| Richard Joshua Reynolds | |
 R.J. Reynolds, head of Reynolds Tobacco Company
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| Born | July 20, 1850 Patrick County, Virginia |
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| Died | July 29, 1918 (aged 68) |
| Residence |  Winston-Salem, North Carolina |
| Occupation | Owner of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company |
| Spouse(s) | Katharine Smith Reynolds (m. 1905–1918) |
| Children | Richard Joshua Reynolds, Jr. (1906-1964) Mary Katherine Reynolds (1908-1953) Nancy Susan Reynolds (1910-1985) Zachary Smith Reynolds (1911-1932) |
Richard Joshua "R.J." Reynolds (July 20, 1850 - July 29, 1918) was an American businessman and founder of the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.
The son of a tobacco farmer, he worked for his father and attended Emory and Henry College from 1868 to 1870, eventually graduating from Bryant and Stratton Business College in Baltimore.[1][2] He sold his share of the family business in 1874 and moved south to Winston-Salem, North Carolina to start his own tobacco company. Reynolds was a savvy businessman and a hard worker, and he quickly became one of the wealthiest citizens of Winston-Salem; eventually, he was the wealthiest person in the state of North Carolina.[3] He died in 1918 of pancreatic cancer.
Descendents of Hardin William Reynolds have influenced the economic and cultural growth of the U.S., particularly in the South, through their business successes and philanthropy.
In 1919, his nephew, Richard S. Reynolds, Sr., founded the U.S. Foil Company in Louisville, Kentucky, supplying tin-lead wrappers to cigarette and candy companies. In 1924, he bought the maker of Eskimo Pies, which were wrapped in foil, and four years later he purchased Robertshaw Thermostat, Fulton Sylphon, and part of Beechnut Foil, adding the companies to U.S. Foil to form Reynolds Metals. After realizing the limitations of the tin and lead used in his company's products, in 1926 he added aluminum to the line. Although the company began using aluminum foil as a packaging material for the first time in 1926, in 1947 they introduced Reynolds Wrap. Sold worldwide, it transformed food storage. Reynolds Metals was the second-largest aluminum company in the United States and the third-largest in the world. The Richmond, Virginia-based company was acquired by ALCOA in 2000.
Pall Mall (pronounced /pæl mæl/) is a street in the City of Westminster, London, situated in SW1 and parallel to The Mall, from St. James's Street across Waterloo Place to the Haymarket; while Pall Mall East continues into Trafalgar Square. The street is a major thoroughfare in the St James's area of London, and a section of the regional A4 road. The name of the street is derived from "pall mall" a mallet-and-ball game that was played there during the 17th century.
Pall Mall is best known for being the home to various gentlemen's clubs built in the 19th century and early 20th centuries. These include the Athenaeum, Travellers Club, Army and Navy Club, Reform Club, United Services Club (now occupied by the Institute of Directors), Oxford and Cambridge Club and Royal Automobile Club.
It was also once the centre of the fine art scene in London; in 1814 the Royal Academy, the National Gallery and Christie's auction house were all here, but none of them stayed for long.[1]
The freehold of nearly all of the southern side of the Pall Mall has belonged to the crown for several hundred years, and is still owned by the Crown Estate. St. James's Palace is on the south side of the street at the western end. Marlborough House, which was once a royal residence, is next to it to the east, opening off of a courtyard just to the south of the street. The Prince Regent's Carlton House once stood at the eastern end of the street. Pall Mall was also once the home of the War Office, with which it became synonymous (just as Whitehall refers to the administrative centre of the UK government). The War Office was based in a complex of buildings based on the ducal mansion of Cumberland House which was designed by Matthew Brettingham and Robert Adam.