue is about 100m east of the pub)
- March 1966 Ronnie Kray murdered Georgie Cornell in front of witnesses (about 8:30pm) in the pub
Various members would then escort those who felt they needed an escort back to more familiar parts of London whilst the rest of went further in the depths of the East End - for some reason all the talk of Jack the Ripper and Kray twins made some people a bit uneasy!
Let me start by pinning down the origin of the brand. The first use of Three Nuns, according to the 1904 application for a US trademark, was in December, 1898:
As for a link between the Bells of Glasgow and those you found at the hotel in London, I'm not sure. IF there is one I haven't found it, and it must go back very far indeed. The story of the company starts with two Glasgow brothers, John Bell (1802-1868) and Finlay Bell (1812-1881). They began the family business in 1854; hence the "J & F Bell" name of the company. It's pretty clear both men had been involved in the tobacco trade as tobacconists and tobacco skinners for over a decade before the formation of their joint enterprise. In 1864 the next generation came aboard: John's only son and heir James Taylor Bell (1843-1912), and Finlay's son Finlay Bell jr (1840-1880).
In 1868 John died, and James Taylor [insert "JT" joke here] acquired his father's interest in the business. By 1890 all the other partners had died and James Taylor was the only principal left. In that year he brought three family members into the business as new partners: his two sons John Joy Bell (1871-1934) and James Hope Bell (1872-1945). He also brought his cousin Robert Chalmers Bell (1853-1932) into the partnership. Robert was another son of James Taylor's uncle, Finlay senior.
Within a few years the business was in serious trouble (overspending on advertisements, disappointing sales, etc), and by March of 1903 it was in liquidation. The bankruptcy was particularly messy, and in the event led directly to Stephen Mitchell & Son, which had recently joined in the formation of Imperial Tobacco, acquiring the brands in 1904.